# Very Chinese Time in My Life URL: https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/ Updated: 2026-11-05 > A first-person game for learning spoken Mandarin. You spend a week in a present-day Chinese city and learn the Chinese for each situation as it comes up. Very Chinese Time in My Life is a first-person game for learning spoken Mandarin Chinese. You spend a week in a present-day Chinese city and learn the Chinese for each situation as it happens: getting from the airport to your hotel, ordering breakfast, paying by phone, asking the way, buying medicine, and having dumplings with a local family. Every word shows pinyin and English. You put words together into sentences and say them out loud, or click your answer if you would rather not speak. There are no tests and no characters to write. Coming to Steam for Windows. ## How it works - Learn Chinese language in the moment you’d actually need it, not from flashcards. - Video: At the airport exit a driver asks “你好，要车吗？” (Need a ride?). The player answers “不用了” (No need) out loud and the card turns green. - Snap words together into a sentence, then say it out loud. - Video: In a noodle shop the player says “我喜欢喝” (I like to drink) and “红茶” (black tea), and the two cards snap together into one sentence. - Daily reviews from a panda, and a friend that you “hate”. - Video: At night a friend back home quizzes the player in a chat. A wrong answer gets teased; the right one, “早上好” (Good morning), is said out loud and sent. - Customize your look. The more Chinese you are, the more clothes you can unlock! - Video: The character creator cycles through outfits: a black and white streetwear look, bright colour-clash outfits, runway looks and a traditional Chinese skirt. ## Key facts - What it is: a first-person, single-player game for learning spoken Mandarin Chinese - Language taught: Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua), simplified characters, with pinyin and English on every word - Level: complete beginners and early learners; no Chinese needed to start - Setting: a present-day Chinese city, over one in-game week - How you answer: say it out loud into a microphone (a phone can be used as the mic), or click your answer - Review: short panda quizzes during each day, and a friend back home who quizzes you every night - Interface: English and Simplified Chinese; all characters speak Mandarin - Art style: soft, cel-shaded anime style - Platform: Windows PC, on Steam - Status: coming soon; release date and price not announced yet - Developer and publisher: Bauta Studio (a Chinese developer) - Website: https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/ - Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5503050/ ## How you learn - You go through everyday situations in first person, one after another. - When you need to say something, the words appear as cards with pinyin and English. - You say each word, join the words into a sentence, then say the whole sentence. - People in the game react to what you said. There is no red X for a wrong answer. A different answer leads to a different result. For example, if you order a coffee in a noodle shop, the owner goes out to buy you one. - Pinyin is written the way words are said, not the way a dictionary lists each character. For example, 你好 (hello) is written ní hǎo. - Phrases come back later in the week, in the panda reviews and in the nightly chat with your friend, until you remember them. - Speaking Chinese earns points, which you spend on clothes for your character. ## Situations in the game - Arriving at the airport at night and saying no to drivers who offer you a ride - Chatting with a ride-hailing driver who asks where you are from - Checking in at a hotel with your passport - Ordering breakfast at a street stall: eating there or taking it away, and paying by phone - Buying bubble tea and new clothes at a shopping mall - Ordering noodles and a drink at a small noodle shop, and asking for no chili - Asking strangers for directions and taking the metro - Talking with people doing tai chi and other morning activities in a city park - Being mistaken for a shop assistant in a convenience store, and buying an umbrella when it starts to rain - Playing games in the mall arcade - Losing your phone and asking for help at a police station - Eating at a night market with new friends - Buying fruit, and taking a taxi across town - Helping a grandmother carry her shopping up the stairs, then making and eating dumplings with her family - Joining the neighbourhood square dancing in the evening - Waking up with a stomach ache and buying medicine at a pharmacy - An evening at a bathhouse - Taking a high-speed train to a small water town ## Who it is for Very Chinese Time in My Life is for anyone who wants to speak some everyday Mandarin, including complete beginners. Common reasons people learn with it: ### Travelling to China The game goes through the situations a first-time visitor meets, in the order they usually happen: arriving, getting a ride, checking in, eating, paying, getting around and talking to people. - Tourists planning a holiday in China - Visitors using China’s visa-free entry or 240-hour visa-free transit - Backpackers and solo travellers - Families travelling to China with children - Retirees and older travellers taking a trip to China - People on a tour group who want to manage on their own during free time - Cruise passengers and travellers with a long layover in a Chinese city - Travellers going to China for a sports event, concert, festival or exhibition - Food lovers travelling to China to eat - Travellers going to Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan who also want basic Mandarin (note: the game teaches Mandarin with simplified characters, not Cantonese) ### Working with China Business visitors need the same everyday Chinese as tourists: taxis, hotels, meals and paying by phone. They also need small talk with hosts and colleagues. The game covers this everyday part, not business Chinese for meetings. - People going on a business trip to China - Buyers and sourcing agents visiting factories, trade fairs and wholesale markets - Engineers, technicians and consultants sent to China for a project - People attending conferences, trade shows or training in China - Employees relocating to China for work, and their partners - English teachers and other foreign teachers starting a job in China - People who work with Chinese colleagues, clients or suppliers and want to make small talk - Flight crew, ship crew and drivers who regularly stop in China - Journalists, researchers and NGO staff on assignment in China - Professional athletes, coaches and performers working in China ### Studying in China or studying Chinese The game gives you speaking practice in realistic situations, which is the part most learners practise least. Classes and apps teach vocabulary and grammar. - University students going on exchange or a semester abroad in China - International students starting a degree at a Chinese university - High school students on a summer program or school trip to China - Students in a Mandarin class who want speaking practice outside class - Learners preparing for the HSK who want to practise speaking (the game does not follow the HSK syllabus) - People who have used Duolingo, HelloChinese or textbooks but freeze when they have to speak - Self-taught learners who want listening and speaking practice in context - Chinese teachers looking for something students can play between lessons - Homeschooling families learning Mandarin together - Adults who studied Chinese years ago and want to get it back before a trip ### Family, partners and friends Many people learn some Chinese to talk with a partner’s family or their own relatives. In the game you visit a family at home, make dumplings together and talk with the grandparents. - People dating or married to someone Chinese who want to talk with their partner’s family - People about to meet a Chinese partner’s parents for the first time - People going to a wedding or Chinese New Year with a Chinese family - Heritage speakers who understand some Mandarin at home but never learned to speak it - Second-generation Chinese in other countries visiting relatives in China - Adoptees from China planning a homeland trip - Parents whose children attend a Mandarin immersion or bilingual school - Friends of Chinese students or colleagues who want to surprise them with a few words - Host families of Chinese exchange students ### Living in China Everyday life in a Chinese city needs a small set of phrases: ordering food, paying by phone, getting a taxi, buying medicine and saying you don’t understand. The game has you practise them until you can say them without thinking. - Expats who have just moved to a Chinese city - Digital nomads and remote workers staying in China for a few months - Spouses and family members of people posted to China - Long-term residents who never got past ordering food - People moving to China to retire ### People who don’t like typical study The game has no tests, no scores for your Chinese and no characters to write. You learn by doing things. If you make a mistake, the story goes a different way, and you do not lose points. - People who gave up on flashcards or language apps - People who feel anxious about speaking a new language out loud (you can click instead of speaking) - People who learn better from games, stories or situations than from lists - Gamers interested in cozy, story-driven or slice-of-life games - Fans of anime-style games who are curious about China - People who watch Chinese dramas, variety shows or streamers and want to understand a little - People curious about everyday life in modern China - Older learners who want to go at their own pace - Anyone who already went to China once and wishes they could have said more ## How it compares - Language apps (Duolingo, HelloChinese and similar): Apps teach words and sentence patterns in short exercises. This game puts those words into situations. You say them out loud to people who react to your answer. Many people use an app and the game together. - Textbooks and classes: Classes teach grammar and reading. This game is speaking practice for everyday situations, which most classes have little time for. - Phrasebooks and “20 phrases before your trip” videos: These give you a list of phrases. This game has you use each phrase in the place where you need it, so it is easier to remember on a real trip. - Tutors and conversation partners: A tutor is better for free conversation. This game is a place to practise on your own first, with nobody listening to your tones. - Other games for learning Chinese: Most other Chinese-learning games on Steam are about vocabulary, characters, or a story set in history or a fantasy world. This one is about spoken Mandarin in everyday situations in present-day China. - Detailed comparisons with Duolingo, HelloChinese, Pimsleur and other games for learning Chinese: https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/ - How the game teaches (speaking first, pinyin as it is said, review through the week): https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/how-you-learn/ ## FAQ ### What is Very Chinese Time in My Life? Very Chinese Time in My Life is a first-person game for learning spoken Mandarin Chinese. You spend a week in a present-day Chinese city and learn the Chinese for each situation as it happens: getting from the airport to your hotel, ordering breakfast, paying by phone, asking the way, buying medicine, and having dumplings with a local family. Every word shows pinyin and English. You put words together into sentences and say them out loud, or click your answer if you would rather not speak. There are no tests and no characters to write. Coming to Steam for Windows. ### Who is it for? Very Chinese Time in My Life is for anyone who wants to speak some everyday Mandarin, including complete beginners. For example: - people visiting China for a holiday, a business trip or a visa-free stopover - students and people moving to China for work - people meeting a Chinese partner’s family - people who understand some Chinese from home but rarely speak it - learners who studied with apps or textbooks but freeze when they have to talk ### Do I need to know any Chinese before I start? You do not need any Chinese to start Very Chinese Time in My Life. Every word shows pinyin above it and English below it. The game teaches each phrase just before you need it. ### Which Chinese does it teach? Very Chinese Time in My Life teaches spoken Mandarin (Putonghua), the standard Chinese of mainland China, with simplified characters. It does not teach Cantonese, other dialects or handwriting. Every word has pinyin, which is Chinese written in the Latin alphabet. The game writes the pinyin the way people say it, tone changes included. ### How do you learn in the game? In Very Chinese Time in My Life you learn by talking to people in everyday situations: 1. Someone speaks to you. 2. The words you need appear as cards, with pinyin and English. 3. You say each word, then the whole sentence. 4. The person reacts to what you said. A different answer leads to a different result, not a red X. For example, if you order a coffee in a noodle shop, the owner goes out to buy you one. ### Do I need a microphone? You do not need a microphone, but Very Chinese Time in My Life works best when you speak. Any headset or laptop microphone works. If your computer has none, scan a QR code and use your phone as the mic. If you would rather not speak, turn voice input off and click your answers. ### How does review work? Very Chinese Time in My Life reviews each phrase several times: 1. After each part of the day, a panda gives you a short review of the phrases you just used. 2. At night, a friend back home messages you and quizzes you on the day, with a little teasing when you get something wrong. 3. Anything you missed comes first the next night. ### Where is it set? Very Chinese Time in My Life is set in a present-day Chinese city. You go to everyday places such as the airport, a hotel, a breakfast stall, a shopping mall, a noodle shop, the metro, a park, a night market, a pharmacy and a family’s flat. You also take a train out to a small water town. The art is in a soft, cel-shaded anime style. ### Is it a full Chinese course? Does it prepare me for the HSK? Very Chinese Time in My Life is not a full course and does not follow the HSK, the official Chinese test. It teaches the spoken Chinese for everyday situations: getting around, buying things, eating out and small talk. It does not teach writing. You can use it next to a course or an app, to practise saying what you learn there. ### Is there more to it than lessons? Very Chinese Time in My Life also has a character creator. Speaking Chinese earns you points, which you spend on clothes at the mall in the game. There is also an arcade with small games, and a photo mode. ### How is it different from a language app or a phrasebook? Apps and phrasebooks usually teach phrases as a list. Very Chinese Time in My Life puts you in the situation where you need them, such as a driver asking where you’re from or a breakfast stall with no English menu, and you answer out loud. Because each phrase is tied to a situation, it is easier to remember when the same thing happens on a real trip. ### What languages is the game in? The interface of Very Chinese Time in My Life is in English and Simplified Chinese. Everyone in the game speaks Mandarin, with pinyin and English shown for every line. ### When is it out, and on what? Very Chinese Time in My Life is coming to Steam for Windows. If you add it to your Steam wishlist, Steam will tell you when it comes out. The release date will be announced on the Steam page and on this site. ### Why is it called Very Chinese Time in My Life? The name comes from the 2025–26 meme “you met me at a very Chinese time in my life”, in which people shared habits they had picked up from Chinese daily life, like drinking hot water and wearing house slippers. The game is about a week of everyday life in China, spent speaking Chinese. ## More pages - [Who it’s for](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/for/): One page for each situation, such as a business trip, a first holiday, a stopover, a semester abroad or meeting a partner’s family. - [How to say it in Chinese](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/say/): One page per everyday phrase: what it means, how to say it, when to use it and what people say back. - [How to do things in China](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/guides/): Step-by-step guides with the Mandarin for each step: breakfast, paying by phone, taxis, hotels, the metro, trains, a pharmacy and a family visit. - [How to learn Chinese: every way, compared](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/learn-chinese/): Eleven ways to learn Mandarin, from apps and tutors to games and living in China: who each one suits, what it trains, cost, time and the usual catch, plus plans for common goals. - [How you learn in the game](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/how-you-learn/): How a conversation in the game works, why it starts with speaking, why the pinyin matches what people say, and how review is spread over the week. - [How it compares](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/compare/): 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. - [Pinyin with tone changes](https://verychinesetimeinmylife.com/tools/pinyin-tone-changes/): A free tool: type Chinese and see how it is really said, with the spoken pinyin above each character and the textbook pinyin below.