226 words: what Units 1–2 actually get you
"How many words do I need to learn Chinese?" is the wrong question. The right one is: "which words, and in what order?" The free LearnTo Mandarin course answers it concretely: 226 words across 12 units, sequenced so the first hour already gives you a working sentence.
Here is precisely what Units 1 and 2 ship, taken from the course's own curriculum data.
Unit 1 — Greetings & Introductions (18 words)
Not a phrasebook fragment — a full set of building blocks: 你好 nǐ hǎo (hello), 再见 zài jiàn (goodbye), 谢谢 xiè xie (thank you), 不客气 bù kèqi (you're welcome), plus the grammar pieces to make sentences: 我 wǒ (I), 你 nǐ (you), 他/她 tā (he/she), 是 shì (to be), 吗 ma (the yes/no question particle), 什么 shén me (what), 名字 míng zi (name).
With those 18 words and the unit's grammar note — pronouns + 是 + 吗 — you can ask the question every language app makes you parrot without understanding: 你叫什么名字？ Nǐ jiào shén me míng zi? What's your name? The unit's dialogue scene ("First day") is exactly that: two students meeting outside a classroom, eight lines, all voiced.
Unit 2 — Numbers, Time & Dates (24 words)
Mandarin numbers are the easiest system in the language, and Unit 2 exploits that. 一 through 十 (yī to shí), then 百 bǎi (hundred), 千 qiān (thousand), 万 wàn (ten thousand) — and from those you compose everything: eleven is ten-one 十一, twenty-one is two-ten-one 二十一. There is no irregular form anywhere.
The rest of the unit puts numbers to work immediately: 现在 xiànzài (now), 今天 jīntiān (today), 明天 míngtiān (tomorrow), 昨天 zuótiān (yesterday), 点 diǎn (o'clock), 分钟 fēnzhōng (minute), 星期 xīngqī (week), and the general measure word 个 gè. Its grammar rule — time words go before the verb — is the difference between sounding fluent and translating English in your head.
What 42 words buy you
By the end of two units you can greet someone, ask and give a name, say thanks, count into the tens of thousands, name today and tomorrow, and make a plan — Unit 2's dialogue is titled "Making a plan," seven lines of two people using exactly this vocabulary. Each unit ends in a recall quiz: Chu plays the spoken word and never says the English, so you either remember it or re-listen. Multiple-choice recognition wouldn't teach you any more than reading a menu teaches you to cook.
Units unlock in order — Unit 2 opens when Unit 1 is complete — which sounds strict and is actually the point: nobody panics at Unit 9 on day two. Greetings, then numbers, then family, then food.
The full ladder
The remaining ten units keep the same shape: 18–20 words, one grammar idea, one original dialogue scene. Family (哥哥 gēge older brother vs 弟弟 dìdi younger brother — Chinese really does distinguish them), food and ordering, daily routine, directions, shopping, health, travel, feelings, work, and politely declining an invitation in Unit 12.
All of it is free at learnsto.com/mandarin — no trial timer, no bait-and-switch. Twenty-six words in, you'll have said 你好 out loud to a teacher who reacts when you show up.