In this lesson, you'll learn how to identify and produce the four main tones in spoken Mandarin, and some essential COVID-19 vocabulary to help you talk about your situation -- whatever it may be -- plus how to ask why? Why??!
Let's talk about tones. For someone coming from a non-tonal language background, it's easy to imagine that tones are something extra, like some kind of garnish sprinkled on top of the language, possibly put there just to make it fancy or to make it harder to learn. This couldn't be further from the truth, of course. Tones are an essential part of communicating in Mandarin. Getting tones right means the difference between saying to someone you just met: "Excuse me, can I ask you?" and "Kiss, can I smell you?"
Of course, native Mandarin speakers can sometimes guess what others are saying even when they aren't getting the tones just right. But it can be tiring. If you've ever talked to someone who speaks English rapidly but puts the stress on the wrong syllables, you can imagine what this is like -- except in Mandarin, it's worse.
The good news is that learning tones isn't as hard as you might think. In fact, if you speak English you are most likely already familiar with all four tones, you just aren't used to thinking of them as such. In this lesson, you'll hear an example of English words that use the exact same tones as those used in Mandarin (If you speak a dialect of English that doesn't say these words the same way I use them, I apologize. But hopefully you still get the idea!)
This is why imitation -- imitating sound, intonation, and emotion, even to the point of adopting a different persona in your mind -- is such an important part of learning to speak Chinese naturally and fluently. You don't want to just copy what other people say; you want to copy the way they say it, and how they think and feel as they say it. If you do this, the tones will come automatically, because they'll be just another part of how you normally say things as a Mandarin speaker.
A note about pronunciation: The vocabulary list below includes the Chinese characters and the pinyin romanization system. The advantage of pinyin for English speakers is that it uses the familiar symbols of the Latin alphabet. The disadvantage is that English speakers are easily deceived into thinking these familiar symbols represent the same sounds they do in English. They don't. That said, pinyin can be a useful system to learn, but you must rely on your ears first, eyes second.
Don't expect to be able to pronounce anything just by reading the pinyin; the romanization is just a reference to jog your memory. A language exists primarily in its sounds, which is why daily listening and imitation practice is so important.
Words and phrases
About learning Chinese characters
Teaching Chinese characters is outside the scope of this podcast, but if you are learning Chinese characters with another course or method, you can use the transcript below to follow along.
Learning characters can be a fulfilling project, and can help you to remember and differentiate similar-sounding words. And, of course, it opens up more avenues for practicing your Mandarin, such as reading (books, children's books, comic books) and corresponding with Chinese speakers via email and other messaging apps. I highly encourage you to give it a try!
However, if the thought of memorizing all those characters now gives you a headache, rest assured: you can start speaking Mandarin without being able to read or write. Millions of preliterate children learn to speak Mandarin fluently, and so can you! If and when you are ready to start learning the characters, already speaking some Mandarin will also make it that much easier.
The bottom line is this: Don't let anything stop you or discourage you. The best method is the method you actually use, and any method you choose is better than no method at all! Find a way to move forward. You can always make adjustments later. And most of all, enjoy!
Dialogue transcript
Thanks for listening!