Beginner Conversational Chinese - Best Way to Practice Tones.

Now you know what the four tones are and their associated English sounds. The way to practice Mandarin Chinese tones, the best way is to practice the tones in combination instead of individually. So let me show you a graph that's really, really helpful for you. Look at this tone, this is like a pinyin tone pairs table. So basically, most Chinese words are two syllable words and they come from one of these combinations. And we call these combinations pairs. And Chinese words for each of these combinations are the sample words that I want you to master which we show you in this table. So what I mean by mastering is that you need to make sure you pronounce them perfectly with 100% right tones. Don't worry, we're going to go through all these 20 words one by one. Ok, so let me switch back. Just take a look at this chart and table. Ok, great. So you saw that chart, right? Don't worry about it. By the end of the hangout, I'm going to list it in the description part of this event page so you can actually go and download the chart. So the reason why mastering these 20 essential words are extremely important is because just by this foundation, in the future when you learn any new Chinese word, this foundation will actually give you a quick association or link in between what the new word is and what you're already familiar with. And that's the most effective way to learn Chinese. Because when you learn another word with a third or second tone combination, you can just say, oh, that's easy. It's just one of the three-two combination words that I already know. I already know what the tones are like for this specific combination. Make sense? Ok, great. Let's wait no more and dive into these 20 essential words. I want you to master them so well. I want you to, if other words don't matter, these words matter. Ok, so let's do it. The first one is the one-one combination, ok? One-one combination, think about one-one is what? That's jīntiān, right? It's like maybe, maybe, right? Ok. Oh, just give me one second. I need to explain something real quick to you. Where is the sheet? I'm looking for it. Oh, by the way, so how do we, how can we tell what kind of tones these are, right? So there's something called tone marks. And what you see here is the tone mark that represents what tone it is. And I will explain that to you one by one. So let's first talk about the first tone. So one-one combination will sound like maybe, maybe, right? May, may. So today is jīntiān, jīntiān, jīntiān, may, may, jīntiān, maybe, maybe. Ok, good. The one-two combination, which is the m, what? Remember? Maybe, what? Maybe, what? Alright. And then the sample word is China. Zhōngguó, maybe, what? Zhōngguó, Zhōngguó, maybe, what? Maybe, what? Ok, so you see for the second tone, it's just the tone mark is consistent with the second tone, which is the rising tone. And the first tone is just like a flat tone, which is consistent with the first tone. Remember? Ok, great. So Zhōngguó, so you see the tone mark completely are consistent with the tones. Let's move on to the third combo. One-three combo, first tone and third tone. Ok, so remember the first tone is maybe, right? May and third tone is what? Remember? That would be really low. What did you have for lunch yesterday? Right? Third tone. Right, so maybe, maybe. So the combo would be ice water. Oh my gosh, you gotta learn this. In China, no matter where you go, no matter if it's summer or winter, they just bring you a cup of hot water all the time, right? So this is an essential word for you if you want ice water, ok? So ice water is bīng shuǐ, bīng shuǐ. Alright, so the tone mark here is the third tone, right? So you say, why does it look like this? Because the third tone is actually a low flat tone, right? So the third tone is a very unique one because actually when third tone is pronounced by itself, it's a bouncing tone. But don't worry about that, you know, for now just remember the third tone is actually looks like a V sign, ok? So third tone is a V sign instead of like a little flat tone. Just remember that. Bīng shuǐ. Maybe, maybe, bīng shuǐ. Remember this word, bīng shuǐ. Yeah, alright. One fourth combination. Maybe, no, maybe, no, may, no. And then, so you apply that tone to this, it'll be what? I know is, to know is zhī dào, zhī dào. So the fourth tone mark is consistent with the fourth tone as well. So this is the, see, this is like a falling tone. And then for the fourth tone, this is a falling tone as well. Alright, zhī dào, zhī dào. Maybe, maybe, no. Good. So now is the one plus five. What does that mean? Ok, let me just show you that graph real quick, ok? So you see the one five here, five is actually a neutral tone. So a tone that does not have a tone mark, we call it a toneless tone. Alright, so let me switch back and I'll explain what that means. Ok, for any neutral tone, just remember two things. The neutral tone is usually in the middle of your voice range. Alright, so here's the highest, this is the lowest, this is sort of in the middle. So maybe, so this would be like in the middle, roughly. And then it's usually very short and quick and sweet. So if other words, like characters are two beats and then the toneless tone or the tone without a mark is basically just one beat. It's short and sweet. So when you say, what the one five combination will sound like, maybe, uh, uh, uh, maybe, uh, may, uh, and it's very quick. And may, uh, may, uh. Alright, so how do you say really? Really, zhēn de, zhēn de, may be, uh, zhēn de. Good? Remember this word, zhēn de, I'm not lying to you. Really, zhēn de, zhēn de. Fēi cháng hǎo. Alright, the two one combination. The two one combination is what? What may, right? What may, what may, good. And then it applies to this very common word, tomorrow. What may, míng tiān, what may, míng tiān, repeat after me. Míng tiān, míng tiān, míng tiān, míng tiān, good. Two two combination that will be what? What, what, right? Yeah, yeah, or yes, yes, huh, huh, right? What, what, and that will apply to this word next year. Míng nián, míng nián, míng nián, fēi cháng hǎo, very good. Next one, the two three combination. Two is second tone, hmm, and remember what? And third is what? Third tone is uh, what, uh, what, uh, what, uh. So beer, oh my gosh, go to the restaurant, you are going to have the best Chinese pronunciation in the restaurant. Even better than Chinese people when you say beer, okay? You say pí jiǔ, what, uh, pí jiǔ, pí jiǔ, what, pí jiǔ, pí jiǔ, fēi cháng hǎo. Alright, two four combination, what is that? What, no, what, no, hmm, hmm, alright. Something is very easy, easy peasy. Róng yì, róng yì, róng yì, hmm, no, like what, no, róng yì. Alright, the two five combination which is the neutral tone. Oh, did I mention to you that in Mandarin there are four tones and the fifth tone is a neutral tone, toneless tone or a tone that does not have a tone mark. I just want to illustrate that just one more time. Alright, the fifth tone remember, two things you need to remember for the neutral tone, it's usually in the middle of the voice range and it's usually short, sweet and quick. So that'll be what, uh, what, uh, what, uh. Alright, and what is shén me, shén me, what, uh, shén me, shén me, shén me. Alright, good. Xià yí gè, next one. Three one combination, third tone is what? What did you have for lunch yesterday? Uh, uh. First tone, me, wow, it's really that you go from the lowest, your voice to the highest range. So, uh, me, uh, me, uh, me. Alright, and sounds like, so to like, you say that all the time, right? Xǐ huān, xǐ huān, xǐ huān. So it sounds like uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. So remember three one combination is uh-huh, xǐ huān, uh-huh, uh, me, uh, me, xǐ huān, xǐ huān, xǐ huān. Good. Next one, three two combination. Three two combination remember, what is number three? Low flat tone that sounds like uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. You know, whenever you're speaking the third tone, it's almost like you're feeling uncomfortable here because that's not something you're normally speaking all the time. You really have to go down to the bottom of your throat and voice and speak that. Uh, what? Uh, what? Uh, what? Fēi cháng hǎo. And then to get up from bed, you know, if somebody, you know, is being a lazy bone in the morning, you can say, hey, get up. Qǐ chuáng, uh, what? Qǐ chuáng, qǐ chuáng, qǐ chuáng, uh, what? That's the three two combination. Okay, here's the tricky part. Three three combination. Okay, keep this in mind. Okay, three three combination is a unique one. And actually, we had a specific google hangout on the Chinese tone rule changing in the past. And I need you to dig out that google hangout on youtube and watch that lesson because I'm not going to go into details here. But basically, the rule is this. When two third tones are together, the first third tone becomes the second tone. As simple as that. So basically, any three three combination just sounds like any two three combination. Make sense? So let's just practice the two three combination here. So that'd be two three. That's, that is what, uh, what, uh. Okay, what, uh. Do you know the very first word you learn in Mandarin is what? Nǐ hǎo, hello, right? Now today, eventually, today's the day you're speaking this word perfectly. Nǐ hǎo, second tone. So that'd be second tone. What, uh, nǐ hǎo, nǐ hǎo, nǐ hǎo. Remember, three three is nǐ hǎo. Okay? Three four combination. Three is the lowest part, uh, and then four is no, right? Uh, no, uh, no. Huh, we're having fun, aren't we? Yay. So, oh, do you like fried rice? I do. So that would be chǎo fàn, chǎo fàn, chǎo fàn. Uh, no. Fēi chǎng hǎo, chǎo fàn, chǎo fàn. Okay. Three five combination. Remember, the neutral tone, two things, short and sweet, in the middle range, in the middle part of your voice range. Yay. Okay, so, see, so you start really low, so, and that's in the middle, so basically you're going up a little. So, uh, up, uh, up, uh, up, uh, up. So, this word is the sample word. My or mine? Wǒ de, wǒ de, wǒ de. Okay, wǒ de. Okay, four one combination. What is fourth, fourth tone? Remember? Emphatic, no, sure, yeah, but just remember, no. All right? No, maybe. Remember? No, may, no, may, no, may. What kind of gibberish I'm talking about, right? You're thinking. No, may. So, the equivalent, I'm sorry, the sample word is bread. Miàn bāo, miàn bāo, miàn bāo. All right, let's take the next one. The four two combination. No, what? No, what? No, what? Okay. The question word, this word can also mean problem. Wèn tí, wèn tí, wèn tí. No, what? Wèn tí. Fēi cháng hǎo. All right. Four three combination. No, uh. No, uh. Does it sound like someone's name? Noah. Noah. Noah. Noah. And here is zhè lǐ. Noah. Zhè lǐ. Zhè lǐ. Zhè lǐ. Fēi cháng hǎo. Four four combination. Do you know which word that is the four four combination? Do you want me to say zài jiàn? Goodbye. That's all right. So, that's four four combination. It's like when you say no, no, right? Zài jiàn. Zài jiàn. It's not zài jiàn. It's not zài jiàn. It's zài jiàn. No, no. Okay, now you can say hello and goodbye perfectly and also ice water and what else? Oh, beer, right? Okay. Zài jiàn. No, no. Very last one. I know. You're having fun. You don't want to stop, but we got to stop somewhere. All right. The four five combination. Five, remember? Just really quick. I know you probably think I'm nagging you. Okay. It's short and sweet and middle part of your voice range. So, that'll be no, uh. No, uh. So, this is different from the before. That'll be no, uh. Remember? This is no, uh, right? No, no, no, uh. Go to the middle part. Go up a little bit. So, that'll be, remember which word that can match this tone? Thank you. Remember this word. Okay, repeat after me. Perfect. Wonderful, wonderful. So, now you know those are the Mandarin Chinese tone pairs. They're very, very important. They're like the building blocks for you to learn Chinese tones. So, I highly suggest you memorize all these 20 words and in the description part, not only I'm going to provide you what you see on the screen earlier, which is the tone pairs table with all these 20 essential words, but also I have made a little recording for you just to read those 20 words over and over again so you can listen to them and practice. So, what I suggest at the very, if you just barely start learning Mandarin, what I suggest is really find a native speaker, a tutor, a friend, whoever, right? At least at the beginning, help you master these 20 words. Make sure you absolutely pronounce them 100% correctly and then you can move on to any other words and you'll be very confident that you're speaking the right tones. Okay, so this is what we talk about, tone pairs. Hi, thanks for watching this video. Now you know all four Chinese tones. Aren't you proud of yourself? Well, I recorded some really useful mp3 files to help you practice all four tones. So, click here to get them for free on our website or you can click here to go to the next lesson or you can click down below to subscribe to our channel. We have new videos coming out every week. Alright, 下次见!再见!加油!