Help & FAQ

Six buttons along the bottom of the screen (at the top on a computer) take you everywhere:

• Learn: the journey map with every lesson. Switch between HSK 1 and HSK 2 at the top.
• Review: practise the words you have learned, review lessons, practice tests, HSK exams and certificates.
• Tones: say tones into your microphone and see your pitch.
• Ranks: the leaderboards.
• My Profile: your progress, passport stamps, ducks, certificates, Supporter status, settings and sign out.
• Shop: spend red beans on ducks; the HSK 2 unlock and Supporters (real money) are at the bottom.

The free HSK 1 course has 49 short lessons in 12 units (5–10 minutes each). Each lesson mixes new words, listening, matching, tones, sentence building and speaking. Finish a lesson to open the next one. Start on the Learn map.

Every hanzi has its pinyin above it, for example 你nǐ好hǎo. Laura's rule: you read pinyin first, characters come with time.

Lessons and reviews give XP. Reach 30 XP in a day to hit your daily goal. Study at least once a day to grow your 🔥 streak; yourMy Profile warns you when a streak is at risk, and you can turn on optional reminder emails in My Profile → Settings.

Review uses spaced repetition: words you get right come back after longer and longer gaps (1, 2, 4, 8… days), words you miss come back soon. A few minutes of review a day is the best way to remember.

Speaking exercises listen through your microphone and score your tones with a pitch curve. The audio is analysed in your browser and never saved (see the privacy policy). No microphone, or somewhere quiet? Choose “Can't speak now” and rate yourself. The tones trainer is good extra practice.

The HSK 1 exam is graded on the server; score 80% or more to pass and get a printable certificate (add your full name in My Profile → Settings to print it on the certificate). Passing the HSK 2 Mock Exam earns an HSK 2 certificate. These are practice exams modelled on the HSK, not official HSK results. You can retake them any time; practice mode doesn't count.

Red beans (相思豆xiāngsī dòu) are earned by studying: 10 for a new lesson (+5 if perfect), smaller amounts for replays, reviews, tones practice and your daily goal, plus big bonuses for finishing units, streak milestones and passing exams. Everyday study earns up to 150 beans a day (200 for Gold Supporters, 300 for Diamond Supporters). Beans can't be bought: they only come from learning.

Spend beans in the Duck Shop. Rarer ducks cost more and every duck comes in four sizes. Dress them up with accessories and effects, show your favourites on your profile, and visit them all in your pond. Some special ducks are earned, not bought (for example by completing the whole passport).

The course is a trip across China: each unit is a stop (Beijing, the Great Wall, Xi'an, Chengdu…) with its own painting and a postcard from Laura. Your route is shown on the Learn map. You can turn the journey look on or off in My Profile → Settings.

Finish every lesson in a unit to get that stop's stamp in your passport. Collecting a whole region gives bonus beans, and a full passport earns the Traveller Duck. Your stamps show on your public profile.

Laura gives out codes during her lives and events. Enter them at Rewards → Redeem. Each code gives a specific prize (beans, a duck, an accessory, sometimes the HSK 2 unlock) and can only be used once per account. Codes are not case-sensitive.

Leaderboards rank XP, exam scores and beans earned each week. Only your username is shown. The weekly beans leaderboard pays bonus beans to the top 50 every Monday.

The HSK 2 course (43 lessons, a 60-question Mock Exam and 11 new journey stops) is a one-time $9.99 USD unlock, paid with PayPal on the unlock page. It is yours for good and never charged again. The first HSK 2 lesson is free to try. Gold and Diamond Supporters also get HSK 2 while subscribed.

Monthly memberships that support Laura's teaching: Gold ($7/month) and Diamond ($29.99/month), billed by PayPal. Perks include HSK 2, bonus lessons, a Supporter mock exam, profile frames and badges, and for Diamond the Diamond Duck and Laura's video library. See Supporters.

In PayPal: Settings → Payments → Automatic payments ↗. You keep your perks until the end of the month you already paid for. Deleting your account here also cancels it for you.

Yes: the HSK 2 unlock can be fully refunded within 14 days of purchase. Write to Laura with your username. Monthly Supporter payments aren't refunded once the month has started, unless something went wrong (like a double charge). Full details are in the terms.

Laura's recorded courses, videos and materials are in her store at chineseteacherlaura.com. Diamond Supporters get a code for the store's library.

Use Forgot password on the sign-in page. If email isn't available yet, write to kennedyusaf@gmail.com from the address you signed up with and Laura will help you.

Streak reminders and a weekly progress digest are optional. Switch them on or off in My Profile → Settings → Email & reminders or with the unsubscribe link in any of these emails.

In My Profile → Settings → Your data & account you can download everything we store about you as a file, or delete your account permanently. See the privacy policy.

No download needed: it's a website that works in any modern browser on your phone, tablet or computer. Just bookmark it.