Pinyin quick start guide

This Pinyin Quick Start Guide will give you a good grasp of pinyin with just 10 short articles. In each one, some reference will be made to English sounds (using a format like "this" to indicate English pronunciation), but don't forget that when you learn pinyin, you're learning the sounds of Mandarin Chinese, many of which are totally unfamiliar to English speakers.

The articles (meant to be read in order) are:

1. Easy sounds
2. The "a" vowel
3. The "e" vowel
4. The "i" vowel
5. The "o" and "u" vowels
6. The "c" and "z" sounds
7. The "ch" "sh" and "zh" sounds
8. The "r" sound
9. The "ü" vowel
10. The "j" "q" and "x" sounds

Be sure to visit and review the pinyin chart to review and practice these sounds once you're finished the guide. It'll take some time to memorize all the sounds of pinyin.

If you're already somewhat familiar with pinyin, you might want to jump straight to the pinyin gotchas page.