Pinyin

1. 1The four tones and the neutral tone14 drillsStart
2. 2Simple vowels: a o e i u ü12 drills
3. 3Lips first: b p m f12 drills
4. 4Tongue tip: d t n l12 drills
5. 5Back of the tongue: g k h11 drills
6. 6Flat tongue, big smile: j q x11 drills
7. 7Tongue curled back: zh ch sh r12 drills
8. 8Tongue tip forward: z c s12 drills
9. 9Compound vowels: ai ei ao ou and glides14 drills
10. 10Nasal finals with -n12 drills
11. 11Nasal finals with -ng (and -n vs -ng)13 drills
12. 12Spelling rules: y, w and the hidden ü10 drills
13. 13Where the tone mark goes10 drills
14. 14Tone changes: 3-3, 一 and 不10 drills
15. 15The neutral tone9 drills
16. 16Erhua: the -r ending5 drills

Picture your voice range as five steps, 1 lowest and 5 highest. Each tone is a shape on that scale (the Chao numbers). The neutral tone is short and light, and its pitch depends on the tone before it.

• mā 妈

  Tone 1: High & levelpitch 55 · “mother”

• má 麻

  Tone 2: Risingpitch 35 · “hemp”

• mǎ 马

  Tone 3: Low, dippingpitch 21(4) · “horse”

• mà 骂

  Tone 4: Fallingpitch 51 · “to scold”

• ma 吗

  Neutral tone: Neutralshort, no contour · “question word”

Tone 3 dips (2-1-4) only alone or at the end of a phrase. Before other tones it stays low (2-1), and before another tone 3 it becomes tone 2.