Overview

Perfecting Your Mandarin Pronunciation

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants should be able to:
• read the Pinyin symbols and the sounds of Mandarin Chinese accurately
• Identify and produce the sounds of Mandarin Chinese
• use the dictionary to help themselves with long-term learning in Mandarin pronunciation;
• enhance the accuracy, clarity and fluency of their speech in Mandarin by applying the various phonology principles and pronunciation-enhancing strategies; and
• speak Mandarin with greater confidence.

Course Content

Part 1: The Fundamentals of Mandarin Sounds
a. Understanding Mandarin, or Putonghua了解现代标准汉语
b. The Hanyu Pinyin Romanisation System 汉语拼音方案
i. Initials 声母
ii. Finals 韵母
iii. Initials and Finals vs. Consonants and Vowels 声母和韵母对照辅音和元音
c. Dictionary Skills 利用字典改善发音

Part 2: Making Difficult Sounds and Common Mispronunciations

a. Pronouncing the initials j, q, x 声母j, q, x的发音练习
b. Pronouncing the initials z, c, s 声母z, c, s 的发音练习
c. Pronouncing the initials zh, ch, sh, r 声母zh, ch, sh, r的发音练习
d. Pronouncing the finals i, -i (/ɿ/), i- (/ʅ/) 声韵母i, -i (/ɿ/), i- (/ʅ/) 的发音练习
e. Pronouncing the finals n and ng 前鼻音和后鼻音发音练习
f. Rhotacisation in Mandarin 发音练习
g. Common Mispronunciations 常见的发音错误

Part 3: Tones
a. The Tones in Mandarin 汉语声调
b. Tone Changes 变音现象
c. Pronouncing the Neutral Tone 轻声练习