Courses and reading built around what matters to you, for your exact level.
Jinbu teaches you characters and words, then turns them into content you can actually understand, so learning Chinese stays fun and never gets overwhelming.
Start reading real Chinese earlier.
Backed byscience
The most cited idea in language learning, from USC’s Stephen Krashen, is simple: you learn a language by understanding it, and reading you can mostly follow is one of the most effective ways in. The only catch is you have to understand most of what you read, and content at your exact level is almost impossible to find. Jinbu makes it out of exactly what you know, so you can start reading far earlier.
霓时，氤氲的雾霭笼罩着嶙峋的山峦，潺潺溪水穿越幽邃的峡谷；远处阡陌纵横，几缕炊烟袅袅，与暮色氲氤相融。他踌躇良久，终怅惘而叹，步履蹒跚，沿着迤逦的山径踽踽独行。两旁蓊郁的林木葳蕤，藤蔓虬结，苔痕斑驳；忽有鹡鸰掠空，鸣声呖呖，惊起蛰伏的蟋蟀。他忆及那段缱绻旧事，怆然潸然，泪湿襟袖。夜色阑珊，蟾光皎洁，蓬莱仿佛悬于云端，缥缈难及。风过萧瑟，落叶簌簌，唯余天地寥廓、苍茫无际，令人怆然而涕下。其时霜露既降，木叶凋零，寒蝉凄切；念去去千里烟波，暮霭沉沉，楚天辽阔。他独倚危栏，望断天涯，心中块垒难平，唯余怆恻之情，萦纡不去；遥想昔年觥筹交错，笙箫盈耳，而今阒寂无声，徒留怊怅。
Based on research on comprehensible input (Stephen Krashen, USC) and extensive reading (Nakanishi, 2015, a meta-analysis of 34 studies in TESOL Quarterly).
Built to be outgrown
Most language apps are built to keep you opening them, not to get you anywhere. That’s why they lean on simple games and streaks that feel like progress but barely touch real language. It’s closer to doomscrolling than learning.
Jinbu is built the opposite way: to get you understanding real Chinese, and then get out of your way. Every session pushes your vocabulary, reading, and listening just hard enough to keep you improving. It asks more of you than a game does. In return, you get better much faster.
进步 means progress. We hope you get good enough to delete it.
Learn the characters, and put them to use immediately.
Learn characters and words
A course teaches you characters from their components, then words from the characters you know. Every new thing you learn is built from pieces you already have.
Keep what you learn
Every character gets a mnemonic and a beautiful card to help it stick, and comes back for review on a schedule so you don't lose it.
Read Chinese you can actually understand
Read content built from exactly the words and characters you know, plus a little new each time, on topics you actually care about.
This is an early beta. Here’s the deal.
Jinbu is new and still rough in places. It’s free while we build it, and joining now means you help shape what it becomes. If you are excited to be a part of shaping the Chinese learning app built for progress, we want you to be a part of our beta.
Apply to join our free beta
Access is not guaranteed. We’re rolling out to a small group of learners we think are the best fit for Jinbu.
Reading today. A lot more soon.
Jinbu starts with reading because it’s the fastest way to build a real foundation. The direction is simple: everything you know, turned into Chinese you can read, watch, and understand, always at your level.
Reading
Level-matched readings built from exactly what you know.
Listening
Hear the Chinese you can already read, at your level.
Video
Watch and understand, with everything tuned to what you know.