Introduction to Pronunciation

Pronunciation in a foreign language is critical because it affects a native speaker’s ability to understand you, which is especially true for a tonal language such as Chinese. It may also affect your confidence when speaking if you have to keep repeating yourself. You should be aware of the phonetics and the pronunciation of a language early on and continue to build on them during your language journey. Don’t overly stress about your pronunciation, though, you should balance it with your other studies. It’s ok to have an accent in a foreign language, in fact, many Chinese people really like foreign accents. Rather, your goal should be to be easily understandable. I wouldn’t recommend going for a perfect native-like accent unless that is something you are really interested in. In Chinese, it is very difficult to have a native-like accent, and even just an understandable accent takes a lot of time to develop. When you first start studying Chinese, you won’t be able to hear many of the subtle differences in pronunciation or tone, but as you become more familiar with the language, you will build an ear for these differences. Focus a lot on pronunciation in the beginning, especially tones. If you don’t have a strong understanding of tones, it will heavily impact the level of your Chinese. Make sure you learn the pronunciation and tone of new words as you come across them because it is very difficult to go back and pick it up later.

Pinyin and Tones

Pinyin is the first step to developing good pronunciation in Chinese. It is the phonetic system you will use to learn new words and to type. YoYo Chinese has a great course introducing you to pinyin and tones, with quizzes and a pinyin chart where you can listen to all the sounds in the language. It’s ok if you don’t get every sound the first time, you will see and hear pinyin a lot over the course of your studies.

For review and more input, Grace Mandarin Chinese also has a great series on Chinese pronunciation and tones.

Chinese Pinyin Game

After you have learned the basics of pinyin and tones, the Chinese Pinyin Game is a great way to practice what you’ve learned. The game will play you an audio clip and have you select the correct pinyin. This is a great way to develop an association between the sounds and the pinyin.

The app has a few different variations of the game available, and you can choose how hard you want the practice to be.

Hanbook – Freemium

Hanbook is a great app for practicing your pronunciation and tones because it gives you feedback. The free version allows you to record yourself reading example sentences, then listen to your pronunciation and receive feedback on which words you pronounced incorrectly. If you purchase the Dictionary Plus subscription for $30 a year, you receive access to hundreds of dialogs and more tailored feedback on your pronunciation. Hanbook is one of my favorite Chinese learning apps because the feedback from it has improved my tones and pronunciation more than any other resource.

Each day, there is a daily practice when you first open the app. First listen to the sentence, then record yourself reading it.

After you read the sentence, the app will give you a score and highlight the words you had trouble with. It grades you on both your tone and your pronunciation. Some minor errors are normal, so I aim for a score of 90 or higher. To listen to your recording, click on the orange Pacman in the bottom right corner.

You can also search for individual words in the dictionary, and practice pronouncing that specific word or practice sentences with that word.

If you have the Dictionary Plus subscription, then you have access to the “Speak” tab, which can be found at the bottom of the screen. Here you will find hundred of dialogs to listen to and read through.

Each conversation presents you with some new vocabulary, then has you follow a conversation. Record yourself reading the conversation and shadow the provided audio.

If you click on your score in the bottom right corner, it will give you more information on what you missed. In the case of the words below, my pronunciation was fine, but my tone was wrong.

Anki

If you would like even more practice, I also have an Anki deck called “Chinese Pinyin and Tones” that plays you an audio clip, and then has you identify the sound you just heard as pinyin. This deck is great for training your ears to the sounds of Chinese.

Now that you have all this information, you just need to put it into practice. The best way to start doing that is through shadowing. As you shadow native speakers, keep in mind what you’ve learned about Chinese pronunciation. Remember to check the recordings of your own pronunciation for common mistakes and repeat any weak areas. Good pronunciation comes through repetition, and eventually, it will all flow automatically. I highly recommend starting by shadowing with the Hanbook app, as it will give you feedback on your pronunciation. You can find out more about shadowing in the article linked below.