Tone Practicing

Many learners feel tones are the most difficult part in Chinese. When learning tones, you should remember the fixed sounds of each tone first.

• The first tone is high and flat, and the pitch is kept at a high level for a while;

• The second tone rises from middle level to the highest level;

• The third tone goes down first and then rises but it is rarely pronounced as the original tone;

• The fourth tone falls from the highest to the lowest.

• jīntiān — today; zhōngguó — China;
  Yīngyǔ — English; shēngrì — birthday

• míngtiān — tomorrow; míngnián — next year;
  píjiǔ — beer; búcuò — not bad

• lǎoshī — teacher; cǎoméi — strawberry;
  hěnhǎo — very good; hǎokàn — beautiful

• qìchē — car; hànyǔ — Chinese language;
  bùhǎo — not good; kuàilè — happy

• māma — mother; yéye — grandfather;
  nǎinai — grandmother; bàba — father