Learn Chinese with the TV series you love

· 6 minute read

There is a special moment in learning a language: a character on screen says a word, and you understand it before the subtitle appears. It feels like magic, and it is the best motivation there is.

This post is a simple routine to make that moment happen often. You pick an episode you want to watch anyway, get its vocabulary from an AI chat, practise it for a few minutes in Tingdu, and then watch. The series is the reward; the words are the key that opens it.

1. Pick a series and an episode

Choose something you would happily watch even without the learning: a cosy family drama, a romantic comedy in an office, a detective story, a historical drama with palaces and plots. Modern-day stories are the gentlest start, because the characters use everyday words you will need yourself: ordering food, apologising, taking a taxi, calling a friend.

Work one episode at a time. If you have seen the series before, even better: you already know what happens, so your attention is free for the language.

2. Ask an AI chat for the episode’s vocabulary

Any AI chat assistant can do this. Copy the prompt below, fill in the parts in square brackets, and send it. The more you tell it about the episode (the setting, what happens, your level), the better the list fits. 

I am learning Chinese (Mandarin) and I am about to watch [SERIES], season [N], episode [N]. It is [a short description, e.g. a modern romantic comedy set in an office in Shanghai; in this episode the team goes to a birthday dinner]. My level is about [e.g. HSK 2, beginner].

Please prepare a practice vocabulary for this episode as a Tingdu wordset (JSON).

What to include:
- 20 to 30 words and short phrases that are likely to be heard in this kind of episode: everyday expressions the characters say, and words for the places, things and actions of the story. Prefer words that are useful beyond this one show. No character names.
- For each one: the Chinese in simplified characters, pinyin with tone marks (nǐ hǎo, not ni3 hao3), and a short English translation (1 to 4 words).
- For words that can be drawn (things, places, food, weather, simple actions), a simple pictogram as an SVG data URL in "picture": viewBox 0 0 64 64, lines with stroke='currentColor' stroke-width='3' fill='none', at most two flat fill colours, no text, no style element or attribute, no images. Write it as "data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 64 64'>...</svg>", with single quotes inside the SVG and # written as %23. Leave "picture" out for words that cannot be drawn clearly.
- No sounds: the app speaks the words itself.

Reply with only the JSON, valid (double quotes, no comments, no trailing commas), in exactly this shape:

{
  "format": "tingdu-wordset",
  "version": 1,
  "wordset": {
    "id": "series-s1e1",
    "name": "[SERIES] · S1 E1",
    "language": "zh-CN",
    "collection": "[SERIES]",
    "items": [
      { "id": "w01", "text": "咖啡", "phonetic": "kāfēi", "translation": "coffee", "picture": "data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg ...>...</svg>" },
      { "id": "w02", "text": "对不起", "phonetic": "duìbuqǐ", "translation": "sorry" }
    ]
  }
}

Rules: "id" values use only letters, digits, ".", "_" and "-"; item ids are unique; every item has "text" and "translation"; names are at most 80 characters, texts and translations at most 200.

The answer is a block of JSON in the Tingdu wordset format. Pictures are a nice extra, and sounds are not needed at all: Tingdu speaks every word with your device’s Chinese voice. If you prefer a spreadsheet, ask for a CSV with the columns text,phonetic,translation instead.

3. Import it into Tingdu

Copy the JSON from the chat. In Tingdu, open Import from the library, paste it into the text box and tap Check pasted text. (A code block around it, the ```json lines, is fine: Tingdu removes it.) You will see the name and the number of words; tap Save. You can also save the answer as a .json file and choose it with Choose a file.

If Tingdu says “The file is not valid”, it shows exactly what is wrong, such as wordset.items[7].translation: is required. Ask the chat to fix that line, or fix it yourself; the list of messages explains each one.

4. Practise for a few minutes before you watch

Open the new wordset and play a couple of short rounds. You do not need to master the list, only to make the words familiar, so your ear catches them later. Three practices work especially well:

Five to ten minutes is plenty. Stop while it is still fun.

5. Watch, and listen for your words

Now enjoy the episode. Turn on Chinese subtitles if they are available: seeing the characters while you hear them ties the two together. If Chinese subtitles are too fast for now, use your own language’s subtitles and simply listen for the words you have just practised. Each one you catch is a small win.

Do not pause every few seconds. It is a series, not homework; let the story carry you.

6. Practise again, and rewatch one scene

After the episode, or the next day, play one more round with the same wordset. The words now have faces, voices and moments attached, and they stick much better. Then pick one scene you liked, two or three minutes long, and watch it again. You will be surprised how much more you hear the second time.

7. Enjoy it

That is the whole routine: a list, a few minutes of play, an episode you wanted to watch anyway. Repeat it with the next episode, and in a few weeks the characters will start to sound less like noise and more like people talking.

Tips

Want to write or adjust a wordset by hand? The wordset format page describes every field, shows how to add your own pictures and recordings, and has a ready example for a TV episode.