Learn Chinese Tones - A New Way To Master Them, Once and For All

Рет қаралды 45,817

3 жыл бұрын

This is THE WAY to master Mandarin Chinese tones, whether you’re just starting out or have studied a bit but still struggle with voicing and identifying the tones.
The 90-minute course combines the expertise of native Mandarin Chinese speakers with tricks and methods from non-native speakers who learned Chinese fluently.
An app version of this course is in the works farther down the line - any updates will appear in this video description.
I hope you find this course useful and helpful.
VERY BEST WISHES FOR SUCCESS WITH YOUR CHINESE STUDIES!
-- Mike Kitchen
Table of Contents:
0:00:33 - Introduction
0:01:54 - Lesson 1: General Overview and Tips
0:07:16 - Lesson 2: The First Tone
0:13:58 - Lesson 3: The Fourth Tone
0:20:10 - Lesson 4: The Second Tone
0:27:04 - Lesson 5: The Third Tone
0:37:11 - Lesson 6: Single Tone Review
0:38:18 - Lesson 7: Single Tones Self-Test
0:42:02 - Lesson 8: End-4 Tone Combinations
0:51:24 - Lesson 9: End-1 Tone Combinations
1:01:29 - Lesson 10: End-3 Tone Combinations
1:09:42 - Lesson 11: End-2 Tone Combinations
1:19:57 - Lesson 12: End-5 (Neutral) Tone Combinations
1:23:09 - Lesson 13: Three-Tone Combos and Rules With 不, 一
1:27:55 - Lesson 14: Tone Combination Review
1:29:57 - Lesson 15: Tone Combinations Self-Test
Notes:
* The translations and Chinese characters for some of the words in this course are really just there for reference, and in many cases there are other possible translations.
* My apologies in advance if there’s any confusion over when best to use the “full third tone” and when to use the “clipped third tone.” For beginning students, this course generally recommends using the full tone for single-syllable words and using the clipped tone when it’s in combination with other tones. That said, Chinese speakers use both (as explained in the course), so try to feel comfortable with both.
Sources:
* The chart of actual pitches for the Mandarin tones (which appears at 0:02:42) is based on the one in Prof. Louis Goldstein's outline of General Phonetics, posted at sail.usc.edu/~lgoldste/General_Phonetics/
* The frequency of the different Chinese tones (which appears at 0:14:30) is from a publicly posted December 2012 study by Kevin H. Lin

Пікірлер: 81

@rpk.. Жыл бұрын

I'm so glad youtube recommended this to me, this should have at least a million views

@manjubashinidhayanidhi5535 3 жыл бұрын

So underrated, 440 views for a one and a half hours bro. Subscribed.

@WorldisOurThing 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment! I am getting the word out slowly :-)

@jinxsyn 29 күн бұрын

42k don't worry

@v031 10 күн бұрын

I am learning Mandarin Chinese for my friend. I have been trying to learn it for a while now but haven't really full focused on it due to the fact that there was not resources I could find that I could rely on. I'm going to try this video out, will update when completed.

@MyPianoArchives 6 ай бұрын

This is simply the greatest video I found on learning the Chinese tones - I’ve lived in Guangzhou as a model (in 3 month increments, for nearly a year in an entirety) and I never thought of trying to acquire the language beyond the basics. This has inspired me so much, as I was trying to use comprehensible input via YT and it just wasn’t feeling like I’d retain anything beyond words and phrases. But, this gave me an eye opening moment and I am so thankful for this content!

@summcunt5421 4 ай бұрын

This is exactly what I've been struggling with. Next thing I need to learn are the Pinyin that don't sound like they're spelled. I know there are certain letters that only have a ü sound even though the dots aren't written and also some that have an extra unwritten vowel. I already saw those on another video, but they didn't sink in yet. So the main thing I learnt from this video was right at the very end with the tone changes for bu & yi. I hadn't learnt those before. Otherwise, this video was great to help me practice. I learnt about the tone change rules for 3rd tones a couple of days ago. I think I'm going to make a lot of improvement now that I've got these down. I've been struggling for quite a while wondering why native speakers never match the tones that are written. Now I know.

@Jalaxe77 4 ай бұрын

This video is amazing!! This should absolutely be viewed in the millions for all those trying to learn Mandarin - best one I've come across

@Joyhopefaithlove Жыл бұрын

I can't believe I got this high quality content for free! I was about to give up! Thank you so much for sharing your hardwork!

@Alexbfd94 3 жыл бұрын

Good luck on your journey, everyone! 加油！

@iqbalkuria579 Жыл бұрын

Mike, you classically raised my tone recognition and pronunciation to high level. How you illuminated the darkness. Iqbal gitau (Kenya)

@shawxs 5 ай бұрын

wowowow!! this is so helpful. thank you so much 💖

@maialso6096 3 ай бұрын

Great video super helpful!

@tripp8833 8 ай бұрын

Amazing video

@reimihara21 9 ай бұрын

Very helpful. Will rewatch for helping me out to distinguish between all 4 tones

@Humanity.79 5 ай бұрын

Thanks i really improved my learning ❤

@BegiB 11 ай бұрын

Fantastic

@mostafaswiedan6291 9 ай бұрын

An unbelievable Course ❤

@qinglong_2 8 ай бұрын

Enjoyed ❤

@thangvo5693 9 ай бұрын

Nice video. I am appreciated your work here. It's pretty useful. Thank you so much.

@ksyp4178 Жыл бұрын

Thank you) Very helpful! I was confused with half-third tone, but now it's clear

@pingp7643 Ай бұрын

reallllllly helpful!!!!!!

@georgelewisray 10 ай бұрын

World Class , Amazing , Incredible, Impressive . . . . . thank you very much for what you do !!!

@samvelshishmanian6797 3 ай бұрын

The best video I found here about Chinese tones. Understandable and very helpful. Thank you!

@ashleycapdeboscq364 Жыл бұрын

Amazing job here, thank you so much! I'm still struggling to recognize the tones, and I know I'll be watching this video many more times to help make it click. Super quality content

@lTheBallsl 24 күн бұрын

this deserves more views. 謝謝

@haymanhp 8 ай бұрын

Thanks a lot, I'm learning this video in separate pieces since I have only a little time per day

@nkyw255 6 ай бұрын

Just found this after 6 months after started learning Chinese. This is so good, wish I have found this earlier.

@nink1239 3 ай бұрын

This is awesome

@Blechmamber 3 жыл бұрын

Nice, this really is exactly what I need at the moment. Thanks a lot.

@WorldisOurThing 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent! I hope it's of use to you -- and would also be very grateful if tell others about this course :-) Thanks for the good word

@LarghettoCantabile 3 жыл бұрын

Some useful tips. Thank you. For the fúwù type, I find it useful to imagine "one, two." (concluding an enumeration). The second tone is what we use in Western languages for counting.

@karoma99 6 ай бұрын

Man, this is the best Chinese Tones Course I've seen in my two years studying Chinese. This is a master piece. Too beautiful, too good and FREE. I can't believe it! I've been struggle with tones for too long, but this kinda cleared out most of my doubts. Sigh, so the sky was blue after all! ❤🎉 How is the app going btw? Can I still keep dreaming on meeting that sweetie someday?

@chaizhasmin 10 ай бұрын

after this video i feel like i know chinese tones better, then any chinese speaker on this planet, thanks!!!

@cameronburnett9679 Ай бұрын

11:37 gong should be 3rd tone. Great video. Very well presented.

@joeldo.holanda Ай бұрын

Wonderful video. My main issue is neither distinguish between tones nor pronouncing them right. My issue is remembering which tone is right for which character.

@LarghettoCantabile 3 жыл бұрын

This is very well thought out. Apart from tips about similar pitch patterns in English, there are some very good examples and quizz questions about rather tricky distinctions, as for example 2-1 vs. 3-1.

@WorldisOurThing 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Happy you enjoyed it

@kingchickenwing4887 3 жыл бұрын

This is very useful information, and the videos is masterfully made. Maybe if this channel was spread on Reddit language learning forums it could get the attention it deserves?

@WorldisOurThing 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for that KingChickenwing! Right now I've been focusing on reaching out to college-level Chinese instructors/professors to see if there's interest -- but hopefully there will be some word of mouth from people who use the course

@HagakureNibahashi-zr3df 24 күн бұрын

Amazing video: thanks a lot for it, Mike!!! Especially when it comes to the 5th tone, it's really mind-blowing, because if the following impressions are right, so it raises a question: Has the "5 tone" been called as a "neutral" one, because it has no tonal characteristics by its own, but rather behaves like a "chameleon", but being manifested only when connected to another tone?! Because: 1. After the 1st and the 4th tones, it seems to sound practically like a clipped third tone, so: sūnzi = sūnzǐ' chāzi = chāzǐ' kuàizi = kuàizǐ' yìsi = yìsǐ' gàosu = gaosǔ' zhēnde = zhēndě' kāi le = kāi lě' kàn le = kàn lě' xièxie = xièxiě' tāmen = tāměn 2. After the 2nd it seems to sound quite similarly to a lower-range 4th tone - (this lower range is here being symbolised by the letter "h" after a vowel, as in the Yale Romanisation System for Cantonese, which makes it go as follows): háizi = háizìh chú le = chú lèh wán le = wán lèh péngyou = péngyòuh 3. After the 3rd tone, it seems to sound like either a lower-range 1st tone or a lower-range 4th tone: hǎode = hàoh-dèh//hàoh-dēh wǒmen = wòh-mēhn mǎnle = màhn-lēh So, if it's such like that, an amazing language has become unveiled to our Western world. God bless you, Mike. Thanks a lot, again!

@petrokemp1567 Жыл бұрын

多谢！！！

@benthelearner6104 3 жыл бұрын

Good video. There is a very big difference between being able to say one word correcly with good tone vs, reading sentences. This is my problem so far. I know tones but it takes a lot of time to master it.

@WorldisOurThing 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment Ben The Learner! If you have trouble with long strings of words/tones, you could try focusing on the main word or words in the sentence, saying them a little more slowly and clearly than the others -- that sometimes helps in getting Chinese speakers to understand you, and if the other tones are a little off or unclear, you can still get by. I definitely agree with you that is does take some practice, but I think you'll find that it quickly becomes second-nature, especially with the words & phrases you use the most. 祝你成功! (Wish you success!)

@altrifrancobolli 3 жыл бұрын

Really great! Turns out I’m better at recognizing than I thought. Although I am slightly confused about how certain words that share tones can mean different things. (Ex. Péng being both “friend” and “canopy/shack”)

@WorldisOurThing 3 жыл бұрын

Very cool -- and thanks for checking out the course! In terms of péng, this would just be a homophone, like with blue/blew in English, and for sure homophones are very common in Mandarin.

@thatesc 3 жыл бұрын

Peng (to mean friend) usually becomes pengyou

@benthelearner6104 3 жыл бұрын

There is several word in every language that have the same prononciation but means something else. In french (fois, foie, foi) are all pronunce the same but mean (times, liver, faith). The context of the sentence is very important too.

@kriketprayme 3 жыл бұрын

Now I hope this channel gets more exposure and we get more videos to watch. Been here for a long time. I just deleted my older account and I also keep changing my names. 😜

@WorldisOurThing 3 жыл бұрын

Welcome back Shagird A!

@user-ex7wg9uh8f 5 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for the video, but why is the volume so low?

@bashirmasih3771 9 ай бұрын

早上好老师

@catboy721 9 ай бұрын

Extremely helpful and well illustrated. Surprised, however, that your pronunciation of the word “pronunciation” was incorrect, a common practice among English speakers. Very minor - just stood out to me amid all the Mandarin.

@andreare7766 7 ай бұрын

Gosh! I can kind of cope with single syllable words, but when you have a combination of tones I just can't hear it most of the times.

@WorldisOurThing 7 ай бұрын

I think the more you try, the easier it will get. But until then, don't worry - most of the time you'll be able to identify the words from the context. Probably more important for a beginning student is being able to pronounce the tones correctly so that others are clear what you're saying. I wish you the best of success in your studies!

@garden2356 4 ай бұрын

What app?

@user-pi7yk4wt6l 8 ай бұрын

when i want to say: wo xiang may gou. the first 3 words changes to second tone folloqwing the rule?

@dodona3 6 ай бұрын

podria ser creada una version en español....

@Perfect_sound 7 ай бұрын

1:17:35 . Am I wrong or there should be “NE” in the end ? 呢

@redguy223 3 жыл бұрын

How long has this been in the making?

@redguy223 3 жыл бұрын

great work

@WorldisOurThing 3 жыл бұрын

@@redguy223 Thanks! I worked on this (with the help of others) just on my spare time, so it took a couple of years to complete -- the app version should be a lot quicker to finish and publish.

@garden2356 4 ай бұрын

3:06 tones

@eded3827 2 жыл бұрын

Did you ever release the App?

@WorldisOurThing 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for asking! Unfortunately I've had a lot going on, and the app is still in early stages, but I will definitely leave any updates at the top of the video description

@eded3827 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the reply! Regarding the t

@eded3827 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you @0:02:42 thank you for this demonstration- whereabouts did get that voice

@WorldisOurThing 2 жыл бұрын

@@eded3827 That's one of the very kind volunteers who did the Chinese voicing - the chart is a representation of the average tone pattern for each of the four main tones.

@eded3827 2 жыл бұрын

@@WorldisOurThing very informative/ I am learning Mandarin as a second language and this gives me some encouragement as to what to expect in the real world . BTW the tone paring helps a ton brother

@TheGassy92 3 ай бұрын

The /r/ in Mandarin Chinese for some reason is a bit difficult for me. I speak.both Spanish and English and can roll and say my R's correctly but in Mandarin I feel like I'm off 😢

@WorldisOurThing 3 ай бұрын

@TheGassy92 For sure, that can be a tough sound to get used to. It's a rare consonant, but interestingly, it also appears in Tamil, and even native Tamil speakers acknowledge that it's difficult. There are really two different sounds written as R in pinyin. The R that appears at the end of "er" (like 儿子 / érzi, meaning "son"), is pretty much the same as our English R. If you're learning the northern Mandarin Chinese accent, especially the Beijing dialect, you'll hear that R added onto the end of a lot of words. But then there's the R that's giving you trouble, the one that comes at the beginning of a syllable. To make this sound, try positioning your tongue to make a "zh" sound (like the "s" in "measure"). But now, try turning the "zh" into something resembling a regular English "r" sound by slighty pursing/rounding your lips. It's kind of like a purring R, and although we don't really have it in English, you might hear people making this sound to imitate the revving of a motorcycle engine or some similar noise. Be aware that if you use an "English R" instead, a few Chinese speakers (esp. if they're not accustomed to hearing foreign accents) might think you're trying to make an L sound. And in fact, some Chinese students of English might swap L for R when they're first learning the language. I hope this helps, and best of luck with your Chinese studies! And please spread the word about this video. There's been a delay on the app version, but I hope to have it out late this year too (fingers crossed)

@Happy_Maxi 19 күн бұрын

I think a mistake began at 1:00:49 where it's no longer an end one tone combination, right?

@WorldisOurThing 19 күн бұрын

Thanks for watching! If you look at the title screen for that quiz, you'll see it also includes some end-4 combos that were introduced earlier.

@Happy_Maxi 19 күн бұрын

@@WorldisOurThing oh, i didn't see that aaah okay thank you

@CrazyBunny123 5 ай бұрын

1:12:55 dude, where is my car?

@thorstenmarquardt7274 3 күн бұрын

i think the best way to imagine the first tone is by pretending to be a stereotypical British person saying uniVERsity. And for the 1st + 2nd tone combination, imagine that british person being really agitated and asking "ZHONGguo!? you what, mate?"

@garden2356 4 ай бұрын

Mandarin Pin Yin 4 tones. ā Singing tone. 🎼 🎵 á Questioning tone. ? ă Thinking tone. 🤔 à Rejection tone. N😡! NO! 👎 Exclamation rejection tone.