Learn Standard Chinese Pronunciation - Pinyin Lesson 1_ a o e i u ü (Simple Finals)

Have you lowered your standard for Chinese pronunciation? 你对你的汉语发音降低标准了吗? Pronunciation, 发音, is like our business cards we give to people. This lesson is not only a guide to Chinese pinyin, but also a course that we can practice together to learn the standard Chinese pronunciation. A pinyin syllable is made up of an initial, 声母, a final, 韵母, and a tone. A pinyin may have no initial, but it must have a final, 韵母. A final can be a single vowel, two vowels, three vowels, or a combination of a vowel and a consonant. In our first lesson, we will start from the very basic but very important part of Chinese pronunciation, the six simple finals. 好的,现在我们开始上课。 The first simple final is 啊. Look how widely I open my mouth. Yes, it is similar to the ah sound in the English word father. Make sure you pronounce it in a bit exaggerated way so that later when you speak Chinese, you will naturally speak more accurately. Let's see. Now listen to how other native Chinese speakers pronounce it. If you want to learn accurate Chinese pronunciation and sound like a native speaker, I'd like to recommend our online pinyin chart. It's a free and useful tool to help you learn all 400 plus pinyin syllables with tones. Now you can sign up for our standard Chinese pronunciation course on our website, everydaychinese.com. This course has 20 lessons in total, and it will allow you to practice Mandarin with abundant Chinese character examples. More lessons are coming soon. 现在我们再来说一遍。 非常好。 A good start. The second simple final. Note that you need to round your lips when you pronounce. It's similar to the aw sound in the English word law. Let's say. Note that when you pronounce your lips are rounded. Now listen to how other native Chinese speakers pronounce it. Now the third one. Before we pronounce it, you must have your own idea about its pronunciation based on your mother tongue. Now drop the influence of your mother tongue and let's say. Sounds similar to the English filter word. When you are thinking. I don't know. If you still find it hard to pronounce, no worries. Let's use a helping word. Try to pronounce all first. Keep your tongue in position. And slightly spread your mouth. Let's try. Now listen to how other native Chinese speakers pronounce it. 现在我们再来说一遍。 非常好。 This final should be easier. The e sound is very similar to the double e in the English word. I call it a fake smile final. Now let's squeeze a fake smile and say. 现在到你说了。 Now listen to how other native Chinese speakers pronounce it. 现在我们再来说一遍。 非常好。 When you pronounce this final, your mouth is fully rounded. The u sound is similar to the double o in the English word. Note that when pronouncing this, the opening of your mouth is narrow. And you need to keep your lips fully rounded throughout. Let's pronounce. 现在到你说了。 Now listen to how other native Chinese speakers pronounce it. Here I've got some vivid examples of the sound u when I chat with my friends over the phone. If I want to express my sadness, I would send an emoji like this. Yes, this character is called u. u is commonly used in Chinese to describe the sound of crying. I'm crying. Or you can picture the sound of an incoming train. 好的,我们再来说一遍。 太棒了,给你点个赞。 Now this final. To pronounce u, I've got two easy ways for you. First is to use a helping word, yi. Try to pronounce yi first. Keep your tongue in position and quickly round your lips like you are going to whistle. Let's try. Now let's make it faster. Does the sound come out? Here is a second way to pronounce u. Do you know how to say hello in French? Yes, the u sound is very similar to the u in the French word. Let's say. 现在到你说了。 Now listen to how other native Chinese speakers pronounce it. 现在我们再来说一遍。 非常棒。 Now let's say them together. Note that when you pronounce a, your mouth is the widest, and then Now let's say them backwards one more time. Here I've got two exercises for you to see if you've learned today's finals correctly. Have a listen to the audio and check out which one the speaker says. Please pronounce the following simple finals and compare yours with the teacher's voice. Now let's have a review of what we've learned today by listening, not to me, but to a male voice. In our next lesson, we will learn the four Chinese tones and practice them with the six simple finals we've learned today. If you want to learn accurate Chinese pronunciation and sound like a native speaker, I'd like to recommend our online PIN chart. It's a free and useful tool to help you learn all 400-plus PIN syllables with tones. Now you can sign up for our standard Chinese pronunciation course on our website, EverydayChinese.com. This course has 20 lessons in total, and it will allow you to practice Mandarin with abundant Chinese character examples. More lessons are coming soon.