1. In English the meaning of
sentences can be hugely altered
depending on the tone of voice of
the speaker.
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2. Native English speakers are adept at
picking up dozens of nuances in the way
that words are said and the possible
meaning that those tones may carry;
sarcasm, anger, amusement, mocking -
all of these can be layered into a
sentence through manipulating the tone
of your voice.
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3. In Mandarin tone plays an equally
important, but quite different, role. In
Mandarin there are many words who's
pronunciation sounds very similar to
each other. Often the only thing that
allows you to tell two words apart is the
tone with which they are pronounced.
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4. So "he" pronounced with a certain tone
of voice means "to drink" while when it is
pronounced in another tone of voice it
means "river".
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5. This does sometimes happen in English,
but much more rarely and the rules are
less clear.
But consider this: if someone asked you
how you were doing, you might reply,
"Great."
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6. By changing the tone of your voice
however, you could change the meaning
of the word "great" to mean that you
were very well indeed, or actually pretty
terrible.
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7. The tone of your voice can give the word
a totally different meaning.
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8. But unlike in English, in Mandarin there
are well documented rules on the
different tones that are used in order to
say different words. There are five tones
in Mandarin, which are usually described
as follows:
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9. 1st tone - high and level
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10. 2nd tone - mid and rising
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11. 3rd tone - falling quickly then
rising
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12. 14th tone - falling
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13. 5th tone - neutral
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14. The number of the tone is written after
the syllable is spelled out (sometimes
the tones can also be represented by
little lines above the letters, but that
system is not used on Memrise).
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15. So ma1 is "ma" pronounced with the 1st
tone. And ma3 is "ma" pronounced with
the 3rd tone.
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16. All of which is straightforward enough,
but how on earth do you remember
which tone is which and which one you
need to use for which word?
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17. Well first, you have to get to know them.
During the next level, we are going to
focus on the pronunciations. Listen to
words of each tone.
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18. Get a feel for how they sound different.
See what feelings each tone arouses in
you, and build on those associations.
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19. By establishing a strong set of
emotional connections to each tone, you
will find them much easier to remember.
Here are the associations that work for
me - but feel free to use whichever
associations work best for you!
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20. The 1st tone to me is the singing tone. It
is high and insistent and a little bit
annoying in an over-happy sort of a way.
These words annoy me, but I feel a bit
bad about that. They are happy and
singing, after all.
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21. The 2nd tone is a rising tone that sounds
like a question to most English speakers.
So think of 2nd tone words as
questioning, worried and insecure
words.
I like these words because all I have to
do is to think in a questioning way and I
get the tone right because I naturally
speak questions in a second tone.
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22. The 3rd tone is the annoying, mocking
school bully saying "wooo" in a down-up
way while teasing you. It is a nasty,
annoying tone. Urrgh.
It also mis-behaves when put next to
other tones, which is an irritating habit,
but not one that you need to worry about
yet. I hold this tone in total disdain.
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23. The 4th tone is the authoritarian,
imperative angry tone. It is the one that
you shout things in.
For all that, I am fond of this tone.
Having a good shout every now and
then is quite a pleasure.
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24. 5th tone Well, it is nothing really. A limp,
dejected tone skulking about in the
corner casting furtive glances.
You don't see too much of the 5th tone;
he is always a bit of a mystery,
sometimes there, sometimes not. I am a
bit suspicious of him in truth.
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25. Each level in this course will be repeated
twice - once to test on the meanings and
once to test on the pinyin pronunciations.
That way you can focus on the aspect you
most want to, and can even decide to skip
one part altogether if you would prefer
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26. Now let’s get started!
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