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12 Best Mandarin Courses for Beginners

We compared 12 Mandarin courses currently listed on Udemy, Coursera and edX, priced from $19.99 to $340.20. 2 come from a named university or institution, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Peking University. They are ordered by our CourseAsk score, which is built from how thoroughly each course describes what it teaches, whether it comes from a named institution, and how it compares on price — not from star ratings, which our course data does not include.

Courses compared
12
Price range
$19.99 – $340.20
Providers
Udemy, Coursera, edX
Last updated
30 Aug 2026
How these 12 courses were chosen

Every course below is a real, currently listed course from Udemy, Coursera, edX, matched to "mandarin" by our catalog and ordered by our CourseAsk score. Courses whose own title names the topic rank above those only tagged with it.

The grade on each entry scores how much the provider publishes about the course before you pay — the length and detail of the description, whether it lists learning outcomes and objectives — and whether a named university or institution stands behind it. A is fully documented and institution-backed; E is little more than a title and a price. Courses with almost nothing published are left ungraded rather than marked down, because an unknown course and a poor one are not the same thing.

There are no star ratings on this page — the course feeds we license do not include them, and we would rather leave a column out than fill it with a number we cannot stand behind. What we do have is price: these range from $19.99 to $340.20, as listed by the provider when we last updated the page.

  1. 1
    Udemy MOOC / Non-credit Grade C

    Systematic Chinese Mandarin Course for Beginners

    Hi guys welcome to master Chinese with Peipei! This is a course for beginner Chinese learners to learn the basics about Chinese in a possible short time. It was designed based on HSK syllabus and covers HSK1-3 grammar po...

    $99.99
    listed price
  2. 2
    Coursera MOOC / Non-credit Grade B University-backed

    Mandarin Chinese 3: Chinese for Beginners

    Offered by Shanghai Jiao Tong University

    Mandarin Chinese 3: Chinese for beginners is a beginner's course of Mandarin Chinese in continuation of Mandarin Chinese 2: Chinese for beginners. It uses lectures, short plays, interactive exercises and cultural tips to...

    $79.00
    listed price
  3. 3
    Udemy Certificate Grade C

    Chinese Speaking Course for Beginners-Practical Mandarin

    This course, titled 'Chinese Speaking Course for Beginners-Practical Mandarin', is designed for individuals looking to communicate effectively in Mandarin during various everyday situations. It emphasizes local expressio...

    $54.99
    listed price
  4. 4
    Udemy MOOC / Non-credit Grade C Lowest price here

    Complete Chinese Course: Learn Mandarin for Beginners

    This course is designed for absolute beginners who wish to learn Mandarin Chinese. You’ll pick up a lot of practical vocabulary and useful phrases that will help you thrive in day-to-day situations, whether you're planni...

    $19.99
    listed price
  5. 5
    edX MOOC / Non-credit Grade D

    Mandarin Essentials for Beginners

    Offered by MandarinX

    This course on Mandarin Essentials for Beginners offers a welcoming introduction to the Chinese language. It's designed to help learners develop foundational skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing Mandarin....

    $340.20
    listed price
  6. 6
    edX MOOC / Non-credit Grade C

    Mandarin Chinese for Beginners: Essentials & HSK Prep

    Offered by MandarinX

    This course is designed for those new to Mandarin Chinese, providing essential language skills and an introduction to the HSK exam format. You'll learn fundamental vocabulary, grammar, and practical phrases that will hel...

    $241.20
    listed price
  7. 7
    Coursera MOOC / Non-credit Grade A University-backed

    Chinese for Beginners

    Offered by Peking University

    Immerse yourself in the captivating world of Chinese culture and language with our ABC Chinese course for beginners. This comprehensive course provides an introduction to Mandarin phonetics and essential daily expression...

    $49.00
    listed price
  8. 8
    Udemy Certificate Grade C

    Learn Chinese HSK 2 Beginner Intensive Reading Course H20901

    The new HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) is an international standardized exam that tests and rates Chinese language proficiency. Chinese Language Proficiency (HSK), which is organized by Chinese government for foreigners....

    $99.99
    listed price
  9. 9
    Udemy MOOC / Non-credit Grade B

    Learn Chinese HSK 1 Beginner Intensive Reading Course H10901

    Learn Chinese With David (LCWD) is series of courses, designed for foreigner to learn mandarin, suitable for beginners from ZERO to higher level.  (8 HD Videos, Total 220 Minutes)   It is also ideal for examination prepa...

    $129.99
    listed price
  10. 10
    Udemy Certificate Grade B

    Chinese Course for Beginners :Pinyin and Pronunciation

    Mandarin is home to countries like Taiwan, Singapore, and of course China. It's a language that has deep roots with over 3,000 years of history to back it up.That's why the culture of China has largely shaped countries l...

    $19.99
    listed price
  11. 11
    Udemy MOOC / Non-credit Grade C

    100 Daily Chinese sentences in 1-Minute Bites for Beginners

    This course offers a practical way to learn essential Mandarin phrases through short, digestible video lessons. Each of the 100 phrases is designed for everyday use, perfect for travel and casual conversations, all deliv...

    $19.99
    listed price
  12. 12
    Udemy Certificate Grade D

    HSK 1 for the beginners

    This course offers a fantastic starting point for anyone eager to learn Mandarin Chinese. Designed specifically for absolute beginners, it introduces you to key vocabulary, basic grammar, and pronunciation using Pinyin,...

    $49.99
    listed price

Best Mandarin Courses for Beginners compared

Prices shown are the provider's listed price when we last updated this page. Confirm on their site before enrolling.

What the prices here tell you

The 12 priced courses on this page run from $19.99 to $340.20, with the middle of the range around $79.00 — a spread of $320.21. That is a wide gap for one subject. A higher price on this page usually reflects who is behind the course rather than how much material it contains, so it is worth opening two or three at different price points and comparing their syllabus before deciding.

Who is behind these courses

These courses come from Udemy, Coursera and edX. The platforms differ in how they sell: some charge once per course, others expect a subscription, and the listed price is not always what you pay at checkout after a promotion. 2 of these are produced by a named university or institution, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Peking University — which usually means a fixed syllabus and a recognised certificate, rather than an individual instructor’s own course.

Before you enrol

Open the provider’s own page and check three things this comparison cannot tell you: when the course was last updated, what the syllabus actually covers in its later sections, and what recent learners say. Prices shown here are the provider’s listed price when we last rebuilt this page on 30 August 2026 — they change often, and a promotion can move them substantially. We earn a commission if you enrol through our links, which costs you nothing and never affects the order courses appear in.

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