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Since the original Chinese characters were
pictographs, they lack sound-to-script correspondence. In
earlier times, different phonetic pronunciation systems
were used to mark the Chinese characters. One of system
is called Zhiyin , which provides the pronunciation of a
Chinese character by citing another character with the same
pronunciation. Fanqie is another method which indicates
the pronunciation of a new Chinese character by using two
other known Chinese characters, the first having the same
initial consonant as the given character and the second
having the same vowel and tone of the given Chinese character.
Zhuyin fuhao (national phonetic alphabet) is a set of symbols
(simplified classical Chinese characters) used to transcribe
the pronunciation of characters. It was used in the mainland
before the 1950s and is still being used in China's Taiwan.
Hanyu pinyin (Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, or Pinyin for short)
is the phonetic system adopted by the People's Republic
of China since 1950s. In order to learn standard Chinese,
one must learn its phonetic system first. |
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| The purpose of this course is to
introduce Pinyin, the phonetic alphabet of standard Chinese to
the beginners. |
| This course consists of 10 lessons.
Lesson 1 provides a brief introduction to standard Chinese phonetic
system. Lesson 2 to 9 are designed to teach you how to pronounce
each sound through the learning of Pinyin system - 21 initial
consonants and 36 simple or compound vowels. Each lesson (except
Lesson 2) consists of three sections. Section 1 introduces the
phonetic symbols and their ways of pronunciation. And it compares
the similarities and difference between Chinese and English in
pronouncing a particular sound when it becomes relevant. Section
2 presents classroom exercises including a series of pronunciation
activities such as sound and tone recognition, discrimination
and pronunciation practice. Section 3 provides exercises such
as Chinese tongue twisters or poems for further practicing the
introduced sounds in meaningful contexts. Lesson 10 gives a brief
introduction of phonetic spelling rules for writing Chinese syllables
and tone changes in the context of introduction patterns. |
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| Lesson 1: Chinese
Pinyin |
| Lesson 2: Simple
Vowels (a o e er i u v) and Initial Consonants (b p m f) |
| Lesson 3: Initial
Consonants (d t n l g k h j q x) and Tongue Twister: A Goose and
a Rabbit |
| Lesson 4: Initial
Consonants (z c s zh ch sh r) and Tongue Twister: Four and Ten |
| Lesson 5: Tones
and Tongue Twister: Grandpa Sets up a Stall |
| Lesson 6: Compound Vowels (ai ei
ao ou ia ie ua uo ve) and Tongue Twister: Lanlan and NanNan |
| Lesson 7: Compound Vowels (iao iou
iv uai uei vi) and Poem: Welcome Rain on a Spring Night |
| Lesson 8: Front Nasal Simple or Compound
Vowels (an en in vn ian uan van uen un) and Poem: A Snow Scene |
| Lesson 9: Back Nasal Simple or Compound
Vowels (ang eng ing ong iang uang iong ueng) and Tongue Twister:
A Boat and a Bed |
| Lesson 10: Chinese Syllables and
Poem: Night Thoughts |
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| If you want to continue to study
the rest part of this course, please contact
our tutor |
