Rita aka Fàn Lǎoshī Presents:

MANDARIN
PRONUNCIATION
ROADMAP
THE GUIDE

A STEP-BY-STEP How To Find Your

PROCESS Mandarin Voice

WWW.RITACHINESE.COM
WELCOME TO THE EBOOK! RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

幸会 Nice to meet you!

I'm your Mandarin
pronunciation teacher,
Rita aka Fàn Lǎoshī.
Hey there!

I’ve been a Mandarin Chinese instructor in

China and the USA for over 12 years.

I also had a fun side gig being an accent coach

for actors.

However, after teaching hundreds of students

at all levels, and having met so many
passionate Mandarin learners who are still
struggling with hearing and speaking Chinese
clearly and naturally...

I found a proper explanation and training

system for the Chinese sounds that has long
been ignored in the Mandarin learning world.

With 5 years of experience working with actors now performing entirely in Chinese, and
drawing from my own English learning journey, I've crafted a detailed Mandarin Chinese
pronunciation training plan.

This plan is designed to help anyone master every nuance of the Chinese sound
system. It's perfect for beginners starting from scratch, and it's also a great tool for
advanced students looking to correct long-standing pronunciation habits.

In this eBook, you'll discover the roadmap for my "Finding Your Mandarin Voice" system.
You'll learn exactly what to focus on in Mandarin pronunciation and how to steer your
learning journey. 加油 (Jiāyóu) - Good luck!

Rita
FINDING YOUR MANDARIN VOICE RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

Table of
Contents

Step 1: Tones/Tone Pairs - the fundamental layer of your 1, 2, 3

Mandarin voice

Step 2: Vowels are what carry the tones 4

Step 3: Consonants - tongue acrobatics 5, 6

Step 4: Speaking Rhythm - Stressed and Unstressed 7

Sounds in Words & Sentences

Step 5: Intonations - Speak like a Human without 8, 9

Destroying Your Mandarin Voice

Step 6: Sound Reduction - Finally Hear & Sound like a 10

Native

Conclusion 11
TONE & TONE PAIRS RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

STEP 1

Tones & Tone Pairs:

The Fundamental Layer
Of Your Mandarin Voice
Mandarin Chinese is a TONAL language.
It is distinct from the idea of "tones" in English and other Indo-
European languages.

In Mandarin, every syllable carries a specific tone or pitch that

gives it a unique meaning, function, and emotional context. Yet,
these Chinese tones present a significant challenge.

Many learners find it difficult to fully grasp, understand, and

internalize them unless they've had extensive musical training,
which sharpens their ear to subtle pitch variations.

It's worth noting that tones aren't exclusive to individual Chinese

syllables or words. They are present in phrases, clauses, and full
sentences, no matter how fast people talk.

It’s very common to see learners who can pronounce syllables or

words with (more or less) tones, but when stringing together
longer sentences, these tones often vanish, making their speech
sound reminiscent of their native language.

My approach to Mandarin pronunciation training commences

with tones, and tones alone.

1
TONE & TONE PAIRS CONTINUED RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

Before any other elements and layers in our voice are added,

We need to concentrate on the fundamental stuff in our

Mandarin voice without any possible distractions for our ears,
mouth, and brain.

It may take a few days to weeks to seek your natural vocal

range and stabilize your tones and tone pairs.

This is especially true before introducing the intricacies of

vowels and consonants, which can otherwise unsettle a
learner's tonal foundation. Let’s focus on the 3rd tone for now.

What is the 3rd tone?

It’s not a dipping tone as most textbooks or teachers would tell
you.

In Mandarin Chinese, the 3rd tone is mainly a low, creaky voice,

aka “vocal fry”.

Everyone uses this low, creaky sound in most languages, usually

under specific circumstances. Which means anyone can do it!

As the lowest point of YOUR vocal range, you need to find and
isolate it so you don’t confuse it with other tones, especially the
2nd tone.

Watch this video on my YouTube channel to nail the 3rd tone in

only 10 minutes!

2
TONE & TONE PAIRS CONTINUED RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

Once you get the 3rd tone right, the 3+2 tone pairs will be so
much easier for you to pronounce.

With a clear tone pair, it becomes possible to say basic words like
可能 (kě néng) 以前 (yǐ qián) 小时 美国
(xiǎ o shí ) (měi guó)

可能 以前
小时 美国

3
VOWELS RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

STEP 2

Vowels:
Responsible for
carrying the tones
Tones like to attach themselves to vowels.
This is also where Pinyin can start to get confusing!

Pinyin is a great tool, but its letters can misrepresent the sounds
that go with them.

Instead of reading Romanized letters of Pinyin out of your native

sound system, we have to view Mandarin Chinese sounds in Pinyin
as a whole new sound system.

The letter “a” in English represents different vowel sounds, as in

“apple”, “snake”, “ball”, and “father”, etc... Vowel sounds act
similarly in Chinese!

Take the Pinyin letter “e” as an example. It looks like a single vowel
“e” in Pinyin, as in “gē” or “zhè”, but in fact, there is a specific
tongue movement involved for you to pronounce it properly.

Because of this, you’re dealing with two layers in your voice now,
and it’s where your pitch (tones) and mouth movements come
together to form the sounds of Mandarin (i.e. your tongue,
teeth/jaw, lips, nasal cavity are all involved).

kǒ hǐ Zuǐchún Bízi
u ác
Y 4
CONSONANTS RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

STEP 3

Consonants:
Tongue Acrobatics
Consonants usually need a bit
more mouth movement
compared to vowels.

The difference is that vowels let

air flow out of your mouth,
where as consonants block
airflow at certain points of the
vocal tract.

Consonants differentiate
meanings in Mandarin just as
much as tones and vowels do.

So its not necessarily correct

when people say the Chinese
“j” is pretty much like the
English “j” as in “jeep”, or “x” is
like “sh” as in “sheep”...

Check this video out to hear

the difference!

They are two completely different groups of consonants, and our

tongue shapes and positions are very different for each.
5
CONSONANTS CONTINUED... RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

What is more subtle but also causes obvious

foreign accents to native ears are sounds like
b/d/g.
The shape and position of your tongue and lips (i.e. the point
where you feel the airflow coming out of your mouth) might all be
similar to your native language.

However, there is a small, but important difference between b/d/g

in Mandarin compared to other languages.

This difference is voiced vs. unvoiced consonants.

A voiced consonant is when you vibrate your vocal cords when

you pronounce it, and an unvoiced consonant is when your vocal
cords don’t vibrate.

Using English as an example, put your hand up to your throat and

say the word “game”. Feel the vibration in your throat? Good. The
“g” in “game” is voiced.

Now do the same thing but say the word “sleep”. Did you feel a
vibration on the “s”? You shouldn’t. This is an unvoiced
consonant.

The sounds b/d/g are unvoiced in Mandarin, which can be

confusing to foreign speakers of Chinese.

Your goal is to facilitate communication as much as possible and

make it easy for native speakers to understand you.

So try not to miss out on any of these small details when honing
your Mandarin voice!

6
SPEAKING RHYTHM RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

STEP 4

Speaking Rhythm:
Stressed and Unstressed Sounds
in Words and Sentences
After you grasp all the individual tones, tone
pairs, vowels, and consonants, congratulations!
Now you can hear and speak Chinese words!

But when it comes to using your Mandarin voice to speak

sentences, on top of keeping track of all the tones, vowels, and
consonants that you have practiced and honed...

...There are still more factors that can affect how your
pronunciation is perceived by native ears.

These factors have long been ignored by almost every textbook and
course.

At the word level, these factors are stressed and unstressed

syllables. At the sentence level, there is speaking rhythm.

When it comes to words, the unstressed syllable has a shorter

length, a lower volume, and a neutral tone that is more centralized
than in a sentence.

Doing the opposite for stressed syllables in sentences is how you

prevent yourself from sounding like a robot. You’ll be able to
express yourself more emotionally without losing all the tones
when speaking fast.

7
INTONATIONS RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

STEP 5

Intonations:
How to Sound Like a Human
Without Destroying Your Voice
On top of the speaking rhythm determined by
the stressed and unstressed syllables...
...the pitch of tones can subtly or significantly shift within
sentences to convey our intended expressions.

This nuance is what differentiates natural speech from the

mechanical voices of Siri or Alexa.

Even advanced learners who have perfect pronunciation in

neutral statements struggle with this.

They wonder, “Why do I sound like a robot? Why do my tones

start to mess up when I want to speak more emotionally?”

Chinese tones are all about relative pitch differences and tone
contours,

And the absolute pitch for each tone can vary drastically,

Not only from person to person but also from one syllable to
another syllable in the same sentence.

8
INTONATIONS CONTINUED RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

The most influential Chinese linguist, phonologist, theorist, and

teacher,

Yuen Ren Chao,

Described the interplay between tone and intonation in Mandarin

Chinese as “small ripples riding on large waves”.

This is the aspect of the Chinese sound system that can be

“standard Mandarin pronunciation” and “native-sounding
accent” on the sentence level.

9
SOUND REDUCTION RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

STEP 6

Sound Reduction:
Hear and Sound
Like a Native
Lastly...
...there are subtle nuances that can make your speech mirror that
of native Chinese speakers, and naturally, aid in understanding
them with ease.

However, it's essential to examine each syllable closely.

Like native speakers of any language, when we converse naturally,

we don't enunciate every syllable as crisply as a news anchor
might.

Instead, we blend syllables and speak rapidly.

We might gloss over less significant words, and often, we vary the
pronunciation of frequently used words based on regional
dialects, accents, and our social circles.

Here is a video you can use to hear sound reduction in FAST

Chinese speech.

And another one showcasing sound reduction in Chinese comedy!

10
CONCLUSION RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

CONCLUSION

You Now Have

Everything You Need...
Learning Mandarin pronunciation can be a daunting task...

But it doesn’t have to be!

Now that you have a roadmap to learning Mandarin Pronunciation,

you should be able to hone in on what was giving you trouble
before.

If at any moment on your Mandarin Journey you feel lost, you can
always come back to this roadmap to steer you on the right path.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on

Instagram. I’m here to help! 下次见！

11
SEE YOU LATER! RITA AKA FÀN LǍ OSHĪ

Happy Learning! 加油！

@RITA_MANDARIIN_CHINESE

RITA MANDARIN CHINESE

© Rita’s Chinese Academy 2023