Learn Chinese Blog | Learn to speak Chinese » pronunciation http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog helpful Chinese language learning tips and resources Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:50:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Correcting news anchors’ pronunciation http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/correcting-news-anchors-pronunciation/ http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/correcting-news-anchors-pronunciation/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:46:51 +0000 1on1 Mandarin http://www.1on1mandarin.com/wordpress/?p=46 Stumbled across this website with some hilarious videos about Mandarin. Especially check out the one about the Pinyin Pirate. They also give a snarky but accurate presentation about how to pronounce the name of our fair city.

All campy jokes aside, the videos are actually useful for learning Mandarin. They’re hosted by real university Mandarin teachers.

What web resources have been useful to you in your study of Chinese? Help out fellow students and post in the comments.

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]]> http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/correcting-news-anchors-pronunciation/feed/ 0 Chinese Pronunciation: Vowel Combinations http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-pronunciation-vowel-combinations/ http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-pronunciation-vowel-combinations/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:26:32 +0000 1on1 Mandarin http://www.1on1mandarin.com/wordpress/?p=25 Last time we looked at pronunciation of vowels. This time we will look at how to pronounce a combination of consonants and vowels. In Chinese pronunciation, basic vowels can form vowel combinations with each other or with a nasal consonant. Here are there pronunciations:

ai like eye
an sounds like “ah” with an emphatic “n” at the end (NOT like “an” in can)
ang sounds like “ah” with a soft “ng” (NOT like “ang” in hang)
ao is like “ao” in Tao
ei is like “ay” in bay
en is like “u” in sun
eng is like “ung” in sung
er like “ur” in purse
ia is like ya
iang is like young
ie is like yeah
iu is like the “ou” in you
ian like yen
iao is like “eow” in meow
in as in “in” in gin
ing as in “ing” in sing
iong is like pinyin “yong”
ong is like “ong” in kong
ou is like “ow” in low
ua is like “ua” in guava
uan like one
uang like “oo” + ang
ui is like way
un is like “wou” in would and ending in “n” sound (woon)
uo sounds like “wo” as in wall
uai is like why
ua is like “wa”
üan like yuan and written without two dots
üe is like “yue” (“we” in “wet”)

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]]> http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-pronunciation-vowel-combinations/feed/ 0 Chinese Pronunciation: Vowels http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-pronunciation-vowels/ http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-pronunciation-vowels/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:25:54 +0000 1on1 Mandarin http://www.1on1mandarin.com/wordpress/?p=23 Last session we looked at the pronunciation of consonants. This session pronunciation of vowels will be covered. There are 6 simple vowels. They are: a, o, e, i, u, ü.
Here are their pronunciations:
a as in mama
o as in drop
e as in earn
I as in sit
U as in look
ü like the u in the French rue

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]]> http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-pronunciation-vowels/feed/ 0 Chinese Pronunciation: Consonants http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-pronunciation-consonants/ http://www.1on1mandarin.com/blog/chinese-pronunciation-consonants/#comments Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:25:10 +0000 1on1 Mandarin http://www.1on1mandarin.com/wordpress/?p=21 Last session we covered tones. This lesson we will look at pronunciation of consonants. The following session we will look at pronunciation of vowels, and pronunciation of consonants and vowels combined.

There are 24 consonants in pinyin which are pronounced a lot like in English:
b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s, y, w

Pronunciation of Consonants:
b as in boy
p as in pine
m as in mother
f as in food
d as in dig
t as in talk
n as in none
l as in loud
g as in good
k as in kid
ng as in song
h as in hot
j as in jeep
q like “ch” in cheat
x like a sound between the “s” in see and the “sh” in she
zh like “dg” in sludge
ch as in children
sh as in shaker as in raw
z like “ds” in words
c like “ts” in eats
s as in son
y as in Yao Ming
w as in we

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