"Big thanks for the software! I just started learning Chinese here at the UN, and your program is just what I need. It lets me follow up what I learn in the classroom and then explore further."
—Nikolai Galkin, United Nations

Stepping Stones Lesson One

1. Audio Immersion

Listen to the audio recording of the poem at least three times, just to familiarize yourself with its sounds. Each character represents one syllable, so you can try following along as you listen. Don't worry for now about the meanings of the characters or of the poem as a whole.

If you need more practice, you can also download this file for use on your iPod or other mp3 player.

上山, 下楼

             一二三, 上东山,

             四五六, 下西楼.

             七八九, 向南走,

             十个人, 进北门.

Once you've got a good feel for the sounds in this poem and can follow along as you listen, you are ready to go on to the next step.