i) pronouns like 我， 你

ii) grammatical particles like 了，过， 吗 and

iii) words with classical Chinese origins like 马 and 笔.

Because words not characters are the basic units of spoken communication it’s important to learn to pronounce words. That means working on the pronunciation of words, specifically 2-character words. This means that getting a grip on tone pairs is vitally important for your Chinese pronunciation.

What’s a tone pair? It’s a fancy way of talking about the combination of two tones in a two character word. 今天 jīntiān for example would be a 1-1 tone pair because it is two first tones. 你好 nǐhǎo is a 3-3 tone pair because it is two third tones. 北京 běijīng is 3-1, a third tone followed by a first tone. You get the picture.

The cool thing is that there are only 20 of these tone pair combinations. Learn these 20 combinations and get used to the sound of them and you have a framework from which to hang the majority of Chinese words from. Very powerful.

This is a chart of all the tone pair combinations possible with two characters.

You can find a lot more about tone pairs in this blog article . There’s also a larger downloadable version of this chart and bunch of other resources there.

How to practice tone pairs? The blog post linked above has a lot of ideas but here’s a summary:

1. With a native speaker on iTalki or another conversation exchange service.
2. Check out the Sensible Chinese Pronunciation Package which has a whole book + audio package dedicated to Tone Pair Drills.
3. Use the Tone Pair Drills built into WaiChinese to practice directly with a teacher ($2.5 for the first month).

The main thing is that you get native Chinese feedback, without which it’s very hard to improve. That’s the topic of the next section.

The post Chinese Pronunciation: Practicing Tones in Isolation appeared first on Sensible Chinese.

The complexity arises because the third tone is almost always altered by the tones used around it. As a result it causes the most difficulty for people learning Chinese.

This is the best way I’ve found to help people learn the 3^rd tone fast by being able to compare their pitch graph with that of their native speaking teacher.

The other thing you need to practice are the third tone tone-change. When a 3rd tone is followed by a second 3^rd tone the first 3^rd tone becomes a 2^nd tone. Try saying that ten times fast! Here’s an example that is much easier.

你好 nǐhǎo is actually pronounced ní hǎo.

I’ve written more detailed articles on the 3rd tone (and tones in general) here:

Getting Started with the Chinese Tones

The Best Method for Learning Tones: Tone Pair Drills

Because of tone change rules you should always practice Chinese pronunciation and tones in the context of WORDS not isolated character sounds. That’s the next topic I want to look at in this series.

The post Chinese Pronunciation: The 3rd tone is NOT Falling Rising appeared first on Sensible Chinese.

However, the fact that pinyin looks like English causes confusion. Furthermore, the fact that some of the letters carry the same sound as English whilst others do not adds more complexity.

For example the pinyin b- is basically the same as the English b- sound. The pinyin c- though sounds nothing like our letter “c” and instead would be more closely approximated as a hissed “ts” sound. There’s no real consistency so the best approach to take is to assume that pinyin is nothing like English and try to break all associations with the English alphabet.

Otherwise you’ll end up with a large number of underlying mispronunciations like the very common mistakes of 很 hěn sounding like the English “hen” (as in female chicken hen).

To break associations use native recordings whenever reading a word in pinyin. Try to never read pinyin without also hearing it being said. Electronic dictionaries like Pleco have natural voice recordings (don’t use computer voices unless you want to sound like an answering machine!).

If you are still at an early stage take a decent amount of time to work on pinyin. It’s generally rushed through in the first chapter of a textbook and its intricacies never really explained. Having a firm grasp on the system and the subtle differences between j and ch, u and ü etc.

Get into good habits early by using a pinyin course that has a lot of native recordings and that carefully explains how to explain the different sounds. I’ve prepared a course over at Sensible Chinese that carefully goes through pinyin and makes sure you have a thorough. It’s totally free and available here: Sensible Chinese Pinyin Course.

If possible sit down with a native speaker (or find a free language exchange partner or paid teacher on iTalki) and have them run through the pinyin system with you.

Here is a pinyin chart (basically a chart than contains every combination of Pinyin sounds possible) that you can use for this practice. The basic process is to listen to them, repeat what they said and receive correction until you get it right. This is the basic feedback loop of all language learning. Getting as many corrections as possible is the only way you are going to successfully learn a language so make sure you find a language partner or someone you can work with for all of the advice in this book.

In fact I’m so militant on the idea of feedback and working with a native speaker that I’ve written another short free eBook that’s available here: Speak Chinese Today.

The post Chinese Pronunciation : Pinyin is Not English appeared first on Sensible Chinese.

What the heck is a Tone Pair?

Mandarin Tone Graph (Source: web.mit.edu)

You’ll see this chart at the start of every Chinese textbook. This one happens to be from a MIT course but you’ll see it in every single Chinese textbook.

Why is this useful?

How can I practice Tone Pair Drills?

You can practice this tone pair drills by:

• sitting next to a Chinese speaker (ideal!) who gives you corrections.
• via iTalki with a free language exchange or paid teacher.
• by recording yourself and comparing your tones with a native recording.

The main thing is that you don’t simply read the words to yourself – you need some form of feedback and correction to make sure you aren’t making mistakes. Tone pair drills are very effective at burning tone patterns into your brain. You need to make sure you are learning the correct sounding tone pairs – otherwise you’ll be very efficiently forming incorrect pronunciation patterns! So please please make sure you have some way to get corrections.

If you have time then schedule time with a Speaking Partner. This could be a professional teacher/tutor or perhaps a free language exchange partner. I’ve written an eBook about finding someone to talk to and it’s available for free here:

Finally if you want more words for your tone pair drills (as well as native speaker recordings in .mp3) I’ve actually written a whole exercise book based on these drills.

The post Tone Pair Drills: The Single Best Method for Learning Chinese Tones appeared first on Sensible Chinese.

Nasal sounds are those pronounced through the nose. There are two types in Chinese – front nasals and back nasals.

The front nasals are formed with the tongue in the front of the mouth in the alveolar position, that is, the tip of the tongue against the bony ridge behind the upper teeth.

We’ll cover the front nasals first – in Chinese they all end in -n.

With all of the nasal sounds first form the final vowel sound (-a, -e, -i, -ue etc.) and then add the nasal ending. It’s similar to adding an English -n. As long as you get the final consonants correct adding the nasal ending should be relatively straightforward.

Front nasals

an : Chinese “a” + n.

An, Ban, Pan, Man, Fan, Dan, Tan, Nan, Lan, Gan, Kan, Han, Zan, Can, San, Zhan, Chan, Shan, Ran

Not like English “an” in man. Instead focus on creating the correct Chinese a and sliding it into a -n ending sound.

en: Chinese “e” + n

En, Ben, Pen, Men, Fen, Nen, Gen, Ken, Hen, Zen, Cen, Sen, Zhen, Chen, Shen, Ren

Start with the Chinese e and slide in one breath into the -n sound. There’s really not much more explanation I can give for this or any of the other nasal compounds! Have a listen and repeat what you hear.

in: “in” as in English bin

Yin, Bin, Pin, Min, Nin, Lin, Jin, Qin, Xin

Start with the Chinese i and slide into n in a single breath.

Spelling “yin” used when there is no consonant at the beginning of the syllable.

ian: “Yann” as in Chinese “y” + “an”

Yan, Bian, Pian, Mian, Dian, Tian, Nian, Lian, Jian, Qian, Xian

Start with Chinese i (“ee”) and slide into a  then n in a single breath. Start slow and speed up until the sounds merge together into something approximating “yann”.

The spelling “yan” is used when there is no consonant at the beginning of the syllable.

uan: Pinyin “U” + pinyin “an”

Wan, Duan, Tuan, Nuan, Luan, Guan, Kuan, Huan, Zuan, Cuan, Suan, Zhuan, Chuan, Shuan, Ruan

Similar to -ian but starting with the Chinese u. Start slow (u+a+n) and speed up until it becomes a single uan.

Spelled “wan” when not preceded by a consonant.

üan: Same as -uan but using v instead of u. Pinyin “v” + “an”

Yuan, Juan, Quan, Xuan

Same as -uan but with ü sound replacing the u.

Only exists in syllables juan, quan, xuan, yuan and not written with the umlaut. Practice with these sounds to help distinguish from -uan.

un: “uen”. Pinyin “u” + barely audible pinyin “e” followed by “n”

Wen, Dun, Tun, Lun, Gun, Kun, Hun, Zun, Cun, Sun, Zhun, Chun, Shun, Run

A little more tricky because there’s a very quiet “e” sound in-between the u and n. This means it doesn’t sound like the English “un” in “undone”.

Spelled “wen” when not preceded by a consonant.

ün: As with un but with ü

Yun, Jun, Qun, Xun

Also tricky because of the very quiet “e” sound in-between the ü and n.

Only exists in jun, qun, xun, yun and ü is written u.

Back nasals

Back nasals are sounds through the nose that are formed with the tongue at the back of the mouth. The tip of the tongue should be close to or touching the soft part of the roof of the mouth.

All the back nasals in Chinese add a -ng sound. Remember that the front nasals are -n instead.

ang: Pinyin “a” + back of mouth “ng” sound

Ang, Bang, Pang, Mang, Fang, Dang, Tang, Nang, Lang, Gang, Kang, Hang, Zang, Cang, Sang, Zhang, Chang, Shang, Rang

Much like the “an” sound above but with the back of mouth “ng” rather than “n”. Once you can hear the difference between “ng” and “n” and replicate it the rest of this lesson will be very simple! Take the time to understand how to distinguish and replicate the different nasal noises before moving on.

eng: pinyin “e” + back of mouth “ng” sound

Eng, Beng, Peng, Meng, Feng, Deng, Teng, Neng, Leng, Geng, Keng, Heng, Zeng, Ceng, Seng, Zheng, Cheng, Heng, Reng

Same as “ang” but using Pinyin “e” between the initial and final “ng” sound. Start slow and speed up into one sound.

iang: Pinyin “y” + “ang”

Yang, Niang, Liang, Jiang, Qiang, Xiang

Same as “ang” ending above but with additional “i” to help slide from consonants n, l, j, q and x (those that can be used with ü).

Spelling “yang” used when there is no consonant at the front of the syllable.

ing: Pinyin “y” + “ing” as in the English sing

Ying, Bing, Ping, Ming, Ding, Ting, Ning, Ling, Jing, Qing, Xing

Very similar to “ing” in English, especially that heard in “sing”. Slide from Chinese i to ng sound in one.

Written ying when there is no consonant in the beginning of the syllable.

ong : Pinyin “o” + “ng” 

Dong, Tong, Nong, Long, Gong, Kong, Hong, Zong, Cong, Song, Zhong, Chong, Rong

iong: Pinyin “y” + “u” + “ng”

Yong, Jiong, Qiong, Xiong

Similar to the “ong” sound above but with an additional “i” to help slide from the initials J,Q,X (the same initials that go with ü remember?)

The spelling “yong” is used when there’s no consonant at the beginning of the syllable.

uang: Pinyin “ua” + “ng”

Wang, Guang, Kuang, Huang, Zhuang, Chuang, Shuang

Pinyin “ua” + “ng”. Start slowly with ua and slide into ng sound. Speed up until it becomes a single sound.

When not preceded with a consonant written “wang”.

ueng: Pinyin “ue” + “ng”

Weng

Bit of a strange one. Only exists in this single combination “weng”. Even then it’s not that common!

Like uang but with ue rather than ua before the ng.

This is part of our Sensible Pinyin Course. To see an overview of the course check out this Sensible Pinyin Course homepage! 

The post Pinyin Course: Nasal Compounds appeared first on Sensible Chinese.

In this lesson we’ll be moving rapidly through the basic (non-nasal) compound finals. If you missed the introduction to compounds be sure to read it first so that we are all on the same page.

I’ll be introducing a small group of compound sounds and providing a short quiz before moving onto the next group.

There are lots of compounds but if you’ve got a good grip of the basic vowel sounds then picking up the compounds should be rapid. So let’s get started!

First Group : ai, ao, ei, ou

We’ll start with the compounds that begin with a, e and o. In each of these compounds start with the first vowel sound and slide into the next in the same breathe.

If you are having difficulty go over the basic vowel sounds again. All the compounds are built from the basic vowel sounds so if your basic vowels are strong learning the compounds will be much easier.

ai: “ai” as in lie, bye, bike, high, ay carumba!

Ai, Bai, Pai, Mai, Dai, Tai, Nai, Lai, Gai, Kai, Hai, Zai, Cai, Sai, Zhai, Chai, Shai

Start with the pinyin a and slide it into the p

ao: “ow” in how, down.

Ao, Bao, Pao, Mao, Dao, Tao, Lao, Gao, Kao, Hao, Zao, Cao, Sao, Zhao, Chao, Shao, Rao

ei: “ay” as in cake, say, gay

Bei, Pei, Mei, Fei, Dei, Nei, Lei, Gei, Kei, Hei, Zei

ou “oh” as is low

Ou, Pou, Mou, Fou, Dou, Tou, Nou, Lou, Gou, Kou, Hou, Zou, Cou, Sou, Zhou, Chou, Shou, Rou

Second Group: ia, ie, iu , iao

All of the compounds in this group staer with i followed by other vowels. Start with the i sound and slide into the next vowel. Need a recap on i? Check our basic vowels section again and then come back. If you know the basic vowels then these compounds are much easier to pick up.

ia: “ya” in maya, playa 

Ya, Lia, Jia, Qia, Xia

A combination of Chinese i and a.

We write this sound as “ya” when there is no consonant at the beginning of the syllable.

ie: “yeh”/”yeah”

Ye, Bie, Pie, Mie, Die, Tie, Nie, Lie, Jie, Qie, Xie

Combination of Chinese i and e. Slide from the i sound straight into the e in the same breath.

When not preceded by an initial ie is simply written “ye”.

iu: “iou”

You, Miu, Diu, Niu, Liu

Like the pinyin y + English “ow” sound in go. A little bit like Old McDonald’s “E-I-E-I-O” but just the first E and last O and greatly softened. Sigh, best to just listen to the recording!

Slide the Chinese i sound into the Chinese u in the same breathe and you’ll be good to go.

When not preceded by a consonant iu is written as “you”.

iao: “ya” in maya, playa followed by English w.

Yao, Biao, Piao, Miao, Diao, Tiao, Niao, Liao

Sounds a bit like “yow” when in pain. Slide the Chinese i into the compound ao we learned above. So, if you like, this is a “compound compound”. Don’t worry – there aren’t many like this!

Spelled “yao” when there is no consonant at the beginning of the syllable.

Third Group: ua, ui, uo, uai

These are the u based compounds. Start with the Chinese u sounds and slide into the next vowel to achieve these compounds.

ua: “wah” as in aqua

Wa, Gua, Kua, Hua, Zhua, Chua, Shua, Rua

Combination of u and a. You know the drill. Start with the u sound and slide into the a. Go slowly at first then up to natural speed.

When not preceded by an initial ua is written as “wa”.

ui: “way” as in way, weigh.

Wei, Dui, Tui, Gui, Kui, Hui, Zui, Cui, Sui, Zhui, Chui, Shui, Rui

A combination of u and i, sliding from one to the other in a single breathe. Sounds a bit like the English “way” or “weigh”.

Wei is used where there is no consonant at the beginning of the syllable.

uo: “woah” with less audible “a” sound. War, quark, quartz.

Wo, Duo, Tuo, Nuo, Luo, Guo, Kuo, Guo, Zuo, Cuo, Suo, Zhuo, Chuo, Shuo, Ruo

Combination of u and o. Sounds like the English “woah!”

“Wo” is used when there is no consonant in front of the uo.

uai: “why”

Wai, Guai, Kuai, Huai, Zhuai, Chuai, Shuai

Sounds like the English “why”. uai is created by starting with the Chinese u sound and sliding to ai, a compound we studied above.

Used alone uai is written “wai”.

Fouth Group:  üe

A nice short group of a single compound: üe!

üe: “ooue”

Yue, Nüe, Lüe, Jue, Que, Xue

Combination of ü and e. If the ü/u distinction is still difficult review the lesson on ü/u.

üe can only follow consonants that go before ü. Remember Jonny Quest XY? Same deal here. For the same reasons Jüe, Qüe and Xüe are written Jue, Que, Xue.

Wrapping Up

Those are all the basic compound sounds. We’ve moved through a lot of material in this lesson but it shouldn’t have felt too complicated – compounds really are a matter of putting together sounds you already know to make new sounds.

If you have a solid enough foundation in the basic vowels then the compounds ought not to present too many difficulties. Just take your time to make each of the individual vowel sounds and slide them together into the compound.

In the next lesson we’ll look at the final remaining compounds – the nasal compounds. Thankfully these are just some of the compounds we’ve just studied but with the endings modified by adding a -n or -ng. See you there!

This is part of our Sensible Pinyin Course. To see an overview of the course check out this Sensible Pinyin Course homepage! 

The post Sensible Pinyin Course: Basic Compounds appeared first on Sensible Chinese.

In the last section on Zh, Ch, Sh we looked at the following relationship:

Zh = J
Ch = Q
Sh = X

But with the tongue tip curled back in a higher, curled position against the hard palate

Using Chinese sounds to explain other Chinese sounds is a sensible shortcut to take. Let’s do another.

Today’s lesson is about Z, C and S. Yesterday was Zh, Ch and Sh. Huh.

Did you notice that Z, C, S are like Zh, Ch, Sh without the h? Top of the class!

That’s not accidental. Z, C and S are similar but with a different tongue position that makes these sounds “sibilant” – ie. More “hissy” like a snake.

Z, C and S  are all pronounced with the tip of the tongue close to or touching the back of the front upper teeth but are otherwise the same. This gives us:

Z = Zh

C = Ch

S = Sh 

but with the tip of the tongue close to or touching the back of the front upper teeth.

Let’s have a listen, replicate the sounds and do some quizzes.

Z: “ds” as in cards, cats, hats or pizza.

Za, Ze, Zi , Zu

This sound a lot like a buzzing sound such as that a bee makes. You can think of it as “zzz” or “ds” if that helps.

Let the tip of the tongue touch against the back of the upper teeth to obstruct the flow of air. As you pronounce the “ds” noise release the tongue so that it vibrates. Don’t force air out, there’s no exhalation – hold your hand in front of your mouth to check this.
The “ds” sound is actually in English but not at the front of words as in Chinese. We often end words like cards, cats and hats with the “ds” sound. The Chinese is similar but a bit more buzzed.

C: “ts” as in tsunami (ok that’s not fair!) and it’s heavy.

Ca, Ce, Ci, Cu

This one is definitely not an English sound! Also, be careful of the fact that the letter C is used – there’s really no resemblance.

The best way to get a handle on the Chinese C is to learn the Chinese Z and then pronounce it with a strong exhalation.

As with Z, let the tip of your tongue touch the back of the upper teeth to obstruct breath. If you hold in the right position you won’t be able to breath through your mouth (don’t practice this too long!). As you pronounce the “ts” sound release the tongue and forcefully let air through.

Whereas the Z buzzed the C will explode out forcefully.

S: “ss” as in song, sent, simple.

Sa, Se, Si, Su

This one is actually really simple. This is the same “ss” sound as in English. What a let down after all these scary looking Xs, Qs and Cs!

Place the tip of your tongue at the back of the upper teeth and then let the air between the tongue and teeth, much as you would with the English S.

The reason S is grouped here is because of the initial tongue position touching the back of the upper teeth. It’s not a “difficult” sound because we have it in English.

All three start in the same position, tongue tip on the back of the front teeth. With Z we release the tongue slightly and vibrate air across it. With C we let air explode out in a puff. With S we let air slip through in a hissing “ss” noise.

And…that’s it!

OK – now we’ll just cover the next 20 really hard consonants in the next section and we’ll be all set!

I’m messing with you. We’re done.

Wait. What? That’s it? We have done all the consonants? And all the hardest sounds? That’s it? I thought Chinese was ridiculously hard? Huh… well, that’s a pleasant surprise!

Now what? Well, first finish off this lesson’s exercises at the bottom of this page. They’ll be among the hardest you’ve done you’ll encounter j, q, x and zh, ch, sh and z, c, s!

You’ve already worked on the difference between j, q, x and zh, ch, sh in the last section’s quiz. If those sounds are still a little fuzzy for you complete that lesson’s quiz a few more times – at least until you are comfortable. Then come back to this lesson’s quiz where we add in z, c and s as well.

Once you’ve finished this lesson quiz I have some serious homework for you: take a break. Put your feet up. You have done exceedingly well to get this far.

In the next sections we’ll have a look at the “compound finals”. That’s a fancy way of talking about two or more vowels but together. A word like bao uses a compound final – in this case the compound is -ao. B + a + o = b + ao where ao is a “compound final”.

Neat thing? -ao sounds like a+o put together. Nice. So we’ll cut through the compounds fast in the next section.

Exercises

This next set of questions is going to be the toughest so far. It has j,q,x / zh,ch,sh / z,c,s. These are the hardest sounds to distinguish. Good news – once you are consistently getting a high score in this test you’ve completed the hardest parts of Chinese pronunciation and sound discrimination.

The post Sensible Pinyin Course: Tricky Consonants Z, C, S appeared first on Sensible Chinese.

The compounds fill out the remaining sounds that we need to cover in Chinese. A compound is simply a sound created from two or more other sounds.

For example -ao is a compound final constructed of the simple vowels a + o.

If you have a look at the pinyin table you’ll see that the upper row is filled out with compounds.

 All the compound vowel sounds

The compound finals in Chinese are:

-ai, -ao, -an, -ang

-ei, -en, -eng

-ia, -ie, -iu, -iao, -ian, -iang, -in, -ing, -iong

-ou, -ong

-ua, -uo, -ui, -uai, -uan, -un, -uang, -ueng

-üe, -üan, -ün

Wow! Scary looking huh?

The good thing about Chinese compounds is that for the most part they take on the exact sound you get from simply merging the two sounds.

Therefore if you’ve nailed down the basic vowels using the explanations and exercises in the previous sections the compounds are simple to pick up.

Because each of these sounds are compounds created of sounds that you have already learned your workload is cut down substantially. We’ll therefore move at a fast clip through this section on compounds finals.

Nasal Compounds

The only slight twist on this are the “nasal compounds” which are those ending in -n or -ng.

“Nasal” is just a fancy way of saying “through the nose”. These sounds vibrate through the nose rather than the mouth, giving them a nasal quality. Still note sure what “nasal” means – check any video that has Janice from Friends for the best example of a nasal sound.

We’ve covered in n- sound as a Chinese initial and seen that it is pretty close to the English n. At the end of a word it’s not too different. We’ll cover the -n and -ng endings after the basic compounds but know for now that it’s just a matter of completing an existing sound (that you already know) but with the sound coming from the nose instead of the mouth.

If you find you are having difficulties chances are the problems lie in your simple vowel sounds. Go back and review that section and make sure you know how to form a,e,i,o,u ü so that when you start combining them you won’t get tripped up.

As with the other sounds we have covered we’ll introduce how to make the sound, give some (very rough!) English equivalents and provide exercises and listening drills to get a firm grip on using the sounds.

Without further ado let’s get into it!

This is part of our Sensible Pinyin Course. To see an overview of the course check out this Sensible Pinyin Course homepage! 

The post Pinyin Course: Introducing Compound Finals appeared first on Sensible Chinese.

Still with us? Believe me you are doing well. We’ve covered all the basics and a lot of the slightly weird sounds in Chinese. This is the home stretch!

In this section we’re going to tackle the sounds that are usually considered “difficult”.

These sounds are:

Zh, Ch, Sh, Z, C, S and r.

In this first article we’ll look at Zh, Ch, Sh and R. In the next article we’ll cover Z, C, S.

These sound are mainly “difficult” because they are not pronounced how we would expect them to be in English. The fact that Roman letters are used just makes it confusing. That’s one of the weaknesses of pinyin. For a number of the sounds the letters are the same or at least very close to the English sound that uses the same letter.

Now we’re at the point where we need to totally ignore the fact that these letters exist in English and try to remove any sound associations we already have. C for example is pronounced closer to “ts”, nothing like the English c.

The good news is that if we relate these sounds to other Chinese sounds we have already learned our task is much simpler. This little hack will help us get a grip with these sounds a lot quicker than if we work from English sounds. Let’s get cracking!

Zh, Ch, Sh Group

Remember j, q and x from the last section? If it’s been a while quickly go back and listen to them again, practice making the noise, remember where the tongue is position. I’ll wait here.

OK good. Remember that j, q and x are all pronounced forward in the mouth, the tongue tip touching the back of the bottom teeth and the middle of the tongue pushing up towards the roof of the mouth.

Here’s a neat trick:

Zh = J
Ch = Q
Sh = X

But with the tongue tip curled back in a higher, curled position against the hard palate. As you make the sound the curl is released to “throw forward” the sound.

It’s useful to think J, Q and X as the forward versions of Zh, Ch and Sh. This is also why J, Q and X are used with ü and Zh, Ch, Sh with u.

Ü is forward in the mouth like J, Q and X.

U is further back in the mouth with the Zh, Ch, Sh sounds.

Swapping the ü and u sounds to go with their “incorrect” initial feels very awkward in the mouth because the tongue is in the wrong part of the mouth.

Zh: “dj” in jam, jewels, George.

Zha, Zhe, Zhi, Zhu

Curl the tongue backwards so that the tip is resting on the roof of your mouth or near enough. Not so far back that it’s awkward. Don’t think too much about rolling the tongue back, just aim for the English J sound and roll slightly further back and you’ll be in the right area.

Clench your teeth closed and pronounce “dj”, allowing the tongue to unroll.

Again, listen to the reference audio rather than rely on these descriptions! This is especially important now that we are moving into the most difficult sounds in Chinese.

Ch: “tch” in Church, chain, check

Cha, Che, Chi, Chu

Same tongue position as in Zh above but making a “tch” sound instead of “dj”, uncurling the tongue as the sound is thrown foward. This is the curled tongue version of Q.

Sh: “shh” is wash, shower or “shh, be quiet!

Sha, She, Shi, Shu

Same beginning tongue position as Zh and Ch but when saying the “shh” sound the tongue is not thrown foward. Instead it rests in place, allowing the air to hiss through the gap above the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

See, nothing too tricky here. If we go from the equivalent Chinese sounds J, Q, X the Zh, Ch and Sh sounds are much easier to get a handle on.

The big problem therefore is learning how to distinguish Zh/J, Ch/Q and Sh/X. Unfortunately these sounds can be very difficult to distinguish.

If you have a look at a pinyin chart you’ll see X, Q and J all by themselves all the way at the bottom in their own self-contained “block” of sounds. This lack of crossover will make them a lot easy to distinguish later.

Let’s look in a little more details at zh, ch, sh and j, q, x only:

For the most part though these sounds can be discriminated from one another based upon the finals that follow them. Have a look at the chart above – you’ll see that the final -i can exist with all of these initials. The other we need to watch out for is ü vs. u. And -a and -e are simple – they can only exist with zh, ch, sh. 

The next set of exercises uses all of the sounds in the small chart above. Be especially careful about anything ending in -i,  u or ü!

Before we leave our new friends Zh, Ch and Sh we’re going to look at R.

Why’s that? Doesn’t seem very similar does it? The reason we’re covering it now is because like Zh, Ch and Sh, R begins with the tongue rolled back. This is the only place it fits really. It doesn’t have it’s own group. Poor R!

R: “rr” war, raw, grr

Re, Ri, Ru

The r in Chinese is pronounced with the tongue vibrating in the curled back position. It’s a little like the English R but with more buzzing. It’s not trilled as in Spanish.

Here’s a neat trick to find that R sound. Say the English word “measure”. At the middle of the word the S takes on the buzz of the Mandarin R.

Say “measure” and hold that middle sound. Feel the strange buzzing noise? Your tongue should be in the same position as it was for Zh, Ch, Sh as above. That’s the Mandarin R.

This is part of our Sensible Pinyin Course. To see an overview of the course check out this Sensible Pinyin Course homepage! 

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Pinyin we’ll going to cover this time – g, k, h, j, q, x.

This section introduces some of the more difficult consonant final sounds. These are similar to sounds found in English but just different enough to cause a little difficulty.

We’ll start with the relatively easy g, k and h sounds then move to j, q, x (remember those from the section on ü?). For now we’ll stick to the basic vowel sounds we’ve already covered.

g –  g as in go, gate, girl, guest.

ga , ge , gu

As in English but no vibration in the vocal cords (back of throat). Hold your fingertips where the jaw meets the neck, around where your glands are.

Try saying the English k and g. Notice that the g has vibration but the k does not. The Chinese g is closer to the English k because of this – the different is that there is no exhalation. The Chinese g is therefore close to the English k but without the exhalation.

Again, to test if you are exhaling hold your hand in front of your mouth as you pronounce the sound.

k – “kuh” as in kill or cut.

ka , ke , ku

With k we are starting to stray from English equivalences. Remember though that we should use native recordings as our guide rather than rely on English equivalences!

The k sound requires more air pressure from your diaphragm (upper chest). Focus on violently pushing out the air – you might even feel your stomach muscles pulling in to help force out the air. Do this 100 times for a great for an abdominal workout! Short and quick sound.

The pronunciation is similar to the hard c in color or cut.

h – “huh” – like the h in him but with more friction in the throat approaching (but not as harsh as) the Scottish loch.

ha, he , hu

As with the k the Chinese h requires a strong push of air from the diaphragm. Keep the sound short, quick and violent. Focus on making it audible and stronger.

j: “jee” as in joke, gee, churchyard but with tongue nearer the teeth.

ji , ju

Ok! Here we go – you know we are moving out of the realm of English equivalences when I suggest the chy in the middle of churchyard!

J is similar to how we say the letter G, “gee”, but drawn out like you are saying “geez!”.

The tongue is towards the front of the mouth, the tip touching the ridge behind the lower teeth.

In the English J the tip of the tongue is higher, touching the alveolar ridge behind the top front teeth. Put your tongue on the back of your front teeth and move up- that hard “ridge” is the alveolar ridge. For the Chinese J (unlike the English J) your tongue should not be touching this ridge. It should be lower, towards the lower teeth.

This tongue position is the key to J, Q and X in Chinese. All use the same mouth position so once you nail one the others are simple alterations.

q: “ch” as in cheese, cheap, punchyourself.

qi , qu

Slightly widening mouth with teeth together, like the beginning of cheese.

The tongue is towards the front of the mouth, tip of the tongue resting behind the ridge of the lower front teeth whilst the middle part of the tongue pushes up against the hard palate. Force a puff of air out as you loosen the tongue away from the top of the mouth.

Q is similar to J (see above) but with a forceful exhalation. Therefore J is similar to Q but without exhalation. See, we’re getting into the weird letters now!

Remember when you were bored dealing with the easy b, p, m letters. Shouldn’t have complained about being bored huh?

X: soft “she”. Pushyourself, church.

No equivalent in English – somewhere between the English s and sh. Close to English “she” but with longer and softer pronunciation, allowing more air to escape.

Also close to the English church but with out the hard “t” sound (”tchurch”) that appears in church

The front of the tongue should rest behind the lower front teeth, with the middle part of the tongue toward the hard palate above.

Notice a pattern here? j, q, x all have the same tongue position at the front of the mouth.

This is the reason they can only be used with ü. The ü noise is also at the front of the mouth, whereas the u is further back in the mouth. This makes these initials plus the consonant u awkward to pronounce so they are used with ü instead. Remember also that we always write jü, qü, xü as ju, qu and xu. If you need a reminder check the previous lesson on u vs. ü.

 Exercises

As before with the listening quiz listen and choose what you heard from the multiple choice selection. Use the pinyin table below to help until you feel comfortable enough – then do the test blind.

This is part of our Sensible Pinyin Course. To see an overview of the course check out this Sensible Pinyin Course homepage! 

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