Pinyin - Understanding the Tonal Nature of Chinese

Pinyin is an excellent system for those who are trying to gain and understanding into Chinese language. Pinyin was developed in the 1950's in China and is still the officially recognized Romanization system of the Chinese language in China, Singapore, and also the American Associated Library, and the US Library of Congress. The system was devised for western or English speaking persons who wanted to learn Chinese as a second language and it reduces the need to learn the Chinese characters instead focusing on right pronunciation.

There are 4 basic tones that must be understood which are

The first tone which is a flat tone.

The second tone which is of a rising nature.

The third tone which is falling rising.

and finally the fourth tone which is falling in nature.

These tones are used to determine the meaning of the word. Hence mà (scold) is different from má (hemp). As is plain visible that different tones can end up totally changing the meaning of the word itself. Hence a user of the English language must exercise some caution when using Chinese and must be aware of what he is conveying at all times. You would not want to get into trouble for a small change in tone now would you??

Many excellent tools for learning Pinyin are available online which can be used to understand the language. Most of these tools are highly detailed and come in the form of tables and charts however others are detailed software which are interactive and have been designed for people with no prior experience in learning Chinese and also for those who will want to learn the language all of their own.

ChineseforSmartKids is a premier educational service focusing on teaching children aged between 3 and 8 Mandarin Chinese. We recognize that parents are now becoming more aware of emerging global realities and like to equip their children with the necessary skills to be prepared as they grow up. Our software is designed so that it is fun and easy to use. Click here is to try out a free demo of our ChineseforSmartKids software now!