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I had occasion to help someone today, someone who has very little English. She speaks Chinese--Mandarin, I'm pretty sure. She has more English than I have Mandarin, to be sure. But she also had an app on her phone she could speak to and I could read from, and vice versa. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to help her. Later, her daughter called me and thanked me for my help and patience, which made me feel very good, but also like I could do a little more.

I would like to learn some simple phrases, spoken properly, in Mandarin. When we see each other next, I want her to know that I'm trying, in my small way, to make an effort. I taught myself a few phrases in American Sign Language for the same reason once before (which I *really* need to practice!), and my effort was well received, and I felt good for having done so.

I'm sure there are people here in my follows who speak Mandarin. I would never ask you to teach me; it's 2026, resources are available. But can you recommend any websites, videos, or other sources to learn a little from knowing nothing? In particular, I'd love to find something very basic on the "four tones" broken down for me to learn. It seems that's the place to start. I worry about happening upon the wrong website, and learning incorrectly from a site written with AI, for example.

Any suggestions?