[ Linguistic Bits 16 ] Tones in Chinese 中文的声调 | Learn Chinese with Yoyo Mo

中文里的四个声调，

zhōng | wén | lǐ | de | sì | gè | shēng | diào

The four tones in Chinese,

是否让你困惑呢？

shì | fǒu | ràng | nǐ | kùn | huò | ne

do they confuse you?

我们听到很多外国人说的中文，

wǒ | men | tīng | dào | hěn | duō | wài | guó | rén | shuō | de | zhōng | wén

We hear many foreigners speaking Chinese,

都是声调不对的，

dōu | shì | shēng | diào | bù | duì | de

their tones are often incorrect.

但是！

dàn | shì

But!

我们都能听懂，

wǒ | men | dōu | néng | tīng | dǒng

we can still understand them,

所以声调不那么重要，

suǒ | yǐ | shēng | diào | bù | nà | me | zhòng | yào

so tones are not that important—

信息和感情的交流才重要。

xìn | xī | hé | gǎn | qíng | de | jiāo | liú | cái | zhòng | yào

the exchange of information and emotions is what matters.

另外呢，有很多方言，

lìng | wài | ne | yǒu | hěn | duō | fāng | yán

Besides, there are many dialects

就是和普通话有不一样的声调，

jiù | shì | hé | pǔ | tōng | huà | yǒu | bù | yī | yàng | de | shēng | diào

that have different tones from Mandarin,

所以四个声调的标准用法只存在于普通话里。

suǒ | yǐ | sì | gè | shēng | diào | de | biāo | zhǔn | yòng | fǎ | zhǐ | cún | zài | yú | pǔ | tōng | huà | lǐ

so the standard use of the four tones only exists in Mandarin.

那如果想要说很正确的声调，

nà | rú | guǒ | xiǎng | yào | shuō | hěn | zhèng | què | de | shēng | diào

If you want to pronounce tones correctly,

要怎么做呢？

yào | zěn | me | zuò | ne

what should you do?

模仿，

mó | fǎng

Imitate—

反复模仿。

fǎn | fù | mó | fǎng

imitate repeatedly.

这就是我在节目里常说的观点，

zhè | jiù | shì | wǒ | zài | jié | mù | lǐ | cháng | shuō | de | guān | diǎn

This is the opinion I often mention in the program,

尤其是影子跟读，

yóu | qí | shì | yǐng | zi | gēn | dú

especially shadowing,

我觉得是学任何语言的最好方法。

wǒ | jué | de | shì | xué | rèn | hé | yǔ | yán | de | zuì | hǎo | de | fāng | fǎ

which I think is the best way to learn any language.

我们来读一些一声调的词：

wǒ | men | lái | dú | yī | xiē | yī | shēng | diào | de | cí

Let’s read some first-tone words:

春天，星空，飞机，烟花。

chūn | tiān | xīng | kōng | fēi | jī | yān | huā

chūn tiān (spring), xīng kōng (starry sky), fēi jī (airplane), yān huā (fireworks).

息息相关，开开心心。

xī | xī | xiāng | guān | kāi | kāi | xīn | xīn

xī xī xiāng guān (closely linked), kāi kāi xīn xīn (happy and joyful).

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