Pinyin Lesson Series #1: What is Pinyin & How Does it Help Me Speak Mandarin Chinese? | Yoyo Chinese
Summary
TLDRThis lesson introduces Pinyin, the Chinese phonetic system that uses the Latin alphabet to transcribe Chinese sounds. It's a fundamental tool for both learners and native speakers, as it's the first thing taught in Chinese schools. With 409 sounds in Chinese, mastering Pinyin can seem daunting, but the instructor assures that many sounds are already familiar to English speakers. The lesson emphasizes the importance of not pronouncing Pinyin as English and provides examples to illustrate correct pronunciation. It sets the stage for upcoming lessons that will guide learners through the intricacies of Chinese pronunciation.
Takeaways
- 📚 Pinyin is the system used to transcribe Chinese sounds using the Latin alphabet.
- 🔤 The word 'Pinyin' literally means 'spell sounds' in Chinese.
- 👶 It's a foundational tool for Chinese language learning and is the first thing Chinese children learn in school.
- 💡 Even without knowing Chinese characters, one can communicate effectively using Pinyin.
- 🗣️ There are 409 distinct sounds in the Chinese language, which can be mastered with practice.
- 🎯 Mastering these sounds and tones allows for accurate pronunciation of any Chinese word.
- 🌟 If you know English, you likely already know how to pronounce over half of the Chinese sounds correctly.
- 🚫 Important: Do not pronounce Pinyin as if it were English, as this can lead to incorrect pronunciation.
- 📝 Example: The English word 'he' is pronounced 'huh' in Chinese, with the first tone indicated by a flat mark over the 'e'.
- 🔄 Learning Pinyin involves unlearning English pronunciation instincts and adopting new ones for Chinese.
Q & A
What does 'Pinyin' mean in Chinese?
-In Chinese, 'Pinyin' literally means 'spell sounds' and it is the most commonly used system for transcribing or spelling out Chinese sounds.
What is the significance of Pinyin in learning Chinese?
-Pinyin is extremely useful as it should be the foundation of your Chinese learning. It allows you to type in Chinese even if you don't know Chinese characters, and it's the first thing Chinese children learn at school before characters.
How many sounds are there in the Chinese language according to the transcript?
-There are a total of 409 sounds in the Chinese language.
Why is mastering Chinese pronunciation considered not difficult to master despite having 409 sounds?
-Once you master these 409 sounds along with the tones, you practically master how to pronounce every single word in the Chinese language.
What advantage does knowing English give you in learning Pinyin?
-If you know English, you should already know how to correctly pronounce over half of the Chinese sounds without any coaching.
What is a common mistake that new learners make when pronouncing Pinyin?
-A common mistake is pronouncing Pinyin as if it were English, which can lead to incorrect pronunciation of certain sounds.
How is the word 'okay' pronounced in Chinese Pinyin?
-In Chinese Pinyin, 'okay' is pronounced as 'huh' with a first tone, represented by a flat mark over the 'e'.
What does the word 'ben' mean in Chinese Pinyin?
-In Chinese Pinyin, 'ben' is pronounced 'ben' and it means 'idiot'.
What is the importance of not pronouncing Pinyin syllables in an English way?
-Learning to overcome the instinct to pronounce syllables in an English way is part of the task of learning Pinyin, as it helps in correctly pronouncing Chinese sounds.
What will be covered in the upcoming lessons according to the transcript?
-In the upcoming lessons, the focus will be on guiding learners through the remaining sounds that are not already known from English and mastering the tones.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Pinyin
This paragraph introduces the concept of Pinyin, a Romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. Pinyin is crucial for Chinese language learners as it helps in pronouncing Chinese sounds using the Latin alphabet. It is a fundamental tool for all Chinese speakers, including children who learn it before characters. The speaker reassures that despite the 409 distinct sounds in Chinese, mastering Pinyin can make pronunciation manageable. English speakers already know how to pronounce over half of these sounds, and the course will guide learners through the rest. The paragraph also emphasizes the importance of not pronouncing Pinyin as English and provides examples of how certain words are pronounced differently in Chinese compared to English.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Pinyin
💡409 sounds
💡Tones
💡Vowels
💡H e (Pinyin example)
💡Ben and Den (Pinyin example)
💡Pronunciation
💡Chinese characters
💡Native speakers
💡Learning curve
Highlights
Introduction to Pinyin, the Chinese phonetic system using Latin alphabet.
Pinyin is the foundation of Chinese learning and is used by native speakers.
Chinese children learn Pinyin before characters in school.
Pinyin allows typing Chinese without knowing characters.
There are 409 sounds in Chinese, making pronunciation learnable.
A Pinyin chart displays all Chinese sounds for easy reference.
Mastering 409 sounds and tones practically masters Chinese pronunciation.
English speakers can pronounce over half of Chinese sounds correctly.
Guides will help with the remaining sounds in future lessons.
Learners must unlearn English pronunciation habits for Pinyin.
Example of incorrect pronunciation: 'HE' in English vs. 'huh' in Chinese.
The English letter 'e' is pronounced as 'uh' in Chinese.
Pronunciation of 'BEN' in Chinese means 'idiot' and should be learned correctly.
Learn to pronounce Pinyin syllables differently from English.
Lesson conclusion and anticipation for the next lesson.
Transcripts
hello nihal starting from this lesson
we'll learn all about how to pronounce
Chinese using pingin
first let's talk about what pinion is
the word pingin in Chinese literally
means spell sounds it's the most
commonly used system for transcribing or
spelling out the Chinese sounds
it uses the letters in the Latin
alphabet that you are already familiar
with
is an extremely useful tool and should
be the foundation of your Chinese
learning plus it's not just for Chinese
Learners like yourself
actually all Native Chinese speakers no
opinion
it's the first thing Chinese children
learn at school before learning
characters so even if you don't know
Chinese characters you can type Indian
and Chinese people will understand you
well here's some great news for you in
Chinese we can't easily map out every
single sound that exists in the entire
language why
there are a total of
409 sounds in Chinese
that's why Chinese pronunciation is
actually not difficult to master hear me
out here
every single sound that exists in
Chinese can be displayed easily on
opinion chart like this once you master
these 409 sounds along with the tones
then you practically Master how to
pronounce every single word that exists
in the Chinese language
you might be thinking Hmm 409 is
actually a lot it doesn't sound that
easy at all well here's some great news
for you
if you know English you should already
know how to correctly pronounce over
half of those sounds without any
coaching and for the rest that's what
we're here for we'll guide you through
it all in the coming lessons
there's one thing I need to keep in mind
as you learn opinion you cannot
pronounce pinion as if a work English
that might sound obvious to you but it's
something that actually gets new
Learners in trouble all the time
for example how do you pronounce this
word
okay in English it's he right
well in Chinese h e is pronounced as huh
I'm assigning a first tone to it which
is represented by that flat Mark over
the e
well don't worry about the tones for now
we'll get to it soon
in Chinese the English letter e is one
of the six vowels and it's pronounced as
uh
it sort of sounds like uh in English
so h e is pronounced as
instead of HE
let me give you another example
how would you pronounce this word
does it look like the names of your two
friends Ben and then
well in Chinese this is pronounced
it means idiot
it's now been done it's been done so
make sure you can say it correctly
before you call someone an idiot in
Chinese all right
part of the task of learning opinion is
training yourself to overcome your
instinct to pronounce syllables that
look like he in the English way and
learn to pronounce them in a new way
alright that's all for this lesson we'll
continue next time
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