Follow Us!  The First Step to Speak Mandarin The more we understand about language acquisition, the more we feel that there seems to be a contradiction in how to start. There isn’t, but it sure does seem like it. So what is it?Learn to Speak Mandarin – Steps 1 & 2 1. Understand How to Say

Follow Us! Year by year, Mandarin Chinese becomes more and more relevant on the world stage. While it is not the lingua franca (yet), China’s influence is spreading rapidly, and it’s in everyone’s interest to know how to communicate with the people opening up so many new trade routes. Mandarin for beginners, however, is a

Follow Us! FacebookFollow on FacebookInstagramFollow on InstagramYouTubeFollow on YouTubeTwitterFollow on TwitterLinkedInFollow on LinkedInPinterestFollow on Pinterest So you want to learn basic Chinese but aren’t sure where to start. Perhaps you are about to travel around China, or maybe you are doing business with some Chinese clients, and you want to impress them with a few

The “I” In Zhi, Chi, Shi, Ri, Zi, Ci, Si Needs Special Attention In the “i” final section of the Pinyin chart (if you don’t know what a “final” is, check out our Pinyin Primer), there are 7 syllables that have an “i” final but don’t sound like the other “i” finals. Why? Well, the

Chinese learners inevitably face the dilemma of Mandarin vs. Dialects. Mandarin Chinese is what you might call the “common tongue” of China. However, dialects abound in the middle kingdom, so Mandarin is meant to be a unifying language. The closest native dialect to “standard” Mandarin is in Shijiazhuang (capital of Hebei Province), and it is

The “Shhhhh” Is Super Thick   The “sh-“ in Chinese naturally sounds much thicker than in English, because it is a “retroflex” pronunciation of Mandarin. That’s a complicated way of saying that you need to take your tongue and curl it back against the roof of your mouth. Some languages do this, but English does not.

Just Don’t Over-Do It!   Studying Chinese learning theory helps you notice vital aspects of the spoken language around you, and that is the key, the noticing. Noticing a principle is not the same as consciously trying to apply it. If you succeed in noticing a 1st tone, you have taken a step towards producing

Alright, everyone, the video below is IMPORTANT. Other foreigners we meet in China get these syllables wrong most frequently, so when it comes to priorities when practicing, well, you’ve found number one. “Zhi Chi Shi Ri” are called “retroflex consonants,” which some languages utilize, but English and many European languages do not. These are the first

Mistakes Are Good, They Give You A Chance To Learn Here is what you’re facing: You’re starting off learning Mandarin, you don’t know much about Chinese pronunciation yet, or perhaps you’ve just finished our Pronunciation Mastery course. Your voice sounds different in your own head than it does to other people, so how do you

Pinyin (more colloquially known as the “Chinese alphabet”) has 21 consonant sounds, sometimes called “initials.” The initials “J, Q & X” are very important to master, because they require a tongue position not natural for speakers of most western languages. How to say Chinese letter J? How about Q & X? This video is a