1 Flashcards
Q
harder than “ch” in “cheap”
B
similar to ‘b’ in the English ‘boat’ - softened to approach a ‘p’ sound
D
similar to ‘d’ in the English ‘down’ - softened to approach a ‘t’ sound
G
similar to ‘g’ in the English ‘go’ - softened to approach a ‘k’ sound
H
similar to ‘h’ in the English ‘hope’ - with a slight rasp as in ‘loch’
J
similar to ‘j’ in the English ‘jeep’ - tongue is positioned below lower teeth
X
similar to ‘sh’ in the English ‘sheep’ - tongue is positioned below lower teeth
Zh
similar to ‘j’ in the English ‘jam
R
While making a j sound like in leisure, make a retroflex r sound with your tongue.
Z
same as ‘ds’ in the English ‘woods
C
similar to ‘ts’ in the English ‘bits’
Y(i)
similar to ‘ee’ in the English ‘bee’
W(u)
similar to ‘oo’ in the English ‘room’
Yu
purse your lips and position the tongue high and forwards
a
similar to ‘ah’ in the English ‘Ah-hah!’
(w)o
similar to ‘or’ in the English ‘bore’
e
like the u in “duh”
(y)e
like the ay sound in “hay”
ei
similar to ‘ei’ in the English ‘weigh
ai
similar to the English ‘eye’
ao
like the “ow” in the English word “how”, but with a rather muted “w” sound at the end
an
-an sounds similar to “on” (minus a strong “aw” sound like in “lawn”) but you may also hear a hint of the vowel sound in the English word “can”
ang
ou
like the English word “oh”
en
similar to ‘un’ in the English ‘under’
eng
a Mandarin ‘e’ followed by the ‘ng’ sound like in the English ‘sung’
er
a Mandarin ‘e’ with the tongue curled back
