Free Japanese and Mandarin Language Games
A free language-game arcade of 11 Language Builder apps helps learners practise sentence order, conjugation, particles in both languages, counters, aspect markers, measure words, tones, numbers, script reading, dialogues, and pronunciation across more than 2,600 prompts — always with native script plus pinyin or romaji.
About the author
Luke McLaughlin created Constructing Language after living in Japan and later learning Mandarin Chinese from scratch. The lessons, games, and guides are built from that first-hand learner experience and checked against native-speaker course work with Hiro for Japanese and Xiang for Mandarin Chinese.
- Lived in Japan and studied Japanese through immersion and structured self-study.
- Learned Mandarin Chinese from scratch as an adult learner.
- Created the Construction Method: audio-first sentence building, grammar graphics, and active recall.
- Built Japanese course material with Hiro and Mandarin course material with Xiang, both native-speaker collaborators.
What the games cover
The practice bank includes a 22-mode dual-language Game Lab, 270+ Japanese syntax sentences, 280+ Mandarin syntax sentences, 820 Japanese conjugation prompts, 564 Mandarin grammar prompts, particle missions for both languages, Japanese counter challenges, Mandarin tone recognition rounds, a classifier market for measure words, number-building puzzles, and script-matching sprints.
- Japanese and Mandarin Game Lab for Echo Builder, Meaning Match Grid, Dialogue Rescue, Word Ladder, Memory Flip, Listening Maze, Rapid Cloze, Sentence Detective, Pictureless Scenario Cards, Grammar Forge, Minimal Pair Duel, Conjugation Arena, Case Commander, Particle Pilot, Tone Trail, Shadow Chain, Translation Relay, Context Sort, Register Switch, Reading Race, and Error Heatmap.
- Syntax Builder for Japanese and Mandarin word order.
- Japanese Conjugator for verbs and adjectives.
- Mandarin Conjugator for aspect markers, measure words, and grammar forms.
- Japanese Particle Quest for choosing は, が, を, に, で, と, へ, から, まで, and も in context.
- Mandarin Particle Quest for 了 vs 过, the three de (的, 得, 地), 把 vs 被, and the question particles 吗, 呢, and 吧.
- Japanese Counter Quest for counters such as 人, 本, 枚, 匹, 冊, 台, 個, 杯, 羽, and 頭, including sound changes like ippon and sanbiki.
- Mandarin Tone Quest for hearing and identifying first, second, third, fourth, and neutral tones.
- Mandarin Measure Word Market for matching nouns to classifiers such as 个, 本, 张, 杯, 条, 辆, 位, and 双.
- Number Builder for assembling Japanese and Mandarin numbers, clock times, dates, and prices from script tiles.
- Script Match for pairing kana and kanji with romaji, and hanzi with tone-marked pinyin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the Constructing Language games free?
Yes. All 11 Language Builder apps — the Japanese and Mandarin Game Lab, Syntax Builder, Japanese Conjugator, Mandarin Conjugator, Japanese Particle Quest, Mandarin Particle Quest, Japanese Counter Quest, Mandarin Tone Quest, Mandarin Measure Word Market, Number Builder, and Script Match — can be used for free in a web browser.
How many prompts are available?
The expanded practice set contains more than 2,600 prompts across the Game Lab, sentence building, conjugation, particles for both languages, Japanese counters, Mandarin tones, measure words, numbers, and script reading.
Do the games show pinyin and romaji?
Yes. Every Mandarin game shows hanzi together with tone-marked pinyin, and every Japanese game shows kana and kanji together with romaji, so learners can play before they can read the scripts fluently.