Master Chinese Tones | Pronunciation Training
Jun 04, 2021The key to
master
ing Chinesetones
is not to pronounce them exactly as they are drawn. It's about your speech!哈囉,大家好! 哈啰,大家好! Hello everyone! I am Grace. Trust me, this video is 100% worth your time because the concept I'm going to talk about will help you greatly improve your Chinesetones
. Guaranteed! In this video I will tell you the characteristics of each tone and then we will do a little practice to help youmaster
them. Also, this video is sponsored by Skillshare, but more on that later. Alright, 那話不多說,我們現在開始吧! Alright, 那话不多说,我们现在开始吧! Alright, now without further ado, let's get started! First of all, Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language, which means we can use tone to distinguish the meaning of words.Like “拿 ná” (hold) and “那 nà” (that). These two words have the same consonant and vowel, but they have different tonal inflections. Their tones are different, so they have different meanings. If your native language is not a tonal language, don't worry about not being able to master Chinese tones, because you already have the skills to change your tone. You have intonation in your language. You can use different tones to express your emotions or ask a question. Like in English, when you say “ok,” you can say it in different ways. If you say it out loud, "it's okay," it shows that you are responding positively to something.
If you raise the pitch of your voice at the end, "okay," it sounds like you're asking a question. These are changes in tone and you do them perfectly. So don't question your ability to speak Chinese. What you need to do is get used to changing pitch within a syllable. And understand that these changes in tone affect the meaning of a word. Okay, now let's take a look at how to pronounce each tone. In Chinese we have four tones and one neutral tone. And as I said at the beginning of this video, the key to mastering Chinese tones is not to pronounce them exactly as they are drawn.
It's all about your speech! So, let's learn the tone of each tone. For the first tone, remember that the tone is high, but it's not like you have to use a very high voice to say it. The thing is that it has to be pronounced relatively louder than other tones. Here, this guy didn't pronounce the first tone very loudly, but he still pronounces the first tone louder than the other tones. Remember, the first tone is a relatively high tone. And now let's skip the second tone and learn the third tone first. Because the third tone is the opposite of the first tone.
It's a low tone. To be more specific, it is a low tone that goes down a bit. And because the pitch of the third tone is low, it often sounds grating. A squeaky voice is like this: “ah…” For example, “你想不想喝咖啡?” (Do you want to drink coffee?) Did you notice that my voice became squeaky when I said “想”? Okay, now let's practice pronouncing the first tone and the third tone. Remember, the first tone is a high tone and the third tone is a low tone. Let's practice them one by one. If you've ever taken Chinese classes, you may have learned that the third tone is a falling and rising tone.
Let's call it the third complete tone. The full third tone only occurs when we pronounce it in isolation or at the end of a word or sentence. But even when it's at the end of a word or sentence, many people would leave out the rising part and just say a low tone. Therefore, in general, in everyday conversation, the full third tone rarely appears. That's why you can remember that the third tone is a low tone. But there is an exception where the third tone is not pronounced as a low tone. When two third tones are combined, the first will change to the second tone.
Which is an ascending tone. For example: If you want to see more examples or learn more about Chinese tone changes, you can watch this video: Alright, before we continue, I would like to introduce you to the sponsor of today's video: Skillshare If. If you would like to explore and develop new skills online, Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of inspiring classes including topics on animation, illustration, creative writing, video production, etc. If you've been watching my videos for a while, you may have noticed that sometimes I draw some images or cartoons for my videos. I've been using an app called Procreate to draw them, but even though I've been using it for a while, I know there are a lot of features I haven't discovered yet.
So lately I started taking a class on Skillshare called “Intro to Procreate: Illustration on the iPad” by Brooke Glaser. And it's crazy that there are so many tips and tricks. I only found out after taking this class. For example, I can simply long-press the color icon to switch between two colors. It saves me a lot of time. And another thing I like about Skillshare is that it has no ads and they are always releasing new premium products. classes, so you can continue learning new things. Plus, it costs less than $10 a month with an annual subscription. If you are interested and want to try it, there is a link in the description.
The first 1000 people to click on it. link you will get a free trial of Premium Membership and can start exploring your creativity. Okay, now let's talk about how to pronounce the second tone. The second tone is a rising tone Its tone goes from a low point to a high point So you can remember the second tone as a low-high tone When you say "would you like some tea?", you are actually making the low tone -stop for "tea" at the end. “Tea” sounds like Chinese “提” “Do you want some tea?” “提” (lift, carry) See? They sound basically the same.
Now let's practice words and phrases with the second tone. The low-high tone. Now let's learn the fourth tone. The fourth tone is a falling tone. It is high pitched. to a low tone So you can remember it as a high-low tone It's like when you say “come on!” The “go” is like the fourth tone. “夠" (to be enough) The tone is from a high point to a low point Okay, let's practice the fourth tone The high-low tone Finally, let's learn the neutral tone in Chinese The neutral tone is a light and short tone. To To pronounce it, you simply need to prolong the sound of its previous character, then you will pronounce the neutral tone naturally.
Like, 桌子 (table) Let's try together I have read that the neutral tone is not like a tone, but rather like a special kind of rhythm in this language, and I really like how they describe it this way. Okay, now that we're done learning and practicing all the tones in Mandarin, let's do a quick summary. In Mandarin Chinese there are four tones and one neutral tone. The first tone is a high tone. You should pronounce it relatively higher than other tones. The second tone is a low-high tone. It starts from a lower tone to a higher tone. So it is a rising tone.
The third tone in general It's a low tone. It starts from a low tone and then goes down a little bit. And you often say it in a squeaky voice. But the exception is that when two third tones are combined, the first becomes a rising tone. The fourth tone is a high-low tone. It starts from a high pitch to a low pitch. So it's a descending tone. You may have noticed that we have a complete system here. The first tone is high, the second tone is low-high, the third tone is low, and the fourth tone is high-low.
And for the neutral tone, remember that it is light and short. Alright, that's all for today! Finally, I would like to say a big thank you to Professor Liu for sharing a lot of fantastic knowledge about Chinese tones that inspired me to create this video. If you found today's video useful, please share it with your Chinese learning community to help people who are struggling with Chinese tones. And don't forget to like and subscribe to my channel for more Chinese lessons. Finally, if you want to learn some daily Mandarin expressions, check out my Instagram: @gracemandarin 那我們就下次見囉!掰掰! 那我们就下次见啰!掰掰! I'll see you next time!
Bye bye!
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