Jan 27

C-DOC: Learn Chinese NYC – Basics for Pronounciation and the Four Tones

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The Chinese Doctor is a recurring feature written by Friend Of JET, Jon Hills, who maintains the blog for Hills Learning (www.hillslearning.com).

Hills Learning is a NY-based language learning services company offering customized and personal Chinese, Japanese and Korean language learning options. Their main service is private one on one language lessons in the NYC area.

Congratulations on choosing to learn the new buzz language in New York City, Chinese. When learning Chinese it’s important to first learn the pronunciation of the language. Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language, with 4 tones that can change and distinguish the meaning of words. It’s important to become familiar with the tones in the beginning, mastering the tones will take time and energy with a trained teacher. Don’t worry though, Cantonese has 7 tones, and Vietnamese has 9 tones, so comparatively learning Mandarin should seem quite easy!

When learning Mandarin we’ll use the word “ma.” Ma can mean four different things, depending on which tone you pronounce it with. Without further ado, here’s the tones you’ll use when pronouncing Mandarin…

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