The 40 Elemental Sounds of Mandarin
- LECTURES
- DRILLS
- AMA
Everything we say in Mandarin Chinese is made from a combination of the sounds below. For each possible sound, we review how it is made in the speech organ and how it sounds. To help you tune your ear to a specific sound, I have provided word lists for you to download and listen to closely.
The drills listed below are meant to address both general speech issues and problems specifically related to the Chinese language. Don't get frustrated if you don't accomplish the goals of the drills right away - everything just takes a bit of repeated practice and rest.
For best experience on mobile, tilt your device horizontally.
| Primary Vowels | /a/ | /i/ | /u/ | ||||
| Secondary Vowels | /ə/ | /ɛ/ | /ɔ/ | /ʊ/ | |||
| Tricky Vowels | /y/ | /ɤ/ | /ɯ/ | /ɚ/ | |||
| Moving Vowels | /ei/ | /ai/ | /ao/ | /ou/ | |||
| Labial Consonants | /m/ | /p/ | /f/ | ||||
| Alveolar Consonants | /n/ | /t/ | /s/ | /l/ | |||
| Palatal & Velar Consonants | /j/ | /k/ | /w/ | ||||
| Tricky Aspirated Consonants | /p*/ | /k*/ | /t*/ | ||||
| Tricky Alveolar Consonants | /t͡s/ | /t͡s*/ | |||||
| Tricky Retroflex Consonants | /ʈ͡ʂ/ | /ʈ͡ʂ*/ | /ʂ/ | /ɻ/ | |||
| Tricky Palatal & Velar Consonants | /ɕ/ | /t͡ɕ/ | /t͡ɕ*/ | /ɥ/ | /x/ |
More Resources
Note: Best used with a laptop
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