Hacking Chinese

A better way of learning Mandarin

Articles tagged with ‘Third tone’

  1. The Hacking Chinese guide to Mandarin tones

    Learning tones is a unique challenge for most learners of Chinese. What are tones? How important is it to learn tones? And how do you learn to both hear and pronounce them?

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  2. Learning the second tone in Mandarin Chinese

    Many students of Chinese struggle with the third tone, but almost as many also have problems with the second tone. So how should the second tone be pronounced, and what are the most common learner errors?

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  3. Learning the third tone in Mandarin Chinese

    The third tone in Mandarin is the most mispronounced of all. It’s an essentially low tone, but many learners are unaware of this, partly because the way the tone is taught is flawed. Don’t think of it as a falling-rising tone, just think of it as a low tone!

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  4. Obligatory and optional tone change rules in Mandarin

    As if learning basic tones wasn’t enough, tones in Mandarin also influence each other and change depending on context. Some of these tone change rules you have to learn, but others are better left alone and will be absorbed automatically over time.

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