# Spoken Mandarin in 60 Days: The Complete Speaking Course Day by day you go from saying your name and ordering in a café to booking a train seat, giving your opinion and holding a ten-minute conversation. Made for learners starting from zero. Source: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/spoken-mandarin-60-day-course ## At a glance - Level: Total beginner · HSK 1 - Format: Practice book · PDF · 166 pages · US Letter (prints on A4) - Price: Free · free with a saymei account · updated Nov 4, 2026 ## Download Free with a SayMei account, on the workbook's page: https://www.saymei.app/resources/downloads/spoken-mandarin-60-day-course. SayMei emails a copy too. ## A line from the workbook 我每天说一点儿中文。 (Wǒ měi tiān shuō yìdiǎnr Zhōngwén.) — I speak a little Chinese every day. ## By the end you can - Introduce yourself and say where you're from. Days 1–3: say your name and that you're glad to meet someone, add 人 to a country for your nationality, and hand any question back with 你呢？ 我叫林浩。很高兴认识你。 (Wǒ jiào Lín Hào. Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ.): My name is Lin Hao. Nice to meet you. - Order in a café, make a plan and talk about your family. Days 4–7: order with 想要 and 请给我, suggest a time with 可以吗？, invite someone with 一起……吧, and say how many people are in your family. 我们明天一起吃饭吧。 (Wǒmen míngtiān yìqǐ chīfàn ba.): Let's have a meal together tomorrow. - Find your way, ask a price and say what you did yesterday. Days 8–14: ask where a place is, follow a two-step route, react to a price with 太贵了, use 昨天 and 了, then say your own six-line conversation. 便宜一点，可以吗？ (Piányi yìdiǎn, kěyǐ ma?): Could you make it a bit cheaper? - Talk about work and the weather, shop for clothes and say you feel unwell. Days 15–22: say where you work with 在, chat about the weather with 有点儿, ask for another size, name what hurts with 疼, and say what you've done with 过. 有没有大一点儿的？ (Yǒu méiyǒu dà yìdiǎnr de?): Do you have a bigger one? - Compare with 比, ask people to slow down and book a room. Days 23–30: compare two things with 比, ask someone to repeat or slow down, book a hotel room, order food your way and keep a five-minute conversation going. 请说慢一点儿。 (Qǐng shuō màn yìdiǎnr.): Please speak a bit more slowly. - Talk about your hometown, buy fruit by the jin and get around a city. Days 31–36: describe your hometown with 老家, ask a price with 怎么卖, pay by phone, tell a taxi driver where to stop and ask where to change lines on the subway. 苹果怎么卖？ (Píngguǒ zěnme mài?): How much are the apples? - Make phone calls and introduce people. Days 37–40: open a call with 喂, leave a message and ask for a call back with 给 + person + verb, introduce a friend and describe what someone looks like. 请他给我回个电话，好吗？ (Qǐng tā gěi wǒ huí ge diànhuà, hǎo ma?): Could you ask him to call me back? - Talk about food and health, apologise and be a good guest. Days 41–50: say what you can't eat, ask how to take cold medicine, apologise and move a plan with 改到, then praise the cook with verb + 得 and wish someone well with 祝. 阿姨，您做菜做得真好！ (Āyí, nín zuò cài zuò de zhēn hǎo!): Auntie, you're a wonderful cook! - Book a train, give your opinion and keep a ten-minute chat going. Days 51–60: book a seat with short 的 answers, ask for a fix with 能不能, give a reason with 因为, tell your own story with 后来 and change topic with 对了. 对了，你周末有空吗？ (Duì le, nǐ zhōumò yǒu kòng ma?): Oh, by the way, are you free this weekend? ## What's inside - Workbook 1: Your First 14 Days of Spoken Mandarin - Workbook 2: Spoken Mandarin Days 15–30: Your Next Two Weeks of Speaking - Workbook 3: Spoken Mandarin Days 31–60: A Month of Daily Speaking Practice ## How to use this book Sixty days, one day at a time, always out loud. Each day is a Learn page and a Practice page, about 20 minutes. Work through the three workbooks in order, and take each review when you reach it. - Every day: Two pages, out loud. On the Learn page, say each line aloud twice: once looking, once from memory. On the Practice page, swap in your own details, then write and say your version. - Days 1–14: Workbook 1: your first words. Your name, a café, a plan, directions and prices. On Day 14 you build and say your own six-line conversation. - Days 15–30: Workbook 2: everyday exchanges. Work, weather, shops, travel times, hotels and restaurants, ending in a five-minute conversation. - Days 31–60: Workbook 3: a month of real life. Play the free audio for each Learn page and say every line in the pause, then do the Practice page the same day. - Review days: No new lines, just the scene. Act out the review scene twice, the second time as yourself. Where there is a checklist, tick what you can say without looking and redo any day you can't tick. Check answers in that workbook's key. - After each day: Keep speaking. Say the day's exchange aloud from memory, taking both parts. ## Who it's for Total beginners who want to learn Chinese by speaking it, with one plan from hello to a ten-minute conversation. Good for travellers, people with Chinese-speaking family or partners, and anyone moving to China. Before you start: Nothing. Workbook 1 starts from hello, every line is printed in characters, pinyin and English, and each day builds on the lines you already know. ## Is this the same as the three separate books? Yes. It puts Your First 14 Days, Days 15–30 and Days 31–60 into one 166-page PDF with a cover and a contents page. Each workbook keeps its own answer key at the back. ## I already finished Days 1–14. Is this still for me? Yes. Start at Workbook 2, which picks up at Day 15 where the first book ends, and carry on to Day 60. If you only want the later days, Days 15–30 and Days 31–60 are also on their own pages as separate books. ## How long does each day take? About 20 minutes: a Learn page and a Practice page, always out loud. Say each line twice, once looking and once from memory, then swap in your own details. Take each review scene when you reach it. ## Is there audio? Only for Days 31–60, free on that book's audio page, with a pause after every line to say it back. Days 1–30 have no audio, but every line has pinyin with tone marks. ## Do I have to print all 166 pages? No. Print one workbook at a time as you reach it: Workbook 1 is 38 pages, Workbook 2 is 45 and Workbook 3 is 81. Or print just the next week's days and keep the answer keys on screen. ## What comes after Day 60? Spoken Mandarin Days 61–75 and Spoken Mandarin Days 76–90 carry on for thirty more days, one page a day with audio, ending in a fifteen-minute conversation. ## Do I need a SayMei account? Yes, to download the PDF, and the account is free: sign up with Google, Apple or your email address. With it we email you a copy of the workbook, keep every workbook you download on your account on all your devices, save your place in the free online practice, and you can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's AI tutor. ## How do I print it? The PDF is US Letter size. On A4 paper, choose "Fit to page" (or "Scale to fit") in the print dialog so nothing is cut off. Print the whole workbook or only the pages you need; colour looks best, and black and white works too. Version 2026-11, updated Nov 4, 2026.