Free Trial Lesson - Pinyin & 4 Tones

Mandarin can be written in one of two ways: using traditional characters, or using the English alphabet with certain “tones” associated to each word (known as Pin Yin). Normally two or more characters are required to represent every English word. Although it is difficult, it is very important to learn Chinese characters. However, for the purpose of this mini-course, we will skip characters and discuss the Pin Yin system. With the Mandarin House elementary course, you will have the opportunity to gain more understanding of these Chinese characters and learn them in an interesting way.

Pin Yin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into Latin script. Each mandarin character is represented by its unique Pin Yin and a specific tone. Understanding the 4 different tones is an essential part of learning to speak mandarin since the same Pin Yin could have multiple different meanings. Watch our short 3-minute video below to gain proper insight of the 4 different tones. Listen carefully and try to distinguish each tone.

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