Questions and answers

Short answers; the lab's own help page has the detail for every tab.

What's the difference between TingliLab.com and TingliLab.org?

One lab, two sites, and the name carries the difference. TingliLab.org is the free tone lab: Tones, Dictation and Write, with no account and no limits, working offline once you've prepared a voice. The full TingliLab, which this site explains and which lives at mandarin.lexlovers.com, adds Listen (clips written from your own word list), Talk (a conversation partner), Texts, sync across your devices, and classes for teachers. It has free accounts with daily limits, and a paid version may follow if there is demand.

Is it really free? What's the catch?

What does a free account cost? Nothing. It's limited so the lab's bills stay small: 3 clips, 1 text passage, and 1 conversation of up to 10 partner turns with its debrief a day, every day (a monthly ceiling for all free accounts together would stop new clips and conversations only if the month's spending reached it, and the lab would say so); tone practice, dictation and writing on the HSK 1–3 words are unlimited. There are 100 places to start, for people 18 or over, one for each email address: a link the lab emails you opens the sign-up form.

The catch, if it is one: free accounts are part of a costing test, to see how many I can sustain on a limited budget and whether there's enough interest for a paid version with a larger allowance. It may follow if there is, and nothing available here requires payment at this time; the Accounts page says what the founder offer would be. The free tone lab at tinglilab.org has no limits and no account at all.

Do I need an account?

Not to look around. Try it without an account, on the sign-in screen, opens a trial with every drill and a few clips a day; what you do there stays in your browser. A free account keeps your word bank, clips, drills, writing and conversations, and syncs them across your devices. For tone practice, dictation and handwriting only, the free tone lab at tinglilab.org needs no account at all.

Who can sign up?

Anyone 18 or over can make a free account on the sign-in screen: type your email address, and the link the lab emails you opens the sign-up form, where you choose a username and a password. One free account per address, and the address lets you reset a forgotten password yourself. Under-18s use the lab only as students of a teacher, who makes their login with a parent's or carer's consent; see Teachers.

Will there be a paid version, and what would it cost?

No price is set, and nothing available here requires payment at this time; a paid version may follow if there is demand. Free accounts are there to find out how many I can sustain on a limited budget, and whether enough people want more than the free limits allow; if I go ahead with a paid version (a larger allowance for 30 days at a time, no subscription, no auto-renewal, no card details stored), I'll say so on the Accounts page and in the lab at least 30 days before anything changes for free accounts. If paid accounts do happen, anyone with a free account created by 31 December 2026 (23:59 AEDT) pays half the regular price for as long as they keep renewing; the regular price will be published before anything requires payment.

What happens to my data?

This site keeps nothing about you beyond its server's standard access logs, kept 15 days (its privacy statement). The lab keeps only what it needs to run: your username, your practice data, and logs that keep it safe and working. There are no ads, nothing from advertising or analytics companies, and it never sells data. Outside services do some of the work: Anthropic (Claude) writes practice texts and plays the conversation partner, Microsoft Azure makes the voices and listens to your speech in the Talk tab, and Postmark sends the lab's email (the links you ask for, and the notice about free accounts when there is one); neither Anthropic nor Microsoft trains its AI on your data. Each night the server's data is copied to an encrypted backup, kept for up to two months. You can download all your data at any time, and a free account can delete itself in Settings. The detail is in the lab's privacy statement.

Are the voices real people?

No. The voices are Microsoft Azure neural voices, not recordings of people. Every syllable the Tones tab drills, in all four tones, was synthesised once in four voices (three Mainland, one Taiwan), and every HSK 1–3 word in seven, and they are stored by TingliLab; anything else is synthesised when you ask for it. The voices take turns, because hearing many voices is what makes the skill transfer.

Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin?

Both. Readings can be shown in pinyin, in 注音 zhuyin or both, and the lab can follow Mainland Putonghua or, provisionally, Taiwan Guoyu: Guoyu switches listening to Taiwanese voices, uses Taiwan readings for common words whose tones differ (星期 xīngqí, 垃圾 lèsè), and each word is marked by the standard of the voice that said it. The tone judge compares your pitch with Mainland references; a properly calibrated Guoyu judge needs Taiwanese reference recordings and is planned. Characters are shown simplified for now; traditional display is planned too.

I'm learning Taiwanese Mandarin. Settings → Clips → Standard → Guoyu.

I learned with zhuyin, not pinyin. Settings → Clips → Readings → 注音 (or both), and in Dictation choose type 注音.

Does it work on my phone, and offline?

Yes. Open it in Chrome or Safari and use the browser's menu → Add to Home screen; it then opens like an app. Offline, it works for what's been prepared: Prepare 5 makes clips in advance, Prepare 40 loads drill items, and Settings → Voices → Prepare this voice (about 34 MB) keeps all of one voice's tones and HSK words on the device. Making new clips, and talking to the partner, need a connection.

What level is it for?

Beginners to lower intermediate, roughly HSK 1 to 3. The tone drills, dictation and handwriting cover the HSK 1–3 words; Listen writes clips around words from your own list, at the length and difficulty you set; Talk has four levels (HSK 1, HSK 1–2, HSK 1–3, and no limit). It is not a course and not a flashcard app: use it alongside whatever you use for characters and vocabulary.

I'm a teacher: can my class use it?

Yes, through a teacher account: classes with codes, students' logins on printable cards, each student's progress and safety flags, and under-18s with a parent's or carer's consent. Teacher accounts aren't self-serve yet: a limited number of teacher trial places are open now; write to hello@tinglilab.com with “teacher” in the subject. Students can use the free tone lab at tinglilab.org without any account. More under Teachers.

Who makes it?

Built by Ranjan in Canberra for my own learning, which began in September 2026. It is one person's project, tested by a few native-speaker friends. More under About.

How do I report a problem or give feedback?

Email hello@tinglilab.com. In the lab, ⚑ flags a clip that sounds wrong or unnatural, a tone item whose audio sounds off, or a character whose stroke order isn't the one you were taught; a short note helps. Feedback from native speakers and teachers is especially welcome.