Can You Hear the Difference? | Chinese Tone Challenge

📝 Pinyin and Zhuyin for the 20 word/phrase pairs in today's challenge: gracemandarinchinese.com/can-...
It's time to test your Chinese listening skills! Chinese tones play an important role in distinguishing the meanings of Chinese words, so being able to differentiate them is essential to your Chinese comprehension and pronunciation!
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Here's another Chinese Tone Challenge: • Chinese Tone Challenge...
⚡️ Time code:
00:00 Introduction
01:02 Chinese tone review
02:06 Chinese tone challenge
08:04 Thank you for watching to the end!
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| Learning Resources 📝 |
▪️ Chinese modal particles → gum.co/OtXAp
(Traditional and Simplified characters included)
▪️ Useful Chinese Time Words and Phrases → gum.co/CROpR
(Traditional and Simplified characters included)
▪️15 Must-Know Chinese Slang → gum.co/OPXqS
(Traditional and Simplified characters included)
▪️ 78 common components of Chinese characters → gracemandarinchinese.com/the-...
▪️ Master Chinese "zh ch sh r” → gracemandarinchinese.com/pron...
▪️ Master Chinese “j q x” → gracemandarinchinese.com/j-q-...
﹝Real-life Chinese﹞
→ Understand FAST Chinese Conversations: is.gd/MBJOGm
→ 20 Chinese Slang You Need to Know: is.gd/YaS9MT
→ Understanding Different Mandarin Accents: is.gd/tI0aZe
→ TOP 5 Chinese Filler Words in Everyday Speech: is.gd/ZhmbJL
→ 15 COMMON Interjections in Mandarin: is.gd/a19K6Q
Japanese subtitles provided by Andrew Haynes. Many thanks for his outstanding work and assistance
部分素材使用來自 MotionElements.com
Some of the materials in this video include content from MotionElements.com
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[@GraceMandarinChinese]

📝 Pinyin and Zhuyin for the 20 word/phrase pairs in today's challenge: gracemandarinchinese.com/can-you-hear-the-difference-chinese-tone-challenge/

[@zoltanfabiansk5795]

Thank you Grace! :)

[@groverchiri4031]

非常感謝

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

@@zoltanfabiansk5795 No problem! ✨

[@aliyousaf2897]

​@@GraceMandarinChineselove from Pakistan 🇵🇰

[@yazars]

Love the decision of using word pairs where the only difference is the tone. Getting tones correct is really one of the most important details for Chinese learners. Examples like buy vs. sell really highlight the importance of tone for meaning.

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

Thanks Peter! ✨

[@TheSungMovies]

I answered ALL OF THEM correctly!!! I use shadowing technique to practice chinese tones in pairs and my tone pronunciation and recognition are improving so much!!!

[@manga626]

i just started using the shadowing technique to work on my pronounciation using Audacity. I did have my doubts about it. Hopefully it helps for me also. 🙂

[@OmeidaYangshuo]

wow congrats on the results!!

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

Congrats!! 🎉 I'm so happy for you!

[@CarlosSaltos]

Felicitaciones !!

[@jasondicioccio880]

Me too! I used to be pretty bad too... Its a good thing to spend effort learning, because once you can reliably hear it, it allows you to correct your own tones. When you say a tone wrong, it will "bite your ear"

[@chineselearning2227]

I remember the first tone challenge video, and since I think my tones have improved a lot over the last year, I'm so glad you've made a new one! 谢谢！

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

No problem! I hope you get a high score!

[@kennyPAGC]

I'm not good with tones but got 18/20. Your pronounciation is just so clear. Also, having the choice between two options helps a lot. Next video could be tougher and have let us decide the used tones.

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I actually have a challenge that fits exactly what you're looking for: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZrTdamtq6d9ldksi=CwzZXd8_MpAn2qLU. It's designed to help you decide the used tones and might be a great next step for you. :)

[@zthehero]

Yep please have another tones challenge and a harder one please!!!​@@GraceMandarinChinese

[@ssangari]

i got everything right but the combinations that are hardest to distinguish for me are 3+4 and 2+4. they sound really similar D: :

[@NicrophorusVesp]

I also struggle a lot with 3+4 I think because my brain confuses the starting and ending!

[@heikachan8052]

I only made 4 mistakes! I'm at the very start of my Chinese learning and I think I'm bad with tones (I'm not being modest, I genuinely think it's true) and my native language is known to be very flat. I'm so happy with my result, and I'm proud of myself!

Thanks for making this video, it was really useful. I struggled with a few of the 3rd tones. To help me discriminate between the tones, when the answers are revealed it would be great to hear both A and B being spoken. (Just saying in case you make a similar video in the future 😊)

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

Thanks for the suggestion! I was thinking about that too!

[@eccstasyy]

19/20 🥺 i'm so happy! thank you ☺️

[@VernAfterReading]

First time trying tones like this. Got less than 10 right, and many I couldn't even guess. The tones are SO short! I think I need to hear the same tone many times over at different speeds. Or maybe same word with different tones over and over. Still fun.

[@OmeidaYangshuo]

it's about a lot of input, keep it up!

[@methodmakeupacademy8609]

I was so worried. I really struggle with tones but I only missed 3! Thank you so so so much!!! I’m so glad I found your channel

[@cherryyy0001]

thank you for making this, grace! your videos are always very helpful. you're an amazing teacher. i got 17/20, not bad for now. i'll review what i got wrong to get right next time.

[@manukast]

Nailed it no problem 🎉thank you Grace!

[@sigma.wr8]

this was fun and educational.

[@silverstar3670]

Very helpful! Loved it, thanks 😊

[@Cyberpunk_Radio_PBS]

Wow, its only my second day learning mandarin and I can hear which one :D Boy does that give me hope haha thank you for this video.

[@kaelplv6585]

Love ya, thank you for making this kind of content!

[@danp8321]

Great test, thank you! I dropped #1, #5 and #15 - in each case, I thought a second tone was a third. Useful to know 👍

[@genace]

I scored 20 out of 20. Thanks for making this! It’s cool how you made this look and sound like a language game app but in video format. Maybe you can make/sell a Grace Mandarin app one day! haha

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

Haha I hope so too 🤣 Thanks Josh!

[@timwlake]

18/20. I missed 5 and 15. Both because the 3rd still confuses me. Your pronunciations are amazing by the way

[@angelaliaquat3964]

18 out of 20. V happy with that 🎉. I am tripped up sometimes differentiating between 2nd and 3rd tones though so going to keep working on that!

[@ashleycapdeboscq364]

I got most of them right, except for 5, 9, 12, & 18. I'm pretty sure it's the same thing I mixed up each time, though I'll need to go back to check. But, when I tried your first video (I think just about when it came out!) I remember being COMPLETELY LOST because I had just really gotten started learning. A very fun mile marker

[@alexb859]

Awesome video!!!

[@ginac2772]

This is an excellent practice. I got ony 5 of them correct😢. I will listen again.

[@OmeidaYangshuo]

加油!

[@of4950]

to be clear they meant it in a motivational way

[@MCNeko6554]

I love your videos! I've learned so much vocab that's actually useful for daily life and your videos keep inspiring me to keep learning 💜💜

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

Aww thank you for letting me know! It's my pleasure🥰

[@greatnessmasakadza9277]

18/20...Not bad

[@Miro-fc1jh]

3rd tone is the hardest, thanks for this video :)

[@user-lu4ig8ee2b]

I got them all right! I’m really surprised with myself!

[@dmacwills1132]

Hi grace, ur videos are super helpful and I am very appreciative! Could u do a video on prepositions and locations please?

[@preciousbell4573]

Thank you. Very useful and very difficult.

[@nightowl2347]

I've very recently got back into studying Mandarin and surprisingly scored 18/20! I'm very proud of myself. Please do more of these quizzes 💜

[@chiichuuhaija1605]

100% despite beginner with no knowledge of any languages similar to Chinese but it is cuz I had done a bit of listening practice and practicing tone ranges with my own voice. Also, I was taught that 3rd tone is like a super low voice to the point of cracking 99% time since most natives speak fast or unless at the end of a word. I wish you all luck my friends! Elementary Chinese YT channel helped a lot too.

[@curtsheldon2655]

I'm learning to sing The Moon Represents My Heart in Mandarin.

[@Khodarova_nails]

谢谢。这非常有用。

[@RonanReidStar]

15 / 20. hardest to distinguish is third tone and second tone

[@saraal8864]

I got 18/20, I'm so proud of myself bc when I first started I only could get around 5/20 I'm actually so happy I've come this far

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

So happy for you! 💛

[@eggiestar]

I never did this ever I only recently got the idea of learning Chinese and so I found your video and I thought I give it a try I was surprised because I only got like 5 wrong 😭 I never knew how decent I am at tones I thought I would fail it all 🙌🏻

[@luismorellon2857]

12/20. Mostly the third tone.

[@benkennington8941]

I've not been officially learning but I know the tones. Scored 17. Wrong ones 1, 2, 15.

[@norawallberg1345]

20/20 😃

[@juund5257]

16/20 😅 need to practice more 💪🏾

[@kathkuan2341]

Got 18/20 tq😊

[@Fuyinduolim559]

新春快乐 Grace Guo！恭喜发财！四季平安！出入平安！感谢您。❤🎉🧧🧧🧧🎊🎆

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

謝謝你！💗

[@LesterMartinez-gg9mk]

I have lost 5 my listening is improving thanks to this video

[@msh-l33t]

When I first started out I thought it was impossible to differentiate, but 6 months into learning I can confidently say that my perception has improved a lot, though I still need some practice with differentiating between the 3rd and 4th tones especially when it's the first syllable.

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

Congrats on your improvement! 加油！✨

[@simonsaville9962]

Oof! 1 wrong (15), sooo close. Thanks Grace.

[@AelwynMr]

Me too!

[@SerenaPerryRus]

17/20, not bad :)

[@albg1877]

Thx

[@Flyingsearat]

16/20 :D

[@eszteee2768]

17/20 the 4th tone is the most difficult one for me to spot

[@aryawp02]

I got 13/20 right 😔 I think the tone I struggled the most is 2 and sometimes 3! I can usually distinguish 1 due to its high pitch (some say singing tone) and 4 due to the throaty sound.

[@f_bara2310]

5 mistakes and I would say that I struggled the most with the fourth tone, but I'm glad that I can recognise them pretty easily. I still need to improve my pronunciation though. My native Chinese friends say that my Chinese is pretty good, but I think they are just polite, cause my vocabulary is still very basic. I can share about many things and they can understand me, but I'm still struggling to understand them… 😄

[@ARBFoods-st2pv]

Nice video

[@basiamorris-bruton7318]

Yay! I got 19 out of 20!

[@JasonEyermann]

There is a chinese joke. yi wan shuijiao duo shao qian. Depending on the difference of tones it has a completely different meaning.

[@xx-en8uf]

Only 2 wrong 🤩🤩 Thank you 🙏🏾

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

That's amazing!! 🥳

[@Khodarova_nails]

I also had 2 wrong answers.

[@ttphome4124]

17/20. I messed up with tones 2, 3, and 4. Questions #2, #6, and #15.

[@josephmak0865]

Good exercise. Usually people speak quickly and hard to catch tone of many words at once... Context is important too... For example if someone talking about finding a theme 主題 to write something... Not likely to talk about pig feet豬蹄. The tone marks above the words make the quiz easier. Perhaps your next quiz can remove that to make it even more challenging.

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

Thank you for the suggestion! But if I remove the tone marks, then it's more like I'm testing people's ability to recognize the characters and whether they remember their tones. 😝

[@user-yx5sh6qc5c]

19 out of 20! But I can't still distiguish yin xiang 😂 谢谢老师😊😊

[@cutielovely6080]

4 mistakes out of 20, I'm feeling pretty pleased :) I think I struggle most to identify the flat tone

[@gustavoalcantara43]

16/20

[@purebottle]

14/20... i keep mixing the 2nd and 3rd tone 😢

[@aliyousaf2897]

My favourite language Chinese ❤ Love from Pakistan 🇵🇰❤️

[@Pvonishere]

nice video... I missed a few. I am trying to help my ears know the difference in sound of tu and cu. Any ideas?

[@fernandoo.8737]

The hardest to notice the difference is between the second and the third.

[@akram9353]

I got 18/20 , sometimes I cannot distinguish between 3+4 and 4+4 tone for exmple 主义 and 注意

[@zoolity]

Finally something i was wishing you would do! 谢谢老师！ *Will you ever make a subscription thing? (Other channels have the join button next to the subscribe) :)

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

Haha I'm actually thinking of starting a Patreon in the near future! I'll definitely let you all know when I have that!

[@zoolity]

@@GraceMandarinChineseThank You! Hopefully you do!

[@lexxryazanov]

20/20. When tones are shown above the characters it's too easy.

[@kyivstuff]

I think it would be helpful to include both pronunciations after the pause for writing the answer - to better learn the difference. 1. - 2. B 3. B 4. B 5. A 6. A 7. A 8. B 9. B 10. A 11. B 12. A 13. A 14. A 15. - 16. B 17. A 18. - 19. B 20. -

[@benkennington8941]

Grace, hi. Ben from England here. Do you mind me using the comments section to ask how you got the name Grace, or perhaps I mean why it was chosen for you or by you?

[@areejrizvi29]

Hi I would like you to explain the usage of WU in Chinese. I saw somewhere that it means like something is missing ? Like (wu Yi ge Ren)But when it's in a sentence I can't seem to make sense.

[@sabahsara2978]

Thus exercise is so helpful I missed 5 😅

[@ThalonRamacorn]

4 mistake... I think I am starting to notice something at the 3rd tone that I didnt really notice before. It sounds like it has a slight gargle sound for just a few milisecond, like it goes deep into the back of the throat.

[@ericab3919]

Grace FYI the I in video is much closer to ㄝthan ㄧ. You're saying veedeo instead of video. It's the same with other short I sounds. Great vid as always.

[@GraceMandarinChinese]

I knew I had a problem pronouncing that word. I'll keep trying! 🥺 Thanks for pointing it out!

[@genace]

@@GraceMandarinChinese​​⁠​​⁠​​⁠ Don’t worry. The English short i sound is difficult for many people. I feel like it’s pronounced somewhere between ㄝ and 一. It’s hard to explain lol. You pronounced “listen”really well at around the :30 second timestamp. If you use the same “i”pronunciation in “video” as you did in “listen”, then I think it would sound perfect!

[@woodies2009]

As for the words I know on the video, I understand the Pinyin, but when I tried to pick out with my ’musical' ears which one is correct, I've just found out it's still difficult to spot the difference.

[@wlevy3190]

incrível como aqui no vídeo eu entendo tudo, saiu do vídeo eu não entendo bst nenhuma

[@r4nd0mStuff]

I got 19/20, missed the first one. I have a little trouble distinguishing between the 2nd and 3rd tones.

[@andregonsalves1139]

I made 15 out of 20. I have been made mistakes over the first tone. But there's room for improvement.

[@SteveO3030]

Is the pronunciation of words like "女" (like in "女朋友" for example) considered a fifth tone that's just less common? Or is it something separate?

[@user-sq5kf6mw7q]

I got 13/7

[@stilted]

Got 15 right - but would have been zero if it weren't multiple choice!

[@noxilsun3488]

Me got 10/20

[@stephanieveenendaal]

I only got one wrong, number 15

[@Bothermewithdetails]

Thanks can you say the wrong answer after you say the right answer so that we can have something to compare it too? To be able to hear what we got wrong.

[@mayzavan]

嗨！我有个问题因为我天天忘记我需要用什么声调然后有可能你知道怎么不忘记什么字有什么声调哈哈哈我觉得我的汉语已经还不错可是我的口语和听力都真的坏怎么办啊

[@minhmeo666]

Can you make video pronounce all Chinese Pinyin!!! tksssssss^^

[@heikestoll1205]

I got one wrong, #15. I find it hard to hear the difference between 3/4 and 2/4.

[@Bongsokha23]

Sister, those 20 tones are complicated is there easy way ??

[@user-wb7ey5pm6e]

6 wrong with 1 tone 感谢您的test)

[@mervenurekim4823]

Grace 老师 谢谢跟我们一起分享这么有利内容。我的14/20。 我真的很想分得别声调但不管做什么都没用。我学中文七个月了。每天都努力地学习。练习听力阅读书写口语可是我还不能说出来什么是什么声调。我应该怎么办。可不可以给我一些建议？

[@OmeidaYangshuo]

keep trying! do you have people to talk to? a Chinese speaking friend? it helps a lot

[@simonyang-pe3ux]

你说的怎么样我不知道，但是你写的已经非常地道了。加油吧小伙子

[@sususegar]

Wait, I thought people in China don't use 赛车? When I came to Beijing I was told it's called 堵车 or is that more of a northern thing?

[@rwditchchannel]

I've got 13 out of 20 correctly. I started learning chinese only 10 days ago and frankly i thought id do much worse

[@samuelmoura3229]

3 wrong, the fourth tone confuses me a lot :/

[@JonathanVeit-wf9jy]

16 :)

[@mariafilippovarus3613]

I failed only in 18th, it's not bad

[@taherehzahedi1008]

Majority of mu wrong answers are between first and fourth tones.

[@mickadatwist1620]

Hence you won't go beyond the basics in Chinese.

[@peterbayne7227]

Got 3 out of 20 right. Just can't hear the difference.

[@LittleWaffle]

9/20 Xd hELP Xd

[@jasonreviews]

I just know by feeling. I really can't discern the 4 tones. I come from 10 cantonese dialects. Go figure. HK canto so much easier you can use english most of the time.