These Chinese Tones Drive Me Crazy!!
If you have learned any Chinese, you must know there are four tones in mandarin. In special circumstances, there are words without tones, called the neutral tone. The unintelligible thing is that when the tone changes, so does the meaning.
For example,”问wèn” means “to ask”,” 吻wěn” means” to kiss”. when you ask the direction to a girl, you should say “我想问你wǒ xiǎng wèn nǐ” I want to ask you . Do not say that like “我想吻你wǒ xiǎng wěn nǐ” which means “I want to kiss you”, that will be awkward.
Another example, “睡觉shuìjiào” means “to sleep”,” 水饺shuǐjiǎo” means” dumplings”. When you say “我要睡觉wǒ yào shuìjiào” to the waiter in the restaurant, that is a little wired.
But the four tones are difficult to remember, right?
To learn the tones well, you can try these methods besides practice.
Here we go
1
第一声
The first tone
When you go to see the doctor, you open your mouth, say” ah…”. That one is quite like the first tone.
2
第二声
The second tone
Your friend was going to get married, but today he told you he broke up. You are shocked, saying “what?!”. It’s like a second tone.
3
第三声
The third tone
The tone was low at first, then rising. But most of the time, Chinese people don't make a full third sound. We usually just make the sound of the first part. That is like your friend asking if you want a ice cream, when you are on a diet, then you send out a thoughtful “hummm”.
4
第四声
The fourth tone
The pitch changes from high to low. Just imagine being stomped on. “Ouch!” It's like the fourth tone.
Video:
记得听一下录音的示范哦
Remember to listen to the demonstration on the top
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