The r sound and compound finals iu ui un

Méinèi Jiànwǔ, a student from Japan felt “r” is quite difficult for Japanese. Do you have the same difficulty?

When you pronounce r, the shape of your mouth is the same as sh. But raise your tongue and the vocal cords vibrate. The tip of your tongue cannot touch the upper gum, and also it shouldn’t move.

Words for practicing: Click to listen

rén — people; rè — hot; ròu — meat; shēngrì — birthday; rènshi — to know

When you meet someone for the first time ,you can say: Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ. (It’s nice to meet you.) Pronunciations of compound finals iu,ui,un also should be considered. In these three sounds, the main vowel ou, ei, and en should be pronounced completely.

Words for practicing: Click to listen

liù —six; shuí — who; páiduì — line up; píjiǔ — beer; chūnjié — Spring festival

Six is a lucky number in China meaning something is going on smoothly. Reading numbers is also a good way to practice pronunciation. Now let’s learn how to count in Chinese with gestures. Click to listen

1 yī, 2 èr, 3 sān, 4 sì, 5 wǔ, 6 liù, 7 qī, 8 bā, 9 jiǔ, 10 shí

We have now learned finals, initials, tones, some knowledge of Chinese phonetics and as well as some useful expressions. You have now reached the end of our course. Thank you for being with us and we hope you have enjoyed learning Chinese!