When it comes to pronunciation, however, there are a couple of strange transformations that occur with some “special characters”. These characters are referred to in Mandarin as “dūo yīn zì” “多音字” ＝directly translated as “many toned characters”. They are exactly what they are translated to be. In some circumstances these “special characters” change tonally (i.e. a character that is normally a first tone becomes fourth etc.) while in others, like 行 or 了, they are completely new words pronounced completely different.

The first one is actually “one” or “一” . Most commonly ( including most dictionaries) “一” is said to be pronounced “yī ” with a first tone. However, that is not all this little one stroke character is capable of doing!!! “一” is somewhat of a super-mutating “special character” with many different forms.

Here they are:

1. yī = only when ” 一 ” is used alone, or when it is at the end of a word or sentence is it pronounced with a first tone. (i.e. shíyī “十一 ” or yī yī dé yī “一一得一”.

2. yí = when used before a character with a fourth tone (falling tone) it is pronounced with a second tone. (i.e. yíbàn “一半”, yígòng “一共”)

3. yì = when used before a character with a first, second or third tone it is pronounced with a fourth tone. (i.e. yìtīan “一天”, yìnían “一年”, yìdiǎn “一点” .

NOTE: Don’t let these different rules get you down take them one at a time and practice the rule over and over, and in no time unconsciously you will be saying all of them correctly.

The next special character “不” (not, no) Recognized by most, and dictionaries, as bù (fourth tone). This special character, just like it’s friend “一“, also has a couple of tricks up it’s sleeve (when I say a couple I mean ONE!). Enjoy!!!

1. bú = Only when “不 ” is in front of another character with a fourth (falling) tone does it change into a second tone. All other instances it will remain a fourth tone. i.e. búhùi “不会”, búshì “不是 “.

2. yǒu “有”= “to have” “不” is never to be used with yǒu “有”!!! You MUST say měi yǒu “没有” to say “not have” It is super nasty sounding, and very incorrect, to say “bù yǒu” “不有”.

Well I hope that helped clear up some confussion and helps you along your road to perfect Mandarin!

1: open your control panel (“startup menu”-> “control panel”)

2: open “…Regional and Language options”

3: click “languages“

4: check “Install Files for East Asian Languages” click “OK“

sometimes you may have to restart your computer after this last step (do so only if prompted) If you are prompted to put in a disk..don’t freak out.. just skip this step it still seems to work without the setup disk.

5: open “…Regional and languages options” again.

6: go to “Text services and input languages“

7: “settings” -> “preferences” -> “language bar“-> check “show language bar on the desktop“

8: go to google pinyin and download and save to your desktop (click the blue box that says: “下载谷歌拼音输入法”）

9: when finished downloading click on the Google pinyin Icon on your desktop and then click “save” or “run“

10: finished!

now you just need to open your tool bar “alt + shift” and it should be there.! This can be used in web browsers! Word projects or any other typing front on your computer..so open something up and give it a try!!!

How to Use Google pinyin and your Tool bar: the basics

Open/Close tool bar: Alt + Shift

Toggle between Languages: Shift

Out of all the other Chinese input methods Google pinyin seems to be the most correct in character recognition, typing entire sentences with few to no errors. However, if you find another program that you like more.. let me know. I’m always up for checking out new things.

If you would like to type pinyin with tone marks! here is a link for you to visit! pinyin input When using my pc I really have found this input method to be very easy to use. After downloading, it will appear in your language bar. Any questions let me know.

I put tones as number one on my list not because it is the most important perse, but it is the most commonly forgotten and over-looked. Many people tend to think that they will learn the tones “as they go”, and instead focus all their efforts on memorizing vocabulary. If you do this you’ll find yourself a far way down the road needing to turn back and start again. First, drill yourself until your tones are nothing short of amazing, and then gradually add more words. (don’t be shy when it comes to recording your own voice to see how you sound) If you do this the rest of the road will go much more smoothly, and you won’t have to make any unnecessary turn-around. After studying Chinese for over 7 years I still begin each study session with a tongue twister or two just to keep the tones in tip top condition. Perfect tones help you jump the hurtle separating foreigner from a local Chinese..you are no longer the white guy (or Latin or Indian…girl.etc..) trying to speak Chinese you are the “white Chinese guy”.

Building a Super foundation!

Until I finally realized just how important foundations were for buildings I always wondered why it took sooooo long for a the foundation to go in, and I am still amazed at how fast the rest of the building goes up after the foundation is finished. Learning Chinese is very similar to this process. The foundation is the most important part, but all to often it is the one step that most people skip when learning Chinese. It also becomes more evident and more difficult to change as time goes on. So what I am saying is…. a good foundation is key to successful language learning.

What are the key ingredients to building a strong.. durable…long lasting and all in all successful foundation?

Tones … Pinyin… Tones….Tones… more.. pinyin.. grammar and ummmm more Tones.

Tones

I put tones as number one on my list not because it is the most important perse, but it is the most commonly forgotten and over-looked. Many people tend to think that they will learn the tones “as they go”, and instead focus all their efforts on memorizing vocabulary. If you do this you’ll find yourself a far way down the road needing to turn back and start again. First, drill yourself until your tones are nothing short of amazing, and then gradually add more words. (don’t be shy when it comes to recording your own voice to see how you sound) If you do this the rest of the road will go much more smoothly, and you won’t have to make any unnecessary turn-around. After studying Chinese for over 7 years I still begin each study session with a tongue twister or two just to keep the tones in tip top condition. Perfect tones help you jump the hurtle separating foreigner from a local Chinese..you are no longer the white guy (or Latin or Indian…girl.etc..) trying to speak Chinese you are the “white Chinese guy”.

Pinyin

I have pinyin as the second key ingredient in our foundation, but honestly it was nearly had a tie with tones. If you don’t get a grasp on pinyin from the very start you will be in a world of hurt later on. It is similar to learning a completely new alphabet, but once you have it down pat, it is consistent and you very easy to build with. The English alphabet has sooooo many exceptions and different ways of pronouncing letters it gives me a nervous twitch just thinking about it. Hanyu pinyin on the other hand stays consistent at all times. Get them down early on and you will be loving life and those you speak Chinese with will enjoy talking to you also.

word of warning: Partly due to the fact that so few foreigners choose to learn Chinese, and also because Chinese people are very patient and gracious….no matter how bad your Mandarin is they won’t tell you (unless you sincerely ask… and then they’ll give it to ya..) This is only a problem if you let it get to your head…and you start saying to yourself, “well, all the Chinese tell me that my Mandarin is amazing I guess I can stop studying.” When learning correct pronunciation of words the best way is simply to watch and listen. Watch their mouth..how the lips, tongue and throat move..and listen carefully always trying to mimic what you see and hear. Sounds simple but it works wonders.

Grammar: I’ve never been a big fan of grammar classes ever, and that is yet another reason I love the Chinese language. For the most part it is very straight foreword and it stays consistent with few exceptions to the rule. As long as you never forget STPVO=subject-time-place-verb-object you will have excellent sentences that are even grammatically correct.

Keep these 3 things high on your priority list and you’ll have a great future with the chinese language!

Tongue Twisters= rào kǒu lìng, 绕口令

Like I mentioned in Building a Foundation. If you work hard and perfect your tones it will drastically affect your communication abilities when speaking with the Locals. Just think of the last time you had a conversation with someone whose native language wasn’t your own. Whether it was a class in school where the professors accent caused you to miss most, if not all, of the lesson, or just a conversation with a friend or someone on the street. If they had good pronunciation and spoke clearly it then it was probably much easier to relax and speak your mind. If their accent was overwhelmingly strong it probably felt like you were watching a movie with the volume turned way down, and you have to strain your ears and focus just to put what they are saying in some comprehensible format… and quite possibly just ended up giving you a headache or causing you to think of ways to get out of the situation…”sorry, I need to go jump off a bridge.” or asking questions like, “do you happen to have any paper and lemon juice that I can borrow?” With that in mind! It is pretty bad being on the receiving end of these types of conversations, but what I don’t want you to be is the one giving the headaches. So with out further adeau I present to you a couple practices to keep those tones and pronunciation in check.

Instead of just going over past vocab for pronunciation practice I normally enjoy doing tongue twisters or reading a poem or short story OUT-LOUD. Here are few popular tongue twisters to get you started.

1. sì shì sì, shí shì shí, shísì shì shísì, sìshí shì sìshí, sìshísì zhī shí shī zǐ shì sǐ de.

四是四， 十是十， 十四是十四，四十是四十，四十四只石狮子是死的

2. chī pútáo bù tǔ pútáo pí, bù chī pútáo dào tǔ pútáo pí

吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮，不吃葡萄倒吐葡萄皮。

3. māmā qí mǎ, mǎ màn māmā mà mǎ.

妈妈骑马， 马慢妈妈骂马。

4. héshàng dūantāng shàng tǎ, tǎ húa tāng sǎtāng tàng tǎ.

和尚端烫上塔，塔滑洒汤烫塔。

5. bàozhe hūijī shàng fēijī, fēijī qǐfēi hūi jī yào fēi.

抱着灰鸡上飞机，飞机起飞灰鸡要飞。

6. bǐandan cháng, bǎndèng kūan, bǐandan bǐ bǎndèng cháng, bǎndèng bǐ bǐandan kūan,

bǐandan bǎng zài le bǎndèng shàng, bǎndèng bú ràng bǐandan fēi yào bǎng zài bǎndèng

shàng.

扁 担 长 ， 板 凳 宽 ， 扁 担 比 板 凳 长 ， 板 凳 比 扁 担 宽 ， 扁 担 绑 在 了 板 凳 上 ， 板

凳 不 让 扁 担 绑 在 板 凳 上 ， 扁 担 非 要 绑 在 板 凳 上 。

7. sānyùe sān, xǐaosān qù dēng shān. shàng shān yòu xìa shān, xìa shān yòu shàng shān. dēngle sāncì shān, pǎole sān lǐ sān. chūle yìshēn hàn, shī le sān jìan shān. xǐaosān shān shàng dà shēng hàn: “lítīan zhǐ yǒu sān chǐ sān!”

三月三，小三去登山。上山又下山，下山又上山。登了三次山，跑了三里三。出了一身汗，湿了三件衫。小三山上大声喊：“离天只有三尺三！”

A few more for fun:

With pinyin

link1

link2

Only chinese characters:

link1

link2

If you find one that is not on my list that you really like and feels really helps out add it in your comment!

Nuwa complete story here

1. 整个 zhěngge whole

2. 蛋 dàn egg

3. 盘古 pǎngǔ name; creator of heaven and earth

4. 难过 nángùo sad; upset

5. 办法 bànfǎ way; method

6. 轰 hōng a big bang; boom

7. 淡 dàn light; slight

8. 举 jǔ to hold up; raise up

9. 倒 dǎo to fall10. 四肢 sìzhī four limbs (肢=量词classifier)

11. 血 xùe (ch), xǔe (ch), xǐe (tw) blood

12. 传说 chúanshūo according to legend; it is said…

~This complete story is found here