Learn Chinese with comics! The Adventures of MonkMan (和尚人 hé shang rén). He’s made it his goal to travel the world teaching Chinese to all!

This is probably not that original, but I just got a tablet and wanted to use it! I’ve always loved the idea of using cartoons to teach.

Apparently I had started trying to teach Chinese even back in my 8th grade English class portfolio in middle school, as below. No drawings needed, but I always found an excuse to decorate and draw whenever I could.

This ended up being something way more elaborate than originally planned! You had to read all 3 of my portfolio stories in order to be able to answer the questions at the end. Your prize, the ancient “Jing books,” contained a beginner’s Chinese lesson!

8th grade English class portfolio intro. These are real characters from the famous Chinese tale “Xi You Ji” (Journey to the West)
8th grade English class portfolio ending. The “prize” you earn at the end!
Please refer to it to help with pronunciations of Chinese characters (Pin Yin).


Or you can click on this link about Pin Yin that has audio examples.
Nciku.com is also a fantastic English-Chinese dictionary!

Click here to go to his first lesson!

After re-vamping the website (and all the links needed changing), I decided to put all the pages/lessons on here for ease of reading! Enjoy!

Learn Chinese with Comics, The Adventures of MonkMan! Summary/Review of Words

Note: If there's no PinYin (in red) above a Chinese character showing you how to pronounce it, it's because it's appeared before in a previous lesson and you should review!!

Lesson 40:

严重 = serious/severe
性交 = sex
婚姻 = marriage
明白 = to understand
错误 = mistake (错 = wrong from Lessons 9-10)

Lesson 39:

所以 = so, thus, hence
发现 = to discover/find

Lesson 38:

高中(学) = high school
高 = high/tall
中学 = middle school
小学 = elementary school
终于 = finally/at last
自己的 = own (as in "my own life")

生活 = life
大人 = adult (literally "big person")

(小)孩子 = (small) child

Lesson 37:

知道 = to know (see lesson 5)
完美的 = perfect
完 = end, finish, whole, complete
美 = beautiful, good

Lesson 36:

时候 = time
小时候 = childhood (literally small + time, when I was small)
非常 = extremely/very
家 = house/home/family

Lesson 35:

好的 = okay
先 = before, first, earlier
后 = after, later
一杯 =one cup (of tea)
再 = again
(再喝一杯 = drink another cup of tea)

Lesson 34:

有用 = useful (to have use)
有 = to have
用 = to use
好多了 = to become a lot better
听说 = to hear of

听 = to hear/listen
说 = to say/speak
过 = in the past/before
听说过 = to have heard of before

忘了 = forgot

Lesson 33:

小心 = to be careful
黑心 = ruthless
黑 = black
放心 = to not worry/be reassured
放 = to let go of/release
伤心 = upset/stressed
伤 = injury/wound
Many other words/phrases contain "心"!


Lesson 32:


开心 = happy (literally "open heart")
开心果 = happy fruit (LOL pistachios were named this because they look like they're smiling from a top view angle)
以后 = after
以前 = before
问题 = problem(s)
都 = all
厉害 = powerful/amazing

Lesson 31:


回来 = to return/come back
还 = still/also
哭 = to cry(在哭 = crying)
买 = to buy
卖 = to sell

Lesson 30:


入口 = entrance
出口 = exit
店 = shop/store
进 = in/enter
进来 = come in (I don't have a good explanation for why it's not "入来" sorry)
出去 = go out
不客气 = you're welcome (literally means "don't be a guest!/don't have the air of a guest"
客人 = guest

Lesson 29:


看 = to see/watch (见 is also to see. These can be combined to say "看见")
出 = out/exit
入 = in/enter
来 = come
去 = go
我能看出来 = phrase that means "I can see/I can tell/I just know"

坏 = bad
能 = can (from lessons 14 & 11)
人 = human/person/man (from lesson 7)

Lesson 28:


喝 = to drink
一杯 = one cup
那就 ___ 吧 = let's do ____ then
汽水 = soda
气 = air
不用了 = no need
用 = to use/need
好 = good/okay

Lesson 27:



酒 = alcohol/liquor
啤酒 = beer
葡萄酒 = wine
葡萄 = grape
水 = water
果汁 = (fruit) juice
(水)果 = (water) fruit
(牛)奶 = (cow's) milk
咖啡 = coffee
茶 = tea


Lesson 26:



(吃)饱了 = eat until full
多 = a lot/more
少 = a little/less
多少 = how much (more or less)
太 = too (see lesson 11)
太多 = too much
给 = to give
买 = to buy
给你<verb> = to <verb> for you/to give you the gift of doing <verb> for you

饮料 = drink (noun)/beverage


Lesson 25:



好吃 = delicious (good eats)
点菜 = to order (at a restaurant)
点 = point, o'clock, little, nod, many meanings, will cover later
做饭 = to cook (make food)
做 = make

Lesson 24:


牛 = cow
猪 = pig
鸭 = duck
羊 = sheep
鸡 = chicken
火鸡 = turkey
肉 = meat (adding on "meat" to an animal turns "cow" into "beef" and "pig" into "pork”, etc)
火 = fire
豆腐 = tofu/bean curd
豆 = bean

Lesson 23:


吃的 = food (technically, "that which you can eat")
吃 = to eat (from lesson 21)
的 = possessive marker (from lesson 7)
菜 = vegetable
鱼 = fish
肉 = meat
米饭 = rice
吃饭 = to eat a meal (technically, to eat rice)
面 = noodles/flour
汤 = soup

Lesson 22:


这儿 = here
那儿 = there
哪儿 = where
Notice the difference between "there" and "where" is just a "口" (mouth), which usually marks a sound effect
口 = mouth (also seen in lessons 21, 18 and 3)

Lesson 21:


什么 = what
时候 = period of time
社么时候 = when
怎么 = how
吃 = to eat
走 = to go/walk
口 = mouth (also seen in lessons 18 and 3)

Lesson 20:

下 = next/bottom
上 = previous/top
需要 = need (note that "要" (want) is in it)
在 = were/are/state of being or location (similar but different from "是" from (lesson 5))
哪儿 = where
为什么 = why

Lesson 19:

什么 = what
应该 = should
干 = to do
我应该干什么 = what should I do (or technically "I should do what?")

It can take a bit to get the hang of Chinese grammar and how to piece sentences together, but stick with it!!
And if you make a mistake in the order of words, no one will fault you for trying, and can generally understand what you meant

Lesson 18:

没事 = it's ok/no problem/no matter (see lesson 11)
后 = after
前 = before
吧 = a command marker (think of it like an "!" or "let's <verb>")
走吧 = let's go
口 = mouth (Note: lesson 3's “yes or no question marker”/"?" 吗 had a 口 in it too!!)

Lesson 17:

Aww our sweet MonkMan is so innocent!! ^_^;

走 = to go/walk
想 = to think/want, or think of/miss
要 = to want, but in some cases can mean "will" or "have to"
西 = west
南 = south
北 = north
东 = east

Lesson 16:


天 = day or sky
日 = day or sun
星期/周 = week
星星 = star
月= month or moon
年 = year
谢谢 (你)= thank (you)
好心 = kind(-hearted)
心 = heart

Lesson 15:

当然 = of course
傻瓜 = idiot
傻 = stupid/silly
瓜 = melon (don't know why... haha maybe this is where "melonhead" came from? Or calling the head a melon?)
想 = think/want to do
会 = will/future marker
请 = please
给 = give
天 = day

Lesson 14:

要 = want
能 = can/capable/ability (also from Lesson 11)
但是 = but
中文 = Chinese
中 = middle
文 = language
(中国 = "middle country"/China)

Lesson 13:

真的 = really (literally "of reality")
年 = year
一, 二, 三, 四, 五 = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
六, 七, 八, 九, 十 = 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
百 = hundred
千 = thousand
万 = ten-thousand
You combine the characters above to make whatever number you want!


Lesson 12:

什么 = what
好 = good, but can also mean "VERY," as in this case (depends on context!)
小 = small/young
大 = big/old
要 = want
也 = also
四 = four
岁 = years (when describing age, not time)

Lesson 11:

没事 = no issue/problem/"it doesn't matter"
没 = no/negator (不 also is negator! they're used differently; 没 is more for nouns, and 不 is more for verbs/adjectives)
事 = problem/accident/trouble/thing/responsibility*


对不起 = sorry
太 = too
过分 = much/excessive
能 = can/capable/ability
了 = a particle that implies past tense or completion of something


Lesson 10:

不错 = not wrong/incorrect, can also be used as an expression to say "hey, not bad/pretty good"
= right
和 = and
= left


Lesson 9:

爱/愛 = love (Sorry if it adds confusion, but I just thought this was too cool of a fact not to share! I'm teaching Modern (Simplified) Chinese, but the Traditional Chinese characters are the classic, original characters. I thought it was really interesting how they changed the character for "love." It originally included the word for "heart" but now it includes "friend." I think both are very, very accurate! :))
友 = friend
心 = heart
对 = right/correct
错 = wrong/incorrect


Lesson 8:

= male/man
女 = female/woman
孩子 = child
子 is versatile, but by itself means young/child/son*
妈妈 = mom
爸爸 = dad


Lesson 7:

和尚 = Buddhist monk
人 = human/person/man
名字 = name
龙 = dragon
的 = a complex particle used behind noun, verb, adjective or phrases to indicate possession (therefore serving as an " 's "), or extent/level*



Lesson 6:

们 = pluralizer
我 = I/me
我们 = we/us
你 = you
你们 = you all
他 = he/him
她 = she/her
它 = it
他/她/它 + 们 = they


Lesson 5:

是 = yes or "to be/is/are"
不 = "no" or a negater
不知道 = don't know


Lesson 4:

吗 = a particle used at the end of a question, usually a "yes" or "no" question*
你好吗 = how are you?
再见吗 = see you again?


Lesson 3:

马 = horse
吗 = a particle used at the end of a question, usually a "yes" or "no" question*


Lesson 2:

再见 = Bye
再 = again
见 = see


Lesson 1:

你好 = Hello
你 = you
= good




If there's no PinYin (in red) above a Chinese character showing you how to pronounce it, it's because it's appeared before in a previous lesson and you should review!!

The more complex words have a * next to them
The grammar points are bolded

My favorite Chinese-English dictionary: www.nciku.com

Love it? Hate it? Questions?? All comments and feedback are appreciated! Message me!