Mandarin Chinese has six vowels. They are: a, e, i, o, u, and ü. Here’s how to pronounce them:

• a: sounds like "ah" (like in "father").
• e: sounds like "uh" (like in "her").
• i: sounds like "ee" (like in "see").
• o: sounds like "oh" (like in "go").
• u: sounds like "oo" (like in "food").
• ü: sounds like "ee," but your lips should be rounded (like in "French").

Tones

Mandarin uses four tones for words:

1. First tone (flat): mā (妈 - mom)
2. Second tone (rising): má (麻 - hemp)
3. Third tone (falling-rising): mǎ (马 - horse)
4. Fourth tone (falling): mà (骂 - scold)

Basic Conversational Skills

Greetings:

• Nǐ hǎo (你好) - Hello
• Zàijiàn (再见) - Goodbye

Simple Sentences:

• Wǒ ài nǐ (我爱你) - I love you.
• Tā shì wǒ péngyǒu (他是我朋友) - He is my friend.

Listening Practice

Listen to simple conversations, like greetings or introductions. Try to repeat what you hear to improve your speaking.

Word Recognition

Learn these basic characters:

• 你 (nǐ) - you
• 我 (wǒ) - I
• 妈 (mā) - mom

The more you practice, the better you will become at pronouncing words, understanding tones, and speaking Mandarin!