Contextual Chinese

Contextual Chinese is a free website for Mandarin learners who already know some Chinese and keep running into words that a dictionary translation cannot separate. Instead of giving one English gloss, each word guide explains what a word means, when native speakers use it, what it is often confused with, and how it sounds in a real situation. A guide combines pinyin, English usage notes, common patterns, situational sentences, near-synonym comparisons and short practice questions. One sample separates expressing dissatisfaction with 抱怨, making a formal complaint with 投诉, and the feeling 不满.

The guides are organized into learning paths built around situations and common confusions. Current paths include polite Chinese for requests and everyday friction, numbers and quantities (including when to use 二 and when to use 两), repetition and sequence (再 versus 又), and knowing people, facts and meaning. Each holds a handful of guides, so a student can work through one path in a sitting or two.

The site also offers free HSK 1 and HSK 2 practice tests that show what needs work and link to relevant lessons, plus idiom pages and a search across more than 19,000 dictionary entries. A review feature lets a learner return to saved words.

This is a supplement, and the site says so itself. It is not a complete curriculum, a beginner course for young children or an accredited proficiency assessment. Its makers point to older homeschool students and adults with some Mandarin, and it is best chosen by language level rather than grade. A high school student in a second or third year of Chinese, or a heritage speaker who wants more precise usage, is the natural fit. Reading is free with no account needed, and the site is supported by advertising, so expect ads on the page. Parents of younger teens may want to take a look at those first.