【Taste of Secret Sex】

If you've always wanted to learn the most widely spoken language in the world,Taste of Secret Sex now's your chance.

Starting today, the free language-learning app Duolingo is offering a brand new course: Mandarin Chinese.

SEE ALSO: Google is offering $1000 to anyone who can hack Tinder, Snapchat, Dropbox, and more

If you don't speak a word of Chinese, never fear: The course first teaches you the basics of names, numbers, and greetings, before moving into foods, occupations, hobbies, and conversational skills for every occasion.

If you already know some Chinese, there's a placement test that will allow you to skip over early parts of the course. Be warned, however, that Duolingo starts with both speaking and reading/writing right off the bat. If you're like me, and can speak some tentative Mandarin but can't read or write a word, you'll want to start at the beginning.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

The exercises vary in topic and structure, so you won't get bored, or too comfortable. In one lesson, I was asked to match characters with their pinyin (Romanized Chinese) syllables, translate pinyin syllables back to characters, match spoken Chinese words to their pinyin syllables, and finally translate characters to English. As you advance, the pinyin is phased out, and you graduate from matching characters to translating full phrases and sentences between English and Chinese.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

There's a lot more to keep track of than there would be in a French or Spanish class, but the course moves slowly, and you can go back and repeat any lesson as many times as you'd like. Duolingo will also provide practice exercises tailored to your weaknesses.

And no matter how frustrating a lesson is, nothing can beat the the feeling of a cute green owl congratulating you when you've done something right.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Chinese is a difficult language to learn, particularly because its writing system and tonal elements are incredibly different from anything familiar to English speakers. But Duolingo has done an admirable job of making the monumental task accessible and fun.

---

Featured Video For You

---

This NYU student went undercover as a worker in a Chinese iPhone factory

---

Topics Innovations

• Entertainment
• Digital Culture
• Life
• Science
• Deals
• Social Good
• Games
• Tech

• The Sound and the “Furious”
• Apple Watch Series 10: Where to pre
• Unionized Apple Store workers in Oklahoma secure tentative agreement
• Sinner vs. Fritz 2024 livestream: Watch US Open final for free in UK
• Bargaining For the Common Good
• Unionized Apple Store workers in Oklahoma secure tentative agreement
• The new all
• The new all
• Testing Windows 10 Performance Before and After the Meltdown Flaw Emergency Patch
• Montenegro vs. Wales 2024 livestream: Watch UEFA Nations League for free

• 'M3GAN' ending explainer: How that final shot sets up a sequel
• Unpacking Mike Fiers' incredibly bizarre baseball beard
• M3GAN the murder doll weighs in on Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, Chucky and more
• Driver's accidental text leads to hilariously stressful Grubhub experience
• Keke Palmer not knowing Dick Cheney is the new meme for ignoring your ex
• TCL's NXTPAPER Pro 12 tablet is average but so soft
• Planned Parenthood's app is expanding access to birth control
• CES 2023: Meet the selfie
• TikTok creators will soon be able to restrict their videos to adults
• Where to see Earth's dying glaciers before they disappear

• 10 Tech Predictions for 2017
• iPhone 16 Pro features: Forget the fancy AI stuff, you'll want these 2 key things
• Connecticut Sun vs. Los Angeles Sparks 2024 livestream: Watch live WNBA
• NYT mini crossword answers for September 10
• Tennessee vs. UCLA 2025 livestream: How to watch March Madness for free
• Montenegro vs. Wales 2024 livestream: Watch UEFA Nations League for free
• Buccaneers vs. Commanders 2024 livestream: How to watch NFL for free
• Crypto scams grew by nearly 50 percent with over $5.6 billion in losses last year
• Useful or Little Known Android Features
• Las Vegas Aces vs. Indiana Fever 2024 livestream: Watch live WNBA

• Should You Quit Your Job To Go Make Video Games?
• Plane snaps rare footage of a spacecraft reentering Earth from space
• Seattle Storm vs. Los Angeles Sparks 2024 livestream: Watch live WNBA
• iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max launched at Apple 'Glowtime' event
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 26: Tips to solve Connections #215
• iPhone 16 Pro features: Forget the fancy AI stuff, you'll want these 2 key things
• Unionized Apple Store workers in Oklahoma secure tentative agreement
• 5 things Apple didn't tell you at iPhone 16 launch event
• 'Black Mirror' Season 7: 'Hotel Reverie,' explained
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for September 8