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Your practical, free, comprehensive online resource for Chinese pronunciation, tones, and pinyin. 599 pages and growing!
Pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese is not just for Beginners!
If you've just started learning Mandarin Chinese, you're correct to put a lot of effort into learning correct pronunciation. You really need to learn pinyin right away, and we strongly recommend you take the time to familiarize yourself with our pinyin chart. If you want to know what pinyin is, our article on pinyin's background will clear things up.
But even if you're an elementary learner or an intermediate learner, chances are you could still gain a lot from working a bit more on your pronunciation. Below is an example of how pronunciation topics can and should be studied across various levels.
| Level | Pinyin | Tones | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Pinyin quick start guide, Pinyin gotchas | The four tones | - |
| A2 | Tough sounds (basic), Erhua | Tone change rules | - |
| B1 | Tough sounds (advanced), Rare syllables | Tone pairs | Accents |
| B2 | - | Pronunciation variants | - |
This is just a small sample, though. Check out the growing list of pronunciation points, divided by level.
Practice Your Tone Pairs Here!
(There is lots more video on our tone pairs pages)
Why Do Native Speakers Pronounce Stuff Wrong??
There are quite a few words in modern Mandarin with multiple pronunciations floating around. Usually there is one "standard" pronunciation (in the dictionary), but in many cases that's the one no one really ever says! If you're a fairly advanced student (B1+), you'll want to check out our list of pronunciation variants.
About AllSet Learning
AllSet Learning is a Shanghai-based learning consultancy dedicated to helping foreigners better learn Mandarin Chinese. This wiki is maintained by John Pasden and the rest of the team at AllSet Learning. While many of the company's services are only available to clients physically in Shanghai, this wiki is open to the public through a Creative Commons license.
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