Chinese tone

In last article, I was talking about we learn Chinese pronunciation by phonetic symbols in Taiwan. Now I am trying to explain how it works.

Chinese's pronunciation have 5 different tone, light tone, first tone, second tone, third tone and 4th tone, it's hard to explain how it sounds like, but as long as you practice the speaking and listening, you could understand how it works. Usually for foreigner the third tone is difficult for them to pronounce. I have join a Chinese for teaching foreigner spouse in Taiwan, the teacher use gesture to help them to understand the tones.

1. First tone: The same level sound.
2. Second tone: From the low to the high.
3. Third tone: From the high to the low and back to the high.
4. 4th tone: From the high to the low(stress sound).
5. Light tone: Light and short.

Still confuse? OK, let me use A as an example. Please watch the video and listen to the sound, maybe you would have an idea about the tones.