Recognise 98.5% of written Chinese
in four months. The fourth is on us.
Menus, street signs, messages, a page of a novel: the 2,500 characters in this course make up 98.5% of written Chinese. About an hour a day for three months to learn them all — then a fourth month, free, to make them stick.
$1 today. Then $29/month after 7 days unless you cancel. Cancel anytime.
After three paid months, the fourth is free — automatically.
About $0.70 a day for the whole challenge — less than a coffee.
Why most learners stall — and how this gets you through
500 characters is not reading
Know the first 500 characters and one in every 4 on a page is still a stranger. At 1,000 it is one in 9 — about one per line. At 2,500 it is one in 67: about one per paragraph, and the sentence often gives it away.
Frequency lists make look-alikes blur
In plain frequency order 未 (not yet) and 末 (end) are 500 places apart — weeks of study between them, long enough for the second to quietly overwrite the first. Here they are one set, learned side by side in the same session. Every character comes with its look-alikes.
Reviewed just before you forget
Every character comes back after six hours, then after 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days — each time just before it would slip. Month four is when the last of those reviews land, which is why it is on us.
Everything you get
One membership, the whole course. Nothing to add on.
- All 2,500 characters in frequency order, with look-alike sets and the leech drill
- Meanings and example words in your language — one of six
- Daily plan, target and progress tracking
- Native audio on every character
- Stories and dialogs that open as you learn — matched to the characters you know, with audio and the translation in your language
- After three paid months, the fourth is free — automatically.
$1 today. Then $29/month after 7 days unless you cancel. Cancel anytime.
Four months, one plan
Three months of learning at about an hour a day. Then one month of locking it in, at about half that.
- Month 1
The thousand that do most of the work
Frequency order and look-alike sets from day one. By week five you know the 1,000 characters that make up almost nine in ten characters of everyday text.
About an hour a day
- Month 2
The load stops growing
Every character comes back for review over the following weeks, so the daily work grows for about four weeks — then it levels off. From here it is the same hour every day, not more.
About an hour a day
- Month 3
All 2,500 met
By the end of month three you have met every character in the course, each next to the ones it is easily confused with. More than half have already passed all their reviews.
About an hour a day
- Month 4Free
Lock it in
No new characters. The reviews you have built up finish their climb, your hardest characters get the leech drill, and the stories and dialogs that opened along the way become your daily reading.
About half an hour, then less
What the four months do
| Measure | End of month 3 | End of month 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Characters met | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| Locked in | More than half | Nearly 9 in 10 |
| Time a day | About an hour | About half an hour, falling to 15 minutes |
Estimates from our scheduling model at a beginner’s rate of mistakes — the same model behind the times on our homepage. “Locked in” means a character has passed every review on its schedule.
What it costs
The same membership as everyone else. The free fourth month is part of it.
- First 7 days$1
- Month 1$29
- Month 2$29
- Month 3$29
- Month 4 — on us$0
About $0.70 a day — less than a coffee.
Start for $1. Not for you? Cancel within the first seven days and you never pay the $29.
Then $29/month until you cancel. Cancel any time from your account settings — your progress stays on file.
$1 today. Then $29/month after 7 days unless you cancel. Cancel anytime.
Three rules
Set a finish date three months out
In your course settings, choose “I want to be done by” and pick the date three months from today. The course works out the daily number for you.
Never skip the reviews
New characters are the fun part; the reviews are where they stick. A missed day resets nothing, but the reviews wait for you — a short session always beats none.
Month four: review and read
With all 2,500 met, there is nothing new to add. Finish the reviews, work through the leech drill and read a story or dialog every day — that is where recognising characters turns into reading.
Questions
Do I need to sign up for the challenge separately?+
No. Every membership works this way: after three paid months, the fourth is free — automatically, nothing to claim. The challenge is simply the fastest way to use it.
When exactly is the free month?+
Your fourth monthly payment is skipped. You pay $1 for the first seven days, then $29 for each of the next three months; the fourth month costs $0. After that it is $29/month again until you cancel.
What if I go slower?+
Then go slower — the free month is yours either way. At under half an hour a day the course takes about eight months; your fourth month is still free.
What if I cancel early?+
Then you are not charged again. The free month comes after three paid months, so it only applies if you stay that long. Your progress stays on file if you come back.
Is all 2,500 in four months realistic?+
At about an hour a day, yes: by the end of month three you have met every character. Meeting is not mastering — at that point a little more than half have passed all their reviews, and month four takes that to nearly nine in ten. These are estimates from our scheduling model, not a guarantee.
Can I read Chinese after four months?+
You will recognise the characters that make up 98.5% of written Chinese — the layer underneath reading. Reading also needs vocabulary and grammar, which is exactly what the stories and dialogs in month four are for.
Four months from now, almost every character on the page is one you know.
Start for $1. That is the whole risk.
$1 today. Then $29/month after 7 days unless you cancel. Cancel anytime.