Easy sounds

Although you cannot take for granted that the letters that make up pinyin sound like they do in English, the good news is that many of them do. So before learning about which pinyin letters make crazy new sounds in Mandarin Chinese, it's a good idea to learn the letters that make more familiar sounds. These are the "easy sounds."

The "easy sounds" listed here may not sound exactly like their English counterparts, but they're pretty close. So if you're a beginner, you don't need to worry too much about mispronouncing the following sounds:

• b- sounds roughly like the English "b" sound, but it is unvoiced in Chinese, which means that it might sound a little like a "p" to you. Don't worry; with enough exposure you'll get used to it. Beginners can get away with an English "b" sound.
• p- sounds just like the English "p" sound. Perfect!
• m- sounds just like the English "m" sound. Marvelous!
• f- sounds just like the English "f" sound. Freebie!
• d- sounds roughly like the English "d" sound, but it is unvoiced in Chinese, which means that it might sound a little like a "t" to you. Don't worry; with enough exposure you'll get used to it. Beginners can get away with an English "d" sound.
• t- sounds just like the English "t" sound. Terrific!
• n- sounds just like the English "n" sound. Nice!
• l- sounds just like the English "l" sound. Lovely!
• s- sounds just like the English "s" sound. Sweet!
• g- sounds roughly like the English "g" sound, but it is unvoiced in Chinese, which means that it might sound a little like a "k" to you. Don't worry; with enough exposure you'll get used to it. Beginners can get away with an English "g" sound.
• k- sounds just like the English "k" sound. Killer!
• h- sometimes sounds pretty much like the English "h" sound, but other times a bit raspy, similar to the throaty sound in the word "chutzpah." This variation is natural, and both versions are OK. So you're fine just making the regular "h" sound that you're familiar with.

b-
p-
m-
f-
d-
t-
n-
l-
s-
g-
k-
h-