Tingbudong: Survival Chinese
Chinese for real life in China
Only for iPhone
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
iPhone
The Didi driver is calling. The landlord just texted. The menu has no pictures. Tingbudong is the Chinese you need RIGHT NOW — built for expats actually in China.
Tingbudong (听不懂) means "I don't understand" — the first phrase every expat in China masters. This app exists so you say it less.
Forget textbook Chinese. You don't need "the cat drinks milk." You need to tell the Didi driver where you're standing, decode your landlord's WeChat message, and survive the delivery guy's phone call. Tingbudong teaches exactly that: the 30 real situations China throws at you, and nothing else.
BUILT FOR THE PANIC MOMENT
Your phone rings and it's all rapid-fire Chinese? Open the app: your cheat sheets are right there. Tap a phrase for full-screen characters and loud audio — show your phone or play it out loud. No lessons required before the app becomes useful. It works on day one, mid-crisis.
MAKE EVERY PHRASE YOURS
Allergic to dairy, not peanuts? Wearing white today? Ayi comes on Fridays? Switch the key word inside a phrase and it stays set. Your cheat sheet speaks about YOUR life.
POINT YOUR CAMERA AT CHINA
A menu, a building notice, a WeChat message, a medicine box — snap it and Tingbudong turns it into a lesson: pinyin, translation, word-by-word breakdown with a real 119,000-entry dictionary, and audio. Your daily life becomes your curriculum.
AI INSIGHTS, PRIVATE BY DESIGN (Apple Intelligence)
On supported iPhones, on-device intelligence explains the tone behind the text — is the landlord being polite or firm? — and suggests a natural reply you can actually say. Nothing leaves your phone.
TRAIN YOUR EAR, NOT YOUR STREAK
Five-minute missions built around real dialogue: hear what they'll ACTUALLY say back — fast, blunt, real — and learn to catch it. Record yourself and compare with the model. Review comes back just before you'd forget. No streaks, no guilt, no cartoon owl pestering you.
30 SCENARIOS, ALL FIELD-TESTED
Didi pickup calls · delivery drivers · ordering without picture menus · milk tea protocol · allergies (seriously drilled) · landlord repairs · the ayi · pharmacy & hospital · police registration · bank accounts · SIM cards · bargaining · banquet toasts · WeChat etiquette · the haircut leap of faith · high-speed rail · and more.
PRIVATE. OFFLINE. YOURS.
Everything runs on your device: scans, audio, progress, AI. No account, no ads, no data collection. Cheat sheets work offline — exactly when China is happening to you.
Free: 6 full scenarios + 5 scans a month. Tingbudong Pro unlocks all 30 scenarios and unlimited scans.
听不懂 → 懂了.
Privacy Policy: https://tingbudong.netlify.app/support#privacy
Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Ratings & Reviews
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The developer, 丽辉 朱, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- 丽辉 朱
- Size
- 11.2 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 18.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 15.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 2.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Pro Monthly $7.99
- Pro Yearly $49.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 All Rights Reserved by Lihui Zhu