The Duolingo alternative that gets you speaking Mandarin
Duolingo is great at one thing: getting you to show up. Where it leaves people stuck is speaking. You can keep a 500-day streak and still not be able to hold a conversation in Mandarin, because tapping the right tiles isn't the same as talking.
Parlita keeps the daily habit but points it at the real goal. You have actual Mandarin conversations, act inside living stories, and the words you fumble get woven into spaced repetition so they stick. Mandarin has no conjugations or genders. The work is in the tones, which is exactly why saying it aloud early beats silent study. Try a live conversation in the demo and feel the difference.
These are the exact phrases your first session teaches, and you'll use them in a real conversation, not just read them. Try it in the demo.
For speaking, yes, that's the whole point of it. Duolingo is stronger for casual daily vocab tapping. If your goal is to actually talk to people in Mandarin, Parlita is built for that.
Yes, Parlita has streaks, XP, and daily goals too. The difference is what the habit is aimed at: real conversation, not matching exercises.
It's free to start and use daily. Pro unlocks unlimited conversations and custom word packs for less than most single tutoring sessions.