Illustrated introduction to the four tones of Mandarin Chinese
(Disclaimer: This is a repost of a blog post I wrote at my day job, which I think 88 Bar readers will also find interesting. Apologies for the plug.)
We’ve started playing with the newly released ShowMe app, which lets you create Khan Academy-style video tutorials. So far it’s been pretty great. Below, we’ve included the first experiment from Iris Qiu, one of our head teachers of our Mandarin School:
Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language. Four tones are used to clarify the meanings of what people say. Since many characters have the same sound, tones are used to differentiate words from each other. Therefore, it is crucial to master the four tones. People who have never spoken a tonal language have a hard time understanding what a tone is.
The four tones in Mandarin are:
- First tone – high level
- Second tone – rising
- Third tone – falling rising
- Fourth tone – falling
Are you ready to kick of your Mandarin Chinese learning by mastering the four tones?
Stay tuned for more!
Tones were something I didn’t really pay much attention to when I started learning Chinese two years ago, and that is really starting to come back to bite me now. 是、时、事、师 they all sound the same to me lol – and I’m pretty sure I say them all with the same tone too! These kind of classes would be great, especially for those trying to learn how to listen for the differences in the tones.
Thanks!