# How it compares

URL: https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/
Updated: 2026-11-05

Honest comparisons with Duolingo, HelloChinese, Pimsleur and other games for learning Chinese: what each does better, who it suits, and how to use them together.

Honest comparisons with other ways to learn Chinese. Facts about other products come from their official pages, with the date they were checked.

## Pages

- [Duolingo or Very Chinese Time in My Life for learning Chinese?](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/duolingo-chinese/): Duolingo is a daily habit on your phone for months. The game is one week of spoken Chinese in everyday situations. What each does better, and how to use both.
- [HelloChinese or Very Chinese Time in My Life?](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/hellochinese/): HelloChinese is a full Chinese course on your phone, with characters, grammar and HSK levels. The game is spoken practice for one week of everyday situations.
- [Pimsleur Mandarin or Very Chinese Time in My Life?](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/pimsleur-chinese/): Both put speaking first. Pimsleur is a long audio course you can do without a screen. The game shows you the place, the person and the words.
- [Games for learning Chinese](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/games-for-learning-chinese/): Six games on Steam that teach Mandarin, ours included: what each one is, how you learn, whether you speak, and who it suits.