Chinese Alphabet
Do you know your Chinese alphabet? Commonly known as PinYin, this Romanization system really helps in making it much easier to learn to speak Chinese!
(See the Chinese Alphabet Video & PinYin Charts Below)
If you want to learn the Chinese alphabet quickly, then remember that every single sound that EVER comes out of your mouth should sound like you are singing! No more speaking—ONLY SINGING! If you’re not tired of singing by the time you finish practicing the alphabet, then you definitely didn’t do it correctly!
“Sing” yourself to the mastery and freedom of the language by practicing each of the four tones for every PinYin sound! It may sound strange to you—it may even seem ridiculous, but let me tell you that focusing on this point alone will distinguish you from those pretending to speak Chinese and will help you to become someone that even native Chinese speakers ask where you learned Mandarin! Take it from someone who has walked this journey before—this is the pathway to success!
Use the following PinYin chart to help you in singing the song!
Notes on Initials and Finals
- INITIAL + FINAL = one sound in Chinese (or one character)
- But, I’ll teach you the FINALS first because they are most like our VOWELS!
- INITIALS never truly come by themselves! They are always accompanied by a FINAL, so you will see that the FINAL is written for your convenience in parentheses.
- Usually, it takes two or more characters to form a WORD or a COMPLETE THOUGHT, but only one character is needed for an IDEA or an abbreviation of a word.
To hear the finals (with both male and female voices), click
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to listen to the audio.
Finals
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a “ah” as in a-hah! |
o “aw” as in awful (mouth forms half long o sound) |
e “ehhhh” OR “uhhhhh” (the sound you make when something is really gross!) |
i “ee” as glee |
u “oo” as in spoon |
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ü *** (see below)
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ai “ai” as in aisle |
ei “ei” as in eight |
ui “wei” as in weight |
ao “ow” as in owl |
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ou “oa” as in boat |
iu “you” as in you |
ie “ye” as in yet |
ue “you+e” as in you + “e” as in egg |
er “ar” as in art |
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un “won” as in wonderful |
ün “you+in” as in you + “in” as in inside |
an “on” as in on |
en “un” as in under |
in “een” as in seen |
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ang* “ong” as in song *(nasal) |
eng* “ung” as in sung *(nasal) |
ing* “eing” as in seing *(nasal) |
ong* “own” as in owner *(nasal)
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***The HARDEST sound! Say “ee” as in seek, but make your lips form an “oa” sound as in boat. The combination of the two give you a sound close to “ye” in English, but very nasal and for a sustained period of time.
To listen to the audio on the initials, click play below
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Initials
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b (o)
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p (o) |
m (o) |
f (o) |
d (e) |
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t (e)
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n (e) |
l (e) |
g (e) |
k (e) |
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h (e) |
j (i) “jee” as in jeep |
q (i) “chee” as in cheap |
x (i) “shee” as in sheep |
zh (i) “jer” as in jerk |
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ch (i) “chir” as in chirp |
sh (i) “shir” as in shirt |
r (i) “r+ir” as in “r” as in red + “ir” as in dirt |
z (i) “ds” as in hands |
c (i) “ts” as in hurts |
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s (i) “s” as in serve |
y (i) “ee” as in seek |
w (u) “w” as in womb |
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As mentioned above, INITIALS never truly come by themselves! They are always accompanied by a FINAL, so you will see that the FINAL is written for your convenience in parentheses. You will find that the two first rows are VERY similar to the English consonants.
Chinese Alphabet,
