FluencyClock

Mandarin Chinese to B1 (about HSK 5)

1,623
study hours
12.5 years
at your pace
2.5h
per week, as entered
How that number was built
FSI baseline to professional proficiency2200 h
Share of that needed for B1× 0.5
Languages you already speak× 1
How you are studying× 1.48
Total1,623 h

What we'd suggest

Ordered by how well each fits what you told us — never by what it pays us. Free options are included on purpose.

  • Anki

    free — we earn nothing
    • Anyone who needs to retain vocabulary — free, and better at spaced repetition than every paid app.
    • Matches how you said you want to study.
    • Goes to C2, so it does not run out before you do.
    • Free, and we earn nothing if you use it.
    Who this is wrong for
    • People who want a curriculum — Anki is a tool, not a course
    • Anyone unwilling to spend an evening on setup
    • Learners who need speaking practice, which this does not provide at all
    More on Anki

  • Language Reactor

    free — we earn nothing
    • Intermediate learners who want native input from video with dual subtitles, at no cost.
    • Matches how you said you want to study.
    • Goes to C1, so it does not run out before you do.
    • Free, and we earn nothing if you use it.
    Who this is wrong for
    • Beginners — unscripted native speech below A2 is noise, not input
    • Anyone without a streaming subscription to point it at
    More on Language Reactor

  • Rocket Languages

    • Learners who want one structured course covering grammar explicitly, bought once rather than rented.
    • Matches how you said you want to study.
    • Goes to B2, so it does not run out before you do.
    Who this is wrong for
    • Anyone who wants live correction from a human — this is a recorded course
    • Learners chasing a language Rocket does not cover
    • People who abandon anything longer than 15 minutes a session
    More on Rocket Languages

  • Pimsleur

    • Learners who want to speak from the first lesson and can give it thirty focused minutes of audio a day, hands-free.
    • Matches how you said you want to study.
    • Covers your B1 target, with nothing to spare above it.
    Who this is wrong for
    • Anyone who wants to read or write the language — the method is almost entirely spoken
    • Learners who need grammar explained rather than absorbed by pattern
    • People who cannot concentrate on audio alone, without a screen to look at
    More on Pimsleur

What this estimate assumes

  • The 2200-hour baseline is FSI's figure for reaching ILR S-3/R-3 (roughly C1) under intensive classroom instruction. It is not an app-hours figure.
  • A serious textbook or audio programme worked through properly. Fine early on; the gap widens higher up, because nobody corrects your errors as they form.
  • CEFR level factors and study-method coefficients are our own estimates, not published research. See /how-we-test for how each one was derived.

Every coefficient, and where it came from · Change your answers

Shareable link: https://fluencyclock.com/results?lang=zh&to=B1&via=structured-self-study&min=30&days=5