Pinyin

Here are a few pronunciation tips we find helpful for native English speakers. Read over them briefly to get the gist. Then forget them. You can come back later when you need a reminder.

Consonants

Aspiration is important in Mandarin. That is, certain letters are pronounced with a puff of air, while others aren’t. The difference between the pairs b/p, t/d, and k/g are differences in aspiration. That is, d is just a t-sound, but with no puff of air. (That is, unaspirated).

The three sounds zh, ch, sh, do not exist in English. They are roughly pronounced as in “Jew”, “chew”, and “shoe”, but the tongue is further back in the mouth. You will sound silly when you say them correctly.

The three sounds j, q, x also don’t exist in English. Again, they are roughly pronounced the same as “Jew”, “chew”, and “shoe”, but this time, the tongue is further forward in the mouth.

The sound c is pronounced as “ts”. It’s slightly unusual for English speakers, because it occurs at the start of a syllable, rather than at the end. Think “ts” as in “tsunami”.

Vowels

The e sound is a schwa. That’s a fancy way of saying “uhhhh”.

The ě sound sounds like the e in “wet”

The u sound sounds like the “oo” in “moo”.

The ü sound sounds like the word “yew”. Round those lips.

The i sound sounds like the “i” in “ski”.

The sounds ao and ou sound like the words “oww!” and “ohhh!”. Round those lips at the end. Pretend like they end with a “w”.

Certain combinations of vowels act weird.

When you see ui, there is a hidden “e”. Pronounce it like “uei” or “way”. Remember, 岁 suì is not “soo-ee”, but more like “sway”.

When you see iu, there’s a hidden “o”. Pronounce it like “iou” or “ee-ohh”. Remember 六 liù is not “lee-oo”, but more like “lee-oh”.

After certain letters, u will sound like ü and e will sound like ě.