Only vowels carry tone marks in pinyin. Consonants never have tone marks because tones are musical pitches that occur on vowel sounds. All Pinyin Vowels: - a, e, i, o, u, ü

Hey everyone! I'm really struggling with listening practice right now. When I try to listen to Chinese, it feels like the words just go straight through my head and nothing sticks - like my brain can't even catch the sounds properly. I'm not sure if I'm starting listening practice too early, or if there's a specific way I should be drilling to make progress. For those of you who've gotten past this phase, when did things start to click? Did you use any specific drills or methods that helped? Would really appreciate hearing about your experiences and any advice! 加油!

Our next live session will be on Saturday 17th January at 11am GMT. Everyone is welcome to join to meet with other community members and practice Mandarin together, no matter your level. You can also come to listen in if you’re not feeling confident enough to speak yet! Our topics will be: 1. Pinyin pronunciation + tone focus (practice listening + repeating a range of words to improve pronunciation). 2. Building basic sentences using key verbs (Power verbs) + structures. 3. Look at some more complex sentence structures, to help you move from basic sentences to more higher level ones. There will be something for all beginner levels. Look forward to seeing some of you there! 下个星期六见！See you next Saturday.

I would like to know the very basics, but most apps are jumping to sentences very quickly. It’s not that i don’t understand, but i would like to know how to communicate better! (most apps need premium subscriptions for in detail content..) For lack of better word, i would like to answer questions. I can tell someone my name in mandarin, but not the color of my hair. I can say what i like to drink, but not my favorite food. (i hope this makes sense lol.)

Hi everyone, and happy New Year! My name is LeChe. I’ve completed my Honours in Linguistics and I’m currently learning Mandarin. I’m fluent in English and Afrikaans, and in my free time I enjoy reading books and watching anime.