Tough sounds (basic)

As a beginner (A1) learner of Mandarin Chinese, you need to learn all of the syllables of pinyin. You may not pronounce them all like a native speaker yet, but you at least need to "know what's out there."

As an elementary (A2) learner, many of the sounds of pinyin should be getting more familiar and easier to pronounce, but inevitably, some of them are going to trip you up a lot more than others. It's likely words which contain the "more foreign" consonant and vowel sounds that give you the most trouble. These "tough sounds" need to be regularly practiced as an elementary learner until you can really nail them. Your future, fluent Mandarin speaker self will thank you!

A2 Tough Sounds

As an elementary learner, these are the tough sounds you need to focus on pronouncing correctly:

1. Tough sounds c-s-z-
2. Tough sounds s-sh-, c-ch-, z-zh-
3. Tough sounds x-sh-, q-ch-, j-zh-
4. Tough sounds r-
5. Tough sounds -an-ang
6. Tough sounds -e
7. Tough sounds -ou-uo
8. Tough sounds -ü-u
9. Tough sounds -un
10. Tough sounds -uan

You don't have to do those in order, but you definitely want to master them all. Consider this your elementary "Tough Sounds Checklist."

A2 Tough Sounds Check

Test yourself!

If these A2 tough sounds are too easy for you, then definitely try out our B1 tough sounds checks.

A2 pronunciation points