50 Chinese Coffee Breaks: Short Activities to Improve Your Mandarin Chinese One Cup at a Time

Transform your down time into 'do time'.

The most successful language learners create a habit of studying on a regular basis. 50 Chinese Coffee Breaks makes it easy to master a simple routine of improving your Mandarin Chinese by effortlessly integrating it with your calming daily ritual - from a 5-minute espresso to a 15-minute latte.

Organised by 5, 10 and 15 minutes, these 50 varied and lively activities - from anagrams and idiom challenges to recipes and quotations - are created for high-beginner to intermediate adult and young-adult learners and designed to keep you motivated while building your skills in key areas.

- Reading comprehension
- Writing skills
- Grammar confidence
- Translation abilities
- Vocabulary expansion
- Cultural awareness

By practising Mandarin Chinese in a fun and relaxed way in the time you have, you will stay on track to achieve your language-learning aspirations. So, pick up your preferred brew and this practical book, and make learning the most pleasant and productive part of your busy day.

For 15 years Coffee Break Languages has helped make it possible for millions of people to learn a language in a way that fits into their everyday life: whether that's while walking the dog, at the gym, or on their coffee break!

Teach Yourself has collaborated with Coffee Break Languages to bring their brilliant method to a wider audience by producing their first-ever printed product. All the activities are written by long-time teachers of the language in Coffee Break's characteristically friendly and conversational style. It's the perfect complement to your studies.

The activities are levelled for high-beginner to low-intermediate learners: CEFR A2-B1 and ACTFL Intermediate-low/mid.

Author: Coffee Break Languages
Publisher: Teach Yourself
Published: 06/16/2026
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.71h x 5.01w x 0.71d
ISBN: 9781399823357

About the Author

In 2006 Coffee Break Spanish became the first podcast for beginners of Spanish and immediately caught the attention of listeners. Soon, language learners around the world were building their language skills with the Coffee Break Languages podcasts and online courses.

Since then, the Coffee Break courses -- which are available in a variety of languages, including French, Italian, German, Spanish, Chinese, Swedish and English -- have become immensely popular. Consistently at the top of the educational podcast charts, the courses have been recognised through numerous awards, including European Professional Podcast of the Year and the European Award for Languages and have featured in The New York Times, the Guardian and on the BBC. Millions of learners have built their confidence in a language or taken up a new language using the friendly, accessible and successful method, effectively transforming their down time into "do time".

The Coffee Break team of language experts, teachers and native speakers is led by linguist and educator Mark Pentleton. Mark speaks over ten languages and, through the Coffee Break podcasts, courses, videos and books, is honoured to share his passion for language learning and the opportunities it provides.