Afraid to try out your Chinese pronunciation?

Some say that Mandarin Chinese is so hard to learn.

They say the phonetic system pushes you so far from your comfort zone that it makes pronunciation a nightmare.

It’s true that the language has its obstacles, but is pronunciation really as big of a hurdle as people make it out to be?

Not at all.

Of course, the use of Roman letters in Chinese pinyin that don’t follow conventional English phonetics can seem problematic at first. But believe it or not, mastering the pinyin system is not as difficult a task as it might seem.

After a bit of studying, beginners usually find that pinyin pronunciation is quite easy, with the reality being that tones are where they trip up the most.

With the right attitude and a good work ethic, you’ll be nailing Chinese pinyin pronunciation in no time.

But before diving into strategies to better your pinyin pronunciation, let’s take a quick look at how hanyu pinyin came about.

From Zhuyin to Pinyin: A Brief History Lesson

Before hanyu pinyin was in place, a different Chinese alphabet system was used along with the Wade-Giles system, which was composed of modified Latin letters.

Known as zhuyin or colloquially as “bopomofo,” the system was replaced as the standard in 1958 by a new system, which we know as “hanyu pinyin” or simply as “pinyin.”

While zhuyin is still widely used in Taiwan, the switch to pinyin in China was significant for a couple of reasons: It systematized the language, which in turn standardized the language for Chinese people, as well as improved Chinese language learning for all.

Enough pinyin background for now. Time to tackle pronunciation!

Chinese Pinyin Pronunciation: How to Master It and Move On!

Learning and Reviewing Your Pinyin

Here’s the Chinese alphabet, divided into vowels and consonants.

The Consonants

b p m f

d t n l g k h

j q x zh ch sh r z c s y

w

When reciting the consonants, they’re attached with basic vowel sounds. So when you read them aloud, you’re really saying this in pinyin:

bo po mo fo

de te ne le ge ke he

ji qi xi zhi chi shi ri zi ci si yi

wu

Remember that pinyin is not English, but if we were to compare that to the sounds of the English alphabet (for those with an American accent), the spelling of the pronunciation could look something like this:

b p m f (“bwo,” “pwo,” “mwo,” “fwo”)

d t n l g k h (“duh,” “tuh,” “nuh,” “luh,” “guh,” “kuh,” “huh”)

j q x zh ch sh r z c s y (“gee,” “chee,” “shee,” “jur,” “chur,” “shur,” “ur,” “tzi,” “tsi,” “si,” “ee”)

w (“woo”)

It’s strange seeing the comparisons, isn’t it? What’s also pretty bizarre and interesting is how the same sound can be spelled in completely different ways across languages.

The Vowels

Now that we’ve gotten the more difficult sounds out of the way, let’s move on to the vowels.

a e i o u ü

ai ei ui ao ou

iu ie üe er

an en in un ün

ang eng ing ong

When reading these out loud, you’ll notice that they aren’t too far off the sounds of English letters based on American pronunciation, but here’s the comparison for your reference:

a e i o u ü (“ah,” “eh,” “ee,” short “o,” “oo,” “yu”)

ai ei ui ao ou (“aye,” “ey,” “we,” “ow,” long “oh”)

iu ie üe er (“yo,” “ye,” “yu + eh,” “ar”)

an en in un ün (“un,” “en,” “in,” “oo + en,” “yu + in”)

ang eng ing ong (“ung,” “eng,” “ing,” “ong”)

Comparing Pinyin with Your Own Pronunciation

One thing to also note is that spelling of English pronunciation will vary across different English speakers. What’s provided here is merely one way to interpret pinyin. These Americanized spellings may apply to you, but either way, you’ll want to listen to the audio clips from this chart so that you understand them in terms of the sounds that are familiar to you.

For some, this side-by-side pronunciation comparison is enough to graduate to the tones. However, we all learn at our own pace; there’s no need to rush if you’re not ready.

Pinyin pronunciation is the key to unlocking the rest of the components in Mandarin, so it’s best to find your stride at the base level before piling on more challenges. And there’s a variety of methods to help with your pronunciation and get you to the next stage of learning Chinese.