Begin with a real situation
Choose a situation you can describe now, even in simple terms: a pet, a meal, your bedroom, or a journey to work. The best first theme is one whose words you have a reason to revisit. You do not need to start with the largest or hardest set.
Write a small goal before browsing: I want to name five animals in Chinese, or I want to understand three words on a food card. A goal like this gives you a stopping point and a way to check progress. Learning every word on the site is too broad for one session.
Set the language pair
The website language menu controls the language used for navigation and explanations. The Learning selector controls the target language. For an English speaker studying Chinese, select English for the website and Chinese for Learning, then open Themes.
Check the labels on the theme page after switching. A route such as /learn/chinese/from/english/themes means Chinese is the target and English is the explanation language. If you see the wrong translations, check both selectors rather than repeatedly changing the theme.
Choose the activity for your goal
If you want to recognise words, start with images and meanings. For listening, use available recordings and try to identify a word before looking. For reading, use example sentences and the theme story. For recall, close the page and say or write the words from your own prompts.
The association game is useful for a category task: noticing which words belong together. Use the instructions on the game page, then return to a theme card for pronunciation and examples. A game result and a language learning goal measure different things.
Plan the next visit
End by noting two words you missed and one sentence you understood. At your next visit, check those two words before opening a new topic. If five words were too much, reduce the next set to three. If they were easy, add another small set and mix old and new prompts.
For a week, keep one familiar theme as your anchor and add one neighbouring theme. Animals and home can help you describe a pet indoors; food and kitchen can help you describe preparing a meal. Choose the pair for the sentences you actually want to make.