Chinese Pronunciation 101: Where to Start (Part I)

"你吃饭了吗 (Nǐ chīfàn le ma) Have you eaten yet?" is a traditional way of greeting others. One day, one of my students tried to use this Chinese sentence to greet others before we started the class. It came as quite a shock when he asked me "你吃粪了吗 (nǐ chī fèn le ma)? Have you eaten shit?" I tried really hard not to laugh. See how important learning correct Chinese pronunciation is? It is way more important than you think if you are learning Chinese now.

If you want to learn Chinese pronunciation well, you should first figure out what the Chinese syllable is. In Chinese, a syllable is composed of an initial consonant, a vowel and a tone. The very beginning of a syllable is called the initial, and the rest of parts are called finals. For example, in the syllable "hǎo", "h" is the initial and "ǎo" is the final. Mandarin Chinese has four basic tones.

1. Pinyin- Initials

In the common speech of modern Chinese, there are 21 initials. The letters w and y are not included in the table of initials in the official pinyin system. They are an orthographic convention for the medials i, u and ü when no initial is present. When i, u, or ü are finals and no initial is present, they are spelled yi, wu, and yu, respectively.

Many learners feel it is hard to pronounce the initials "z, c, s." Actually, you just need to master the pronunciation key...Read More

One of my favorite aspects of living and studying in China is that I get to learn about and take part in holidays that are completely new and very exciting for me. While some Chinese holidays such as New Year, the Moon Festival and the Dragon Boat festival I had known before arriving in China, there are also some lesser-known holidays such as the one that I will introduce today, 重阳节 (Chóngyángjié) the Double Ninth holiday.

So, what exactly is 重阳节 (Chóngyángjié) the Double Ninth holiday and what is the story behind it? As you may have guessed, "double ninth" refers to the ninth day of the ninth lunar month of the year, or September 9th to be more exact. And what's the story behind it? Well, the festival began between 500 and 200 B.C. during the Warring States period. According to classical Chinese philosophy, nine is a "yang" number and therefore 9/9 is a dangerous date that needs to be balanced out with certain activities. According to legend, there was a man named Huan Jing. He was a student of an immortal magician. Attempting to seek magical powers and immortality, the magician gave Huan Jing a list of activities which are still practiced today to overcome the "dangers" of the Double Ninth.

Four activities that I have been introduced to on the Double Ninth holiday include:

1. 登高 (Dēnggāo) Climbing mountains

Zài zhōngguó, chóngyángjié rénmen yǒu dēnggāo de xísú.
在 中国， 重阳节 人们 有 登高 的 习俗。
In China, people used to climb mountains on the Double Ninth Festival.

According to legend, Huan Jing and the immortal magician were hiking up a mountain when the magician told him of what he must do to …Read more

Quiz:

A. 吃月饼 (Chī yuèbĭng) Eating mooncakes
B. 登高 (Dēnggāo) Climbing mountains
C. 喝菊花茶 (Hē júhuā chá) Drinking chrysanthemum tea
D. 吃重阳糕 (Chī chóngyáng gāo) Eating chongyang cakes
See Answer