Lara's Mahjong Edit

Curious to Confident

Learn American mahjong from the beginning, at a pace that gives you room to ask questions. Meet your tiles, make sense of the card, and build toward full games one step at a time. Taking a moment to think is part of learning.

Learn with Lara. Explore live Zoom classes for focused teaching and questions, and the Confidence Club for ongoing support once you know the basics. Check each class level before booking. Start with the free resources below if you are learning from the beginning.
Curious to Confident Playing to Playing Well The Player Everyone Wants at Your Table
This is you if: you've heard about mahjong at book club or watched a reel and thought, I want to learn that, and you have no idea where to start.

Stage 1: Get Oriented

Before you touch a rack, get your footing. What American mahjong actually is, what a real game night looks like, and why the card changes every single year (that part turns out to be the fun part). Meet the tiles, suits, winds, dragons, flowers, jokers, until you can spot every one of them on sight.

You're ready to move on when: you can look at a rack and name what you're looking at.

Free next step
Meet the mahjong tiles: start with the tile families and a printable reference.

Next step
Beginner Class Priority List: Hear when the next live beginner class opens.

Stage 2: Read the Card Without Panic

The card looks like a foreign language until, one day, it doesn't. You'll learn how it's organized into sections and lines, how we reference hands (something like "2026 #1" or "Quints #3"), and how to match the tiles in your rack to what a hand is actually asking for. We go slow, and every example is pulled from the current year's card.

You're ready to move on when: you can look at a hand on the card and say, out loud, what tiles it needs.

Next step
How to read the NMJL card: Learn the symbols and colors at your own pace.

Stage 3: Survive Your First Charleston

The Charleston trips up almost everyone at first. You'll learn what it's actually for and the mindset shift that makes it click: passing is sorting, not losing. Then a simple keep-or-pass ladder you can run in your head mid-game, with room to pause and ask questions.

You're ready to move on when: you can follow the pass order and explain your keep-or-pass choices, even if you still need a reminder.

Free next step
Charleston Pocket Guide : the keep-or-pass ladder, free, print it and keep it by your rack.

Next step
The complete Charleston guide: Walk through the pass order before your next game.

Stage 4: Pick a Hand and Play a Full Game

You'll learn how to choose a realistic hand from your deal instead of chasing the prettiest one on the card, plus turn mechanics: drawing, discarding, calling, and what to do when your plan falls apart (it will, and that's fine). Then real guided games, on Zoom or in person, where mistakes are expected and named as normal, not something to apologize for.

You're ready to move on when: you've played three to five full games and picked your own hand every time.

Next step
Live Zoom classes: Find a topic and experience level that fit your game. For future instruction from the very beginning, join the beginner class priority list.

Stage 5: Jokers, Exposures, and Finishing Strong

You'll learn how jokers actually work at the table, taught against the current NMJL rules, never from memory. What exposing means, when it happens, and the etiquette around it. And you'll hit a real milestone here: your first win, or your first almost-had-it story. Both count.

You're ready to move on when: you've had that first win, or that first almost-had-it moment, and you want more.

Go deeper
Confidence Club : this is exactly where this path hands off.

Where this path leads

Once you know the basic rules and can play through a game, the Confidence Club gives you a place to keep growing: monthly challenges, member sessions and Q&As, a member replay library, and a community of women learning alongside you. Weekly online games require a separate paid I Love Mahj subscription. Separately advertised paid Zoom classes are separate purchases.

Confidence Club

Your next chapter: explore the Confidence Club for ongoing practice and support, or choose a live Zoom class for a focused session on your next question.