The Way to Practice Tones Accurately(part1) _ How to Sound Like a Native Speaker-2

So do people normally say 你好 when they greet others? I don't think so. Hi, 大家好,我是LaLa. Welcome back to my channel. Today I want to share some tips about the four tones in Chinese. But what I'm gonna share is not about how to pronounce every single tone. Instead, I'm gonna teach you how to master tones in the natural flow of speech. But before that, let's do a quick review of the basics of Chinese tones. Chinese has four tones and a neutral tone. The first tone is the high flat pitch. The second tone is the rising pitch. Just like questioning someone with a rising intonation. The third tone starts low and then rises. But mostly it sounds like a short low tone. The fourth tone is a falling pitch. In Chinese, the same syllable with different tones can have different meanings. For example, the word 买 with the third tone means to buy. And the word 买 with the fourth tone means to sell. So if you use the wrong tone, people might not understand you or might think you mean something different. Tones are more naturally studied in combinations than on individual syllables. Why is that? It is one thing to say a single syllable with the right tone. But in normal speech, tones can change even though their tone marks don't. A good example is the third tone. In everyday speech, we often don't use the fourth tone. Instead, it sounds like a short low tone. Let's look at the word 我 and notice how the third tone changes in regular conversation. 我听不懂. Let's be aware that the sound of third tones are shorter than other syllables. 我 However, when the third tone is followed in quote juncture by another third tone, the first third tone shifts to a rising pitch. You may have learned that the fourth third tone occurs when we pronounce it in isolation or at the end of a sentence. But in everyday conversation, many people just pronounce it as a low tone even when it appears at the end of a sentence. So do people normally say 你好 when they greet others? I don't think so. We usually just say 你好 especially when greeting someone we already know. So how can you pronounce tones correctly? The key is to master pitch and length of the sound. In this video, I will teach you how to practice tones using two-syllable sets. And that is because the majority of Chinese vocabulary consists of two-syllable words. So those combinations are the most common rhythm when speaking Chinese. I also prepared some sentences for you to practice tones in the natural flow of speech. Now let's look at the first combination. The third tone followed by the first tone. As we have learned before, in this combination, the third tone is pronounced as a low tone. And in normal speech, the sound is relatively short. While the first tone is the opposite. It's a high, flat pitch. Let me demonstrate this combination using the sound ㄴ. Please keep this sound in mind so you can practice the word you want to learn by yourself. 老师每天打车。很多老师每天打车。 Now your turn. 北京每天堵车。北京每天堵车。 When a third tone is followed by another third tone, the first third tone changes to a second tone. So the pronunciation of two third tones in a row is the same as the second tone followed by a third tone. A common mistake for Chinese learners about the rising tone is that either the ending point of the sound is not high enough or the starting point is not low enough. So please notice that the first syllable is pronounced as a longer tone. And the second syllable is pronounced as a shorter tone. Now your turn. Many people have problems with this combination. Please note that the first syllable is shorter and the second syllable is longer. 凌晨厨房常常没人。 Now your turn. 明年学习德文。 These are some of the most difficult two-syllable combinations to pronounce. With four tones plus the neutral tone, there are 20 combinations in total. And I will show you some more in my next video. Well, I have to say, in real-life communication, the variation of tones is more complex than in these sentences. However, practicing these tone combinations helps you to develop muscle memory and automatic habits. This way, when you learn new words, it will be easier to pronounce accurately and avoid falling accents. All right, that's it for today. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to like and subscribe. 谢谢,再见