Bringing our practical and lovable approach to language, we’re bringing this same energy to our video series on Mandarin Chinese. With over 30 episodes covering tones, structure, pinyin and more, we'll touch on everything you need to know about speaking and reading (and writing!) in Mandarin.
Mango is beloved by users all over the world for our practical and lovable approach to language. Now, we’re bringing this same energy to YouTube with our series on Mandarin Chinese. Covering tones, structure, pinyin, writing characters and more, we'll be working through everything you ever wondered about Chinese in bite-sized chunks that make learning this fascinating language a breeze.
In this first lesson of our Basic Mandarin Chinese series, we cover the components of every Chinese syllable: initials, finals, and tones.
Chinese is a tonal language, meaning the way you pronounce a syllable can change its meaning. In this lesson, we cover the four tones you need to know so you don't accidentally call your mom a horse. At the end, we'll go over a tongue twister to really drive the point home.
We've already discussed finals, but not everything is so simple in Chinese. In this lesson we put individual finals together to form compound finals.
In this lesson, we bring back tones and explain how they sound when combined with the compound finals we've already learned. At the end of the lesson, you'll learn how to determine which vowel receives the tone mark when writing pinyin.
Every Chinese syllable has an initial, a final, and a tone. In this lesson, we'll go over how to pronounce the basic initials you'll hear again and again.
With basic and compound finals out of the way, Jinyi and Jason practice nasal finals and discuss why they're called nasals in the first place.
In Chinese, you can't play the game if you don't know the rules. When spelling pinyin, there are some not-so-obvious changes you must make involving the letter 'i'. Jinyi and Jason go over them together in this lesson.
As with the letter 'i', pinyin requires some special changes when spelling syllables with the letters 'u' and 'ü'. Pay special attention in this lesson so 'u' don't get lost when writing your next great pinyin novel.
In our final entry on pinyin spelling, Jinyi and Jason drop some serious knowledge about when you should drop the middle letter of a syllable.
You've got basic initials down, but let's talk about when things get tricky. Jinyi and Jason talk about pronouncing "j" "q" "zh" and "ch" with finals.
We weren't kidding when we called last lesson's initials "tricky." Practice along with Jason and Jinyi as they compare the tricky initials they discussed in Episode 10.
In this lesson, Jinyi and Jason cover "x" and "sh" and do their best to make them as not-tricky as possible.
In this lesson, Jason and Jinyi cover the last set of tricky initials and introduce tones into the equation. While they may have been "initially" hard, by the end of this lesson you'll have those tricky initials under control.
You might have read or heard discussions about the existence of the elusive '5th' (or neutral) tone. Do you think it exists? Jinyi and Jason settle the debate once and for all.
All the way back in the second lesson we learned about the four basic tones, but how do tones change when they're combined? In this lesson, Jinyi explains tone sandhi and tone change rules every Mandarin learner needs to know.
To fully master Mandarin Chinese tones means knowing special rules. In this lesson we go over tone change rules specific to "一 (yī)."
To fully master Mandarin Chinese tones means knowing special rules. In this lesson we go over tone change rules specific to "不 (bù)."
If you're anything like Jason, you might need more practice applying the tone change rules we learned in Episode 15? Jinyi has you covered with this quick review lesson!
In Episode 15 we learned about tone change rules, including for the 3rd tone. However, 3rd tone is a diva and doesn't always play by the rules. In this lesson, Jinyi and Jason explain why.
After this short and sweet lesson, you'll walk away knowing how to respond by formulating an 'is/am/are' statement and how to negate it. To be or not to be... that is the question!
In this lesson, Jinyi and Jason do their best pirate impressions while discussing the flat-lip and final "R" sounds.
Need more practice with pronunciation? Jinyi has you covered with this quick review video focusing purely on pronouncing two-syllable words.
In episodes 11, 12, and 13 of this series, we covered some of the tricker parts of pinyin. Reflect on all of your knowledge of tones and syllables and follow along with Jinyi as she reviews how to pronounce j, q, ch, zh, x, sh, and r.
Understanding tones is crucial to conversing in Mandarin. Practice along with Jinyi and Jason to sharpen your hearing skills, and don't hesitate to play it again if you need more training.
Hone your listening skills and challenge yourself to correctly identify the pinyin initials and finals as Jinyi speaks. Grab something to write with and fill in the blanks, pausing and replaying as much as you need.
If you're anything like us, you might have wondered why Chinese characters look the way they do. Follow along with Jinyi as she draws out and explains the fascinating evolution of different characters.
The humble 'radical' - a building block of many Chinese characters. In this lesson, Jinyi breaks down the five main categories of radical placement and their influence on words.
The Mandarin writing system can be intimidating. How do you know where to start? In this lesson, Jinyi goes over the basics of stroke order and direction. Grab a pen and start writing!
Learn how to write the characters for the numbers 1 through 10, as Jinyi helps us follow the stroke order rules.
It's time to see how much you've learned from our Chinese Mandarin series! Practice along with as Jinyi and Jason make their way through the four tones, tone sandhi, and the neutral tone.