A personalised Mandarin teacher that watches with you.

Learn Chinese from the C-dramas, films, animation, variety shows and YouTube videos you love.

Míngbai is a Chrome extension that intelligently turns your Chinese media into lessons, using the actual lines to teach you.

We make subtitles easier to digest by breaking them into words, phrases and grammar, while intelligent personalisation means the same scene can teach a different lesson to every learner.

Add to Chrome — freeSee how it teaches you →

Share this page with your computer, or copy its link. Open it in desktop Chrome to install.

Desktop Chrome · Needs Chinese subtitles on the show · Free to start · 7-day Pro trial, no card

Works with

Míngbai isn’t affiliated with these services.

Try it yourself.

Click any word in a real scene.

Irreplaceable on Netflix: the line 你这小姑娘怎么睁着眼睛说瞎话？, Why are you lying through your teeth like this?

Click any word, phrase or button: it all works

Before and after an episode: an intro, recap and a short lesson ↓

The problem

You know the words. You still lose the line.

Dictionary extensions give you generic definitions, and wait for you to click. But the hard part of a line is often a phrase you didn’t realise was a phrase, so you never look it up.

I · Character by character
我I昨yesterday天day晚evening上up没not睡sleep好good
II · Word by word
我I昨天yesterday晚上evening没not睡sleep好good
III · Intelligent phrase parsing (Míngbai)
我I昨天晚上last night没睡好didn’t sleep well

I didn’t sleep well last night.

Other tools help you look up Chinese. Míngbai breaks up the line for you the way it’s said, and shows what’s worth learning.

The problem, and the Míngbai difference

One line, read three ways.

A basic subtitle tool gives you ten separate characters. Míngbai’s Words view gives you five words. Intelligent Phrases view shows you how it's actually said.

Reads as

“small · friend · friend · thousand · ten thousand · not · want · model · copy · oh”

Ten characters, ten dictionary glosses. 千 is “thousand”, 万 is “ten thousand”. You can look up every box and still not know what he said.

That’s intelligent phrase parsing: Míngbai groups each line into the phrases people actually say.

From the first scene to your next review

How Míngbai teaches you.

Five key moments.

Follow one word: 宝贝 (bǎo bèi, treasure)

Step 1 of 5: Listen 宝贝: to listen for

  1. 1 Listen

    Things to listen for.

    As an episode starts, Míngbai picks up to three words coming up in it based on your level, so you know what to listen out for. Here: 宝贝, 肌肉 and 身材.

    Míngbai on Netflix as an episode starts: Look for these three as you watch. 宝贝, bǎo bèi, treasured object; 肌肉, jī ròu, muscle; 身材, shēn cái, stature.

  2. 2 Notice

    It points out what you’d miss.

    As each line plays, the phrases and patterns worth knowing are already marked, like the warning in the demonstration above. No need to stop, but you can pause anytime to look closer.

    See it on the line above ↑
    Míngbai’s panel on Netflix in Phrases view: the line 我就把我的宝贝送给你, If you win, I’ll give you my treasure as a gift, with Useful phrases in this line: 送给你, directs the action to a recipient, and 我的, my or mine.

  3. 3 Ask

    It explains, not just defines.

    Click a phrase to see what it means, how it’s built and how it’s used. Hand-curated, rather than a dictionary dump. Save anything you want to remember for later. Still curious? A joke you didn't quite understand? Ask absolutely anything about the scene.

    Míngbai’s card open on 宝贝, bǎo bèi, with its dictionary meanings treasured object and treasure, and Save and Replay line. Below it, Ask about this scene answers “Why does he say 把 before 我的宝贝?”: “把” is the grammatical marker that introduces the object being given, so “把我的宝贝送给你” means “I’ll give you my treasure/cherished thing.”
    Ask about this scene on Netflix, the panel scrolled down: the question “Why does he say 把 before 我的宝贝?” and the whole answer. “把” is the grammatical marker that introduces the object being given, so “把我的宝贝送给你” means “I’ll give you my treasure/cherished thing.” What is happening: the speaker is offering a treasured possession as a prize or gift, following the question about winning and receiving a reward. How to read it: in this construction, “把” forms the 把-construction: it places the affected thing, “我的宝贝”, before the verb “送,” making the giving action explicit and natural.

  4. 4 Recap & lesson

    Where they came up, then a short lesson.

    Remember the three personalised words from the start? When the episode ends, Míngbai shows you where they were used, in the show’s own lines. Then, if you like, a short lesson built from some of them or the episode’s grammar, adapted to your level.

    As the episode ends, Míngbai’s Episode card on Netflix: Three moments from this episode. 2:06 让你轻松获得饱满肌肉, and grow fuller muscles; 2:54 一看你们两位的身材就是外地来的了, Judging by your physiques, you guys must be foreigners; 5:23 我就把我的宝贝送给你, If you win, I’ll give you my treasure as a gift. Then Episode lesson: A short lesson from this episode, with Start lesson.
    Episode lesson, activity 2 of 4: What is a common meaning of 宝贝? The episode line 我就把我的宝贝送给你 at 5:23, If you win, I’ll give you my treasure as a gift, another line from the episode at 15:21, the answer bǎo bèi, treasured object, and Forgot or Got it.

  5. 5 Review

    It brings things back before you forget.

    Every word you save, and every episode lesson becomes a flashcard. Find it in Study on the Míngbai website, with the line it came from and a link back to that moment in the episode. Study schedules reviews with FSRS, the open spaced-repetition method modern Anki uses, so words come back optimised just before you’d forget them.

    Study on the Míngbai website: What is a common meaning of the highlighted word or phrase? The line 我就把我的宝贝送给你 with 宝贝 highlighted, the answer 宝贝, bǎo bèi, treasured object, from 5:23, with Open on Netflix and Replay moment, then Forgot or Got it.

Every episode feeds what Míngbai knows about your Chinese level, and that shapes what your next lesson focuses on.

Questions

Quick answers.

How is Míngbai different from other subtitle extensions?

Most subtitle extensions are dictionaries: they split a line into single characters and words and dump the whole dictionary at you. Míngbai reads the line intelligently, and keeps together the phrases people actually say. Our intelligence allows us to use the episode itself to teach you, adapted to your level.

I’m a complete beginner. Is Míngbai for me?

Yes. Keep English subtitles on, watch as normal, and Míngbai marks a few phrases at your level. Just three words an episode over 10 episodes is 30 new words learnt! More

I grew up hearing Chinese. Is Míngbai for me?

Yes. Choose “Heritage speaker” when you sign up. Pinyin stays on if you need it, and your lessons focus on grammar and reading, since you probably already know the spoken language well. You can show Simplified or Traditional characters. More

What do I need?

Desktop Chrome, and Chinese subtitles on the show. Míngbai works on Netflix, YouTube, iQIYI and Viki. Mobile apps coming soon. More

Do I need an account?

Yes, a free one. It turns on intelligent phrase parsing (Free includes 20 minutes a day) and keeps what you save, ready to review in Study. More

Does Míngbai use AI?

The core teaching comes from Míngbai’s own intelligent phrase parsing system, which is constantly improving. AI comes in only when you ask for it: Context Explanation explains a phrase in its line, and Scene Q&A answers your questions about the scene. AI answers can be wrong. More

Does Míngbai support ordinary websites, ebooks, podcasts, PDFs or comics?

Not yet. We’re starting with video, and plan to add more formats, so eventually Míngbai can teach you from everything Chinese you read and watch.

All questions →

Get started

Your next episode can teach you something.

Desktop Chrome · Netflix, YouTube, iQIYI & Viki · Free to start · Try Pro free for 7 days, no card needed.

1. Add Míngbai

Install the extension for desktop Chrome.

On your phone? Share or copy this page, then open it in desktop Chrome when you’re ready to install.

Add to Chrome

2. Create a free account

It turns on intelligent phrase parsing (20 minutes a day on Free) and keeps what you save, ready to review in Study.

Create an account or sign in →

3. Try Pro

Start free. Try Pro free for 7 days for the Episode recap and lesson, and unlimited AI help: explanations of any line and answers about the scene, whenever you ask (fair use applies). No card needed.

Compare Free and Pro →

Questions about subtitles or getting started? Read the FAQ.