Frequently Asked Questions

Best way to Learn Chinese

What is Domino Classroom?

Domino Classroom is the perfect course if you really want to learn Mandarin Chinese. It combines self-study with a personal teacher. We achieve the same results you’ll get anywhere else, but we promise it will be 3x faster with us. All you need to do is spend 7 hours/week and here’s what you can expect:

  • After 1 week: Read your first conversation completely with only Chinese characters
  • After 1 month: Have simple dialogs about everyday things
  • After 3 months: Be able to survive in most everyday situations
  • After 6 months: Have classes completely in Chinese.
  • After 12 months: Pass HSK 3, which typically takes 24 months in the same pace
  • After 18 months: Pass HSK 4 (typically 36 months) and land a job completely in Chinese

Are you ready to powerboost your Chinese? Check out Domino Classroom here!

What results can I expect?

Domino Classroom is the perfect program for you if you really want to learn Chinese. You’ll learn to read, write, and speak using Chinese characters and pinyin. Join a classroom today, get a personal teacher and in 6 months you’ll already be independent in Chinese. As long as you follow our recommendations we guarantee you that you’ll learn Chinese x3 faster than anywhere else. You only need to spend 7 hours/week for 18 months to be able to land a job completely in Chinese and pass HSK 4*. Achieving those same results in that time anywhere else would require 20 hours/week.

Check out Domino Classroom here.

You’ll also be able to further your studies another 6 months and pass HSK 5, which equates to 3 years full-time study at University. Anyone who passes the test can study at Chinese Universities completely in Chinese.
Each HSK level is marked on the course overview page to indicate which test level you’re at.
You can read more about the different HSK levels here.
However, our goal is not to make you pass a test, so we have chosen to not blindly follow the HSK curriculum as we have our own proven method to learn Chinese.

How should I study?

Do you have 7 hours/week?

Join Domino Classroom! Join a classroom with a personal teacher and classmates, all with the common goal of learning Chinese as fast as possible. We meet everyday to practice and every Friday for a official class. You need to watch the videos of one chapter each week and review what you’ve learned in the flashcards. Your teacher will send you assignments every week as well as exams. You’ll get a grade and a diploma when you’re done. Ready to start? Join Domino Classroom now!

Can I self-study?

Yes! For years, students have come to DominoChinese and self-studied the material. We recommend you watch videos, review the flashcards, then read the recommended dialogs (only dialogs with the words you’ve learned will be recommended).

To get to conversationally proficient you need to pass our Fluency Path course (level 1-9). Each level is on average 10 hours long, so if you study 30 mins every day + reviewing (course book and flashcards) it should take you 6 months to pass.

After level 10, starts ‘The Advanced Path’ where everything will be in Chinese teaching you 99% of what you will need living and working in China. ‘The Advanced Path’ is marginally shorter than ‘The Fluency Path’ so it should take just as long to pass.
For our most ambitious students we have ‘The Academic Path’ which is 50 hours long and should take you 3 months to finish. This is the equivalent of HSK Level 5 and partially Level 6 (Highest Chinese Academic Language Standard).
Note that each level builds on the previous so we recommend that you start with our first course (Fluency Path) unless you have studied a lot of Chinese already. Our methodology differs a lot from other schools so in order to follow along easier we recommend you don’t skip too much content in the beginning even though you’ve studied a lot already.

Hope this will help you along the way and please comment if you still have any questions.
Good luck on your journey and feel free to let us know how it goes or if you need anything!

I have already studied Chinese, where should I start with Domino Chinese?

There’s no restraints and you can skip through the levels and start wherever you want to. However, Domino builds on what you’ve previously learned so make sure you know everything before you move on. We would recommend you to at least go through the Level Mastery Test. When you pass a level test that level will show “Mastered” and then we suggest you move on. If something feels a bit to easy for you just skip ahead – but complete the chapter tests. It is a good way to check where you are.

What is the difference between Domino Open and Domino Classroom?

Domino Open is our USD$14.99 monthly subscription course that will take you all the way from beginner to HSK5(Academic Chinese) in your own pace. Watch videos, do the quizzes and complete lessons and chapters. Make sure you use our flashcard system, dialogs, excersises and our discord server to practice and retain what you learn.

Domino Classroom offers everything that Domino Open does but adds an Online Classroom with a Teacher to keep you on track and make sure your pronounciation is not falling behind. You will have 2-3 teacher led classes every week and a set 7hr week study schedule. This is perfect for the more serious learner and those who have a hard time keeping motivated on their own. The Domino Classroom courses are divided into 3-month Classrooms that costs USD$399 per course.

Course-related

New Course Structure (July 2022)

Dominochinese.com VS Udemy/Skillshare (/other online learning platform)

Here’s the difference:

We’re already the best at teaching Chinese. We want to share our product with as many as possible so www.dominochinese.com is the most affordable and also most updated class. Furthermore you have all the tools you need in one pleace.


Due to copyrights, the most up-to-date content is ONLY available on www.dominochinese.com.
On other websites we have upwards of 20 hours of content. On www.dominochinese.com we have 200 hours + 50 hours of premium courses.

Other platforms (Udemy, Skillshare etc) are built to provide our videos and some quizzes. However, learning something new is complicated. That’s why we’ve spent 7 years on www.dominochinese.com and our app to create an entire infrastructure where we can combine all aspects of learning and optimising it for you.

Note: Because the material and platforms are so different you will not be given free access to www.dominochinese.com if you have paid for our material somewhere else.

Will I learn characters?

At Domino Chinese you’ll learn Mandarin Chinese and all aspects of the language (including Chinese characters). There’s no shortcut for learning Chinese. The ONLY, and in fact the BEST, way to learn real Chinese is by studying the characters. Did you know Chinese characters are in fact just pictures of what they represent, 山 – mountain 火 fire, and combining them 火山 (fire mountain) makes words – volcano. So you see, don’t worry about having to learn the characters. They’re here to help.

However, if you only want to learn Chinese for a short trip to China and just want some survival Chinese we suggest you check out our “Survival Chinese”.
It’s a 2-hour course to prepare you for any daily situation in China.

Need something even more convenient? Check out our podcast: On Spotify.
Don’t have spotify? Here’s a free option. 
PS You’ll love it

Mandarin? Chinese? Cantonese?

China has 56 official dialects and one official language so it’s important we understand what’s what. The most spoken dialect in China is Cantonese, it is spoken in the south (Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau). Foreigners usually refer to Cantonese as a language but Chinese don’t think so. Mandarin is the official language that they use all over the nation in schools and in written form. This is what we refer to as Chinese unless other is implied, it is also what we learn in this course. So DominoChinese teaches you Mandarin or Chinese.

Why don’t you have a pinyin course?

Many students have asked why Domino doesn’t have a course only in pinyin. The reason is because pinyin might seem easier at first glance but our goal is to make you completely independent in Chinese and knowing characters will actually make that goal much easier to achieve. Basically, if characters weren’t useful the Chinese wouldn’t be using them. However, in all our videos we teach both characters and pinyin next to each other so pinyin is still there for everyone.

Learning Chinese from a foreigner?

Many students have asked about Felix’s accent. Felix has worked on Chinese TV and has passed the highest Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK level 6). Chinese people think he sounds just like a Chinese person when he speaks so don’t worry about picking up a weird accent. He usually has Juju or Ann with him throughout the course who are both native Chinese speakers.
You can watch him here after only 1 year in China speaking fluently on Chinese TV.

I want to pass an HSK Level

Our goal is not to make you pass a test, so we have chosen to not blindly follow the HSK curriculum as we have our own proven method to learn Chinese. 

However, if you wish to pass an HSK Level you’ll be given indicators on your course overview page of which HSK level you’re suitable for. If you sign up for Domino Classroom you’ll get a personal teacher to guide you to any HSK level you’d like to pass.

The New HSK Levels

So far, there is still no official list of the New HSK levels. When there is one we’ll adjust our course content slightly, then we’ll change our HSK indicators which you can find between the regular Domino levels. Since we don’t adjust according to any test our course won’t be much affected by this change. 

I don't have time for a course

I’m traveling to China, what should I learn?

If you only want to learn Chinese for a short trip to China our “Survival Chinese” is perfect for you!

It’s a 2-hour course to prepare you for any daily situation in China.

Need something even more convenient? Check out our podcast: On Spotify.
Don’t have spotify? Here’s a free option. 
PS You’ll love it

I don’t have the time, how can I still learn Chinese?

Both Domino Open and Domino Classroom is tailored for a work-life balance. If you can spend 7 hours a week we recommend that you study with a our Domino Teachers in the Domino Classroom. It is by far the most effective use of your time. Click here for more information.

If you have less than 7 hours/week we recommend you study in your own pace online – Our whole online video library, flashcards, dialogs, quizzes, mastery tests and much more is available and many of our students have reached fluency on their own. Since it is the same course you can always jump on a Classroom course with a teacher whenever you feel ready. Select Domino Open back at the landing and you can even try it out for free.

We even have our own podcast that you can listen to if you want to learn while driving your car or commuting to work/school.

Check out our podcast: On Spotify.

Don’t have spotify? Here’s a free option. 

Prices and Plans

The Domino Subscription

We believe education should be affordable for everyone so our plans start at $14.99/month where you’re given access to the main course (5000+ videos).

Our plan also gives you access to the flashcards and course book.
You also get premium courses, offline videos, no ads, Chinese transcriptions, certificate upon completion.

We recommended signing up to Domino Classroom, where we guarantee you success learning with us.

Read more about our subscriptions on our subscription page.

You can cancel or change the price at any time and it will then start a new monthly billing cycle that day. We want education to be affordable for everyone. This is a simple principle we’re trying to pursue.

Please note that all payments are shown in US dollars, but you will be charged in Hong Kong dollars (1 USD approx 8 HKD).

Paying with Wechat or Alipay

Our website doesn’t currently support wechat or alipay but if you would like to pay through either of them you can send your wechat or alipay id to us as support@dominochinese.com. You’ll get full access for a whole year to the website for as little as 500RMB.

If you wish to join Domino Classroom please write that in the email.

Getting Started with Domino Chinese

How do you type in Chinese?

Already in lesson 1 you will have to start typing in Chinese, pinyin. You will also get instructions on how to type. However, to set it up please go to Keyboard setup and follow the instructions.

How does everything go together - videos/lessons/chapters/levels?

We make short videos to keep you engaged (1-5 mins each). Each lesson has approximately 30 mins of content.
Inside one level there are 20 lessons.

Instead of displaying all the lessons inside a level we’ve also divided every 4 lessons into chapters. Those chapters will make out the chapters in our Domino book as well, which is a story about a guy called Wang. The book only uses the words you know thus far so it’ll be completely in Chinese and increasingly more difficult for every chapter.

Downloading our videos

Due to piracy we don’t offer downloadable videos on our website. However, you can download our app (iOS or Android) where you can download all our videos if you have a premium subscription.

Using IOS?

Using Android?

Flashcards - Reviewing

Learning is half the race, the last half is retaining your precious knowledge. The best way to do that is by using Domino Flashcards.

We use a spaced-repetition algorithm to calculate which card to display for you. Here’s how it works:

A new users…

  • Starts with zero flashcards.
  • Completes a video and flashcards are automatically created for that user for all the characters associated with that video, so as you progress through the course you get more flashcards to view.
  • When you answer you can choose 6 different answers “I know this word—–I’ve forgotten this one”. Depending on how you answer that card will reappear either a few hours or weeks later. By every time you get it right the interval gets longer as you remember it more.
  • If you mark a card as “incorrect”, then once you’ve gone through all the cards in that session, you’ll go through all the ones you got wrong until you’ve marked all as correct.

Make sure you keep doing this otherwise the words will start piling up and your brain functions a lot better if you give it small chunks of the cake and not shove the whole thing down once a week.

We offer sentences to help you practice even more, and you can choose to listen, read or translate to Chinese. You can also adjust the number of cards per session. We recommend 20 at a time.

If you want to know more about the word you can click the dictionary entry on the card and you can “Watch Tutorial”

Still have some questions? Post in our forum!

For any feature requests or bug reports please fill out the form here.