Number Matching

Chinese numbers, from counting to actually using them

Numbers are among the first things you learn and among the last you use confidently. Prices, floors, phone numbers and dates all arrive faster than beginners expect. This memory game pairs Chinese numbers with their English equivalents and plays the audio as you go, so the sound and the character land together.

How to play

1. Tap any card to hear the number pronounced in Mandarin.
2. Tap the card you believe is its English equivalent.
3. Correct pairs stay face up; incorrect ones flip back over.
4. Clear the whole board to finish the round.

What you’ll practise

• The characters 一 through 十 and how they combine to build larger numbers.
• Hearing numbers at conversational speed rather than counted slowly.
• The tone on each number, which learners routinely flatten when counting quickly.
• Linking the spoken form to the written character in both directions.

Chinese numbers are more logical than English ones once the pattern clicks — eleven is simply ten-one, twenty-four is two-ten-four. The difficulty is rarely the system itself; it is recognising the numbers fast enough when a shopkeeper says a price or a colleague gives you a meeting room. Audio-first practice is what closes that gap.

Keep going

• Pinyin Matching — sharpen character reading
• Everyday Life Mandarin — practical daily language
• All mini games