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| Last Update: August, 29, 2006 |
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Chinese Learning In China--a service from ExpatsInChina
Chinese pronunciation is often very tricky for us foreigners as we are completely unfamiliar with tones.
The best piece of advice we could give you is to learn pronunciation from a Chinese teacher who can train you to pronunce each sound properly explaining how you should move the tongue and lips. Of course, you will get the best outcome if you study in China as you will not only learn but also practice everyday.
Mandarin Chinese has four tones - five if you count the "neutral" tone - and as you'll see below, pronouncing the tone just right is very important.
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Tone |
Description |
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1st |
High and level. |
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2nd |
Starts medium in tone, then rises to the top. |
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3rd |
Starts low, dips to the bottom, then rises toward the top. |
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4th |
Starts at the top, then falls sharp and strong to the bottom. |
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neutral |
Flat, with no emphasis. | |
If you use the wrong tones, your listeners may not be able to understand you. But don't worry, this is just a matter of time and practice.
As one has no way to figure out how to pronounce a character from writing, a transcription system has been necessary to convert characters into a representation using Roman alphabet so as to learn how to speak the language. Therefore, you will need to get familiar with one of the various existing romanization systems.
Pinyin (pronounce "peen-yeen") is the official Chinese transcription sytem used in every school across mainland China. It has been officially adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the United Nations, and the governments of the United States as well as many other western nations. That's why we recommand you to learn this system over the others.
This is an example of how transcription is represented in the pinyin system:     (mom)
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