Start hearing Chinese tones now! Mandarin tone contrasts - 1st vs 2nd tone (initial position)

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亲生 qīnshēng biological, by-birth (e.g. biological son)
琴声 qín shēng sound of a musical instrument
称为 chēngwéi to be called
成为 chéngwéi to become
失礼 shīlǐ to be impolite or disrespectful (失礼了 = please excuse my impoliteness / 실례합니다)
十里 shí lǐ ten miles
失误 shīwù mistake
食物 shíwù food
桌子 zhuōzi table
镯子 zhuózi bracelet
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[@ChineseZeroToHero]

Quick poll: are you able to hear the difference between the two tones?

[@aprendiz5873]

Yes. 对我来说桌子和镯子的区别很明显。 But I was really confused by the other sentences, maybe because they speak too fast 而我并没有习惯。

[@ChineseZeroToHero]

@@aprendiz5873 Sometimes the rising tone is just a very slight uptick which is easy to miss. Try and slow down the video playback and see if you can spot the difference. The rising tone in 成为 should be quite audible.

[@jamescook2412]

@@ChineseZeroToHero 超 vs 招, 朝 vs 着, 吵 vs 找, 差 vs 炸, 西 vs 诗, 习 vs 食, 喜 vs 始, 系 vs 事, 宗 vs 聪, 仄 vs 厕, 字 vs 次, 再 vs 菜.

[@fufatem6733]

I wasn't able to distinguish. Give us some tip on studying technic. To distinguish the tone

[@eddlake5694]

I can hear them if it's said clearly, but it's harder when It's part of sentence. Thanks for these videos, I think contacting tone pairs is a good way to learn, 你們做的中文材料非常棒，感謝你們

[@baizhuwaitingroom7057]

it's driving me insane how clearly and exaggeratedly the tones are being pronounced by the HSK lectors, it gives me the false idea that my listening skills aren't that bad, and then I listen to people speaking normally and I fall into a pit of despair cause the difference becomes so subtle it takes all my brain power to notice it without having to say and try it out myself and I still fail lol

[@56independent]

Same with my Spanish; IRL people merge their words and speak quickly, and the Pearson Edexcel exam is snail's pace by comparison. With practice, you should get better. Watch movies with Pinyin subtitles and eventually the tones will go into you like how the difference between "j" and "g", and "v" and "b" reached me.

[@hadhamalnam]

​@56independent42 Yup, that's a great point. Spanish pronunciation is exceedingly simple in isolation, but in actual speech the difficulty is in splitting up the words because they all merge together and a ton of sounds are not pronounced or weakened. Chinese learners have an analogous issue with tones

[@chinchang5117]

So next time u speak to a native chinaman, u can try this "你讲话慢一点， 可以吗？？？“

[@RevolutionNTty]

Portuguese has a lot of similar words with different tones, but what distinguishes one from the other is the context. I think the perfect tone doesn't make that much difference when communicating. People will understand based on topic/context etc

[@DoctorJammer]

It's not too big a deal. Meaning can be derived from context. There are Chinese that are tone deaf and they make due.

[@d.darcy.y]

I feel like I can hear them so clearly when you're speaking the word individually but as soon as it's spoken quickly and in a sentence I'm getting all lost!

[@watersoup6270]

Ignore the consonants and glides, focus on the vowel, then you'll hear them.

[@zoranivanic3543]

I like this very much. Unlike most other channels that give listening practice of correctly and slowly pronounced words, you on the other hand provide a real life example of how words sound in sentences in real conversations which helps train foreigner ears in tone recognition.

[@tsunami2662]

I am a Vietnamese who is learning Chinese and in Vietnamese we have six tones instead of just four so it's really easy for us to hear the different between tones.

[@Infinitevoid3008]

Yep

[@MrJesterJam]

I heard in Asia it is considered impolite to brag.

[@tsunami2662]

@@MrJesterJam so you mean I'm impolite? I'm not bragging here, I'm just telling the truth

[@I_am_Zoom]

​@@MrJesterJam😂

[@sk-sm9sh]

@@MrJesterJam bragging is okay if you are talking about your kids though lol

[@gusulan_girl4610]

I'm a simple person: I see the Untamed, I'm instantly hooked 👌🏻 Great video, I can distinguish the pronunciation just fine in your examples. It's a bit more difficult to spot the difference in a full fast-spoken sentence but I guess it just takes more listening practice, thank you for this useful content!

[@evertspies3345]

I agree with you. Overall it is a fast spoken language which already makes it difficult to understand. I also hope that practice will help in the future.

[@asmaahassan5793]

I'm the same simple person lol

[@Yusuf1187]

Excellent video! I just realized that part of what makes it so hard to tell the difference for me is that most teachers use very exaggerated super formal pronunciation when they introduce learners to the tones. This uses the throat differently. Then when we hear how people actually speak, we don't hear what we were taught. While watching this video and trying to imitate, I noticed that the tones were being produced in a different way/place than I thought they were when I listened to super exaggerated pronunciation before. For example, I used to think the 1st tone was produced by "singing" in the throat only. But now it seems that I should actually keep my throat feeling the same as when I make the other tones BUT produce the sound further forward. This makes it a higher tone naturally. It also means that it feels much easier and more natural to transition from one tone to another when speaking full sentences.

[@etoobrute]

This sounds very accurate! I'm just now learning and my class is literally singing the first tone - in my head, I'm like how, as a man, am I going to communicate with sing-song voice on specific words and then quickly transition to 4th tone?

[@guidow9616]

Qinsheng, the first example, it sounded like 99% the same. When you replaced the word with Da Da I was able to see that on the left side they were equal and on the right side they were not. I could also hear that the first Da was lower pitched than the second Da, but hearing a rising in the first Da was just imaginary, gone in like a blink of an eye. Maybe I would be able to hear that when you would speak it very slowly and very explicitly, but not in a real sentence, not when you face away or are in another room. I asked my friend about that, she is chinese but lives in germany and for a german company, that's how I met her. I asked her how much of understanding the tone is actual HEARING and how much is knowing the context and then brain tells you what you should be hearing. She thought for a very long time on that question and told me 2d later that she really challenged it in a conversation with her gf and for the first time she noticed how sloppy they speak and that it's 90% context based... How am I supposed to get that right ...

[@sander_bouwhuis]

I must be incredibly tone-deaf, because even though I hear you pronounce them differently, I can't tell in what way. In fact, your (and my Chinese friend's) 2nd tone sound to my ears as going down in pitch rather than up. I'm going to keep practicing though.

[@UncleTacitus]

Same here. I can tell they sound different, but couldn’t tell you how, or replicate the difference myself.

[@sander_bouwhuis]

​@@watersoup6270 Of course. Lanuages where each word has a syllable which is stressed is the same thing. I also don't know on which syllable a stress is until I say it (out loud or in my head). Examples: FI-re de-PART-ment, po-LICE VE-hi-cle.

[@sander_bouwhuis]

@@watersoup6270 My main problem is that I don't know the tones of most of the words I know. That is because most of my learning involves reading (which is most useful to me). I just need to listen more to spoken Chinese to improve the memory of how the words actually sound.

[@watersoup6270]

Hey I discovered the reason why you might think the 2nd tone goes down. Chinese speakers listen for the next syllable or word to help disambiguate the previous or latter word, tones are contextual. A rising or falling tone will never dip down or up higher or lower than a high or low tone that comes with it or the speakers vocal range. So a falling tone followed by a low tone will stop so it doesn't go deeper than the next word's low tone. I found a study where they took a nonsense word with 3 syllable, high, rising, then low and played it to a Chinese native. They correctly identified the tone, but when they blocked out the first and third syllable with white noise, then played it to the native speakers they though the rising tone syllable was a high tone or even a FALLING tone. Also, for an English speaker, we articulate the vowel of a stressed syllable strongly while pronouncing the other shorter. Your mind registers this as a downward tone since english speakers use that intonation when making a point if we stress a word. You need to listen for the stressed or emphasized syllable's tone, and ignore the length the speaker drags out the vowel. In Chinese the stressed or emphasized syllable is the first in a disyllabic word, then the rest are unstressed, but the last syllables vowel is stretched out at the end of a word, sentence, or pause.

[@sander_bouwhuis]

@@watersoup6270 Thanks for your insights! PS Could you please not delete all your comments? Now my comments are responses to your no-longer-existing comments.

[@Marcus-si7su]

I really understand why so many people quit learning chinese when it's so similar even with a different tone. Good video anyways

[@sk-sm9sh]

It's not absolutely necessary to be able to tell tones apart in every situation to understand the speech as usually meaning is already clear from the context and in situations where it is not clear from context then the people often will stress the tone more to make it more distinguishable.

[@Hween900]

​@@sk-sm9shlol you're here too hahaha wooow

[@sk-sm9sh]

@@Hween900 are you a stalker hahahaa

[@user-cy6oj9lq7l]

So helpful! Tones taught one by one are extremely easy, mixes are where the difficulty starts

[@hamzahabdu9445]

I really appreciate if you upload more videos like this .

[@paulina461]

Excellent video! Reading/repeating only the word and then showing an example in the video is very useful. I noticed that for me, when the first word has two vowels (like "zhuo") is easier to distinguish the tone than when the word has one vowel (shi, cheng). Please post more videos about tones pronunciation. :-)

[@ChineseZeroToHero]

Great clue! I'll see if giving more diphthongs in the next video will help.

[@heikestoll1205]

I can hear the difference, but it is difficult. It reminds me of the time I struggled with the English “v” and “w” sounds. I’m German, and they sounded exactly the same to me. My American husband teased me mercilessly🤣 Now those sounds seem SO different to me, but I still sometimes slip up (after 20+ years) and say things like “a white wan”. I know it as soon as it comes out of my mouth, but it still happens. I’m sure Chinese tones will be the same one day, it just takes time.

[@SanDra-zr9he]

My kids laugh at me sometimes and make me say words that I mess up, by now it is usually a mix-up of stressed syllables.

[@khamsamhoang678]

"I am sure Chinese tones will be the same one day". Are you sure about that? Majority of Chinese languages and dialects are TONAL and they will forever stay like that.

[@sleezzzyp]

@@khamsamhoang678 she's trying to say her Chinese isnt good and neither is her English. She now learned English and the different sounds letters makes and hopes to learn the same thing with chinese tones. Hope this helps

[@iftkharazizi7251]

Hi boss I love your teaching method in both videos and how beautifully calm you are during your lesson.

[@FCKUUU]

Wow, that was osum dude. I really had to tune in to hearing the different tones. In the beginning I couldn't distingish the difference but as I listened to the video over and over again, the tone differences became much clearer. Thank you buddy, I very much appreciate this.

[@MsAccidentallyhere]

I really like the movie clips. Can't hear it when you dictate but the difference in movies is actually quite clear. Wow.

[@marktobenkin1566]

I'm enjoying your HSK classes right now, I appreciate the additional free content :) I know I would find a series for all the tone combinations (especially those involving 3rd tone) very helpful. 谢谢

[@mannaporanna2678]

What a great lesson! Thank you so much!!

[@sabrinafausto4384]

loved this format and i loved the exemples with cql, first chinese drama I ever watched

[@jozzgomez8649]

I loved the explanation! Thanks very much.

[@Erik_Escriche]

谢谢老师！！ 这段视频对我来说非常有用。声调特别难。

[@SiSi-hf1po]

This is a brilliant video. Thank you very much. I listened to the video with my eyes closed and then I really started to hear the difference even when they spoke quickly.

[@Matthew-vu7su]

Fantastic resource! Wish I had had videos like this when I was learning Mandarin decades ago!

[@Henry-teach-Chinese-in-jokes]

I’ve been trying to watch various channels to try to make comprehensive understanding of the world. I’ve made many videos teaching Chinese language vividly and in a humorous way. I hope somebody can recommend my videos to those who want to learn Chinese. For beginners, Chinese characters may look complicated. But once you learn about 100 basic radicals, most characters become easy. I believe Chinese language deserve more people learning.

[@anasmirza346]

你的每一个视频都有很多宝贵的教训。非常感谢你的努力

[@anno19191]

So helpful… the lesson with the addition of the real life demonstration is so helpful. The Da Da diagram was really helpful with the 2nd tone. I now realize it goes up to the next syllable from below and not passed it. Thank you!

[@tim_despair]

in the movies the pronunciation is WAY too fast and I can't hear the tones

[@MsJohnpope]

This is my first time to your channel. But I can understand the difference between them that I can’t do in other lessons. I appreciate that and I subscribe to it and keep on touring on yours

[@iftkharazizi7251]

you have a supernatural way to teach the language👍

[@paoyogapao9993]

Thank you so much! I am the one who can not listen well!! It was really helpfull. " da da" sounds!! And thw combinations of words! 😊👍💗

[@renatomorello4318]

As always, an excellent class! Thank you, dear teacher! 谢谢

[@DylanLeonine]

Probably my favourite video on pronunciation, love the spectograms and examples. I feel that the hardest tonepairs to differentiate are [11 / 21] & [12 / 22] (at full speed -- not enunciated)

[@shoaibkahut]

wonderful lesson. you are a maestro laoshi .

[@evertspies3345]

I have been studying Mandarin for a few months now and have had some success, however when translating I tend to look at the characters to help with the translation. I still struggle with hearing. Watching your video has reminded me of how difficult the language is. The inability to differentiate between the tones must be the down fall of many students.

[@shabor2006]

This wa shelpful! I feel like the difference is clearer now even though i just realised how hard it is. 😭

[@elizamasilva502]

OMG this is amazing!!

[@HitoriAisu]

Ayy, the Untamed!! I won't lie and say reading and watching danmei *wasn't* what launched my investment in learning Chinese, so that was a nice little bonus suprise! *And* it showed the tones being used in a (dramatized) natural conversation, rather than in the crisp, clear-cut manner of a lecture or a class! (...which I definitely still need, to be sure, but it's good to have a more natural example as well ^_^)

[@caserubble6632]

Please to distinguishing first tone and fourth tone next!!

[@lizbethsanchez1371]

THE UNTAMED ♥️♥️♥️

[@fredsnyder3002]

i just discovered this great set of tone recognition videos. Thank you very much for posting them! i also use Praat to see if I am producing the correct tone contour. The video clip examples are so useful to identify the tones at normal speed. As a self learner, can you suggest how to find similar clips for tone pairs that I choose？

[@mariannalily4888]

My KZbin recommendations are really spot on 😂

[@solarianvoid-pi9428]

Now it makes even more sense why I had to show and point when a Chinese exchange student saw I was reading a xianxia novel 😅 Most non-Chinese fans of the novels are just going by the letters, rather than the intonation… (and yes, xianxia or rather danmei xianxia are why I wanna try learning Chinese…)

[@willylandin9450]

Thanks a lot! Great video!

[@maxtichauer6117]

it is really hard to distinguish between the tones. I can just pray that when i use the words I pronounce them correctly

[@hariskhanlodhi313]

Please make the video about 3rd tone nd 4th it really help me alot please

[@bobjustus]

Showing with the drama was awesome

[@camilleb7668]

Thanks, this is very helpful!

[@DanielLeoSimpson]

Another helpful and original video thank you!

[@guilhermelopes9430]

Thanks King 👑

[@expansivegymnast1020]

THAAAANK YOU!!

[@techcontinuum7421]

The caption "God help me, I'm tone deaf!" in the thumbnail had me laughing so hard! lmao! How could I not click?

[@hal-c]

Tones are so frustrating. Learning characters, grammar, reading comprehension, etc is so easy compared to tone recognition. Thanks for the video, I like this format. Would love to see more tone comparison videos.

[@MedinipuriTuka036]

Learning characters is not easy but can be done so by practice, the same goes for tones😊

[@eastwind3550]

Thank you very much

[@sargentopimienta5190]

非常有用 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@CiceroSapiens]

My eyes are so tired. This video is everything. I can still study.

[@GeoScorpion]

*banging head on desk*

[@baoka1819]

Thank you

[@bruhman8005]

Learning Vietnamese but this is still applicable and useful

[@user-Natali354]

New subscribe from Russia 😊

[@nonikapapapantazi261]

I could really understand the difference with the tones at the beginning of the sentence but the next video with tones at the end of the sentence I couldn't tell the correct one

[@derekoreborn]

谢谢您 johnny 老师

[@rahmayassen9652]

谢谢辛苦你了❤️❤️🥰

[@idraote]

I've been wanting to learn Chinese for years but I cannot hear/reproduce tones unless they are enunciated very, very clearly and slowly. What makes it all worse is that I'm a trained singer. My pitch is not immaculate but I can carry even difficult tunes without causing horror.

[@julianonascimento8975]

非常好的视频，感谢老师

[@veranma]

I can hear the difference and reproduce it if I hear it, what I can't do is memorize it...

[@KurtacusRex]

Your video is probably great but i have to crank all my audio settings up to max to hear it, and im scared my speakers will pop if an add comes on at regular volume.

[@iftkharazizi7251]

do you have any other video to differentiate 2nd and 3rd tone please

[@aden8022]

阿令~❤

[@geruzabiomed]

Omg.. I still can't listen to the difference between them.. only the last word I can listen to the difference.. I still have a lot to learn.

[@jeremyb2707]

I do good to pick out the freakin word amongst the sentences, putting aside tone entirely.

[@ChineseZeroToHero]

It's a dilemma. If you pay too much attention to detail you won't progress fast, but if you neglect the details eventually they come back and bite. I'm learning Vietnamese now and I can feel your pain.

[@catm9142]

Had a bad day at work. Saw the caption and burst out laughing

[@cherylparkin8094]

There is a lot of Chinese language leaner need more of this kind of program. Pronunciation is difficult!

[@ginnybaudelaire8177]

都谢了!

[@jeremyb2707]

Whoever invented a language with so many close-sounding sounds must have been nuts. Like, why? WWHHYYYY??

[@ChineseZeroToHero]

In my experience, every foreign language will have sounds that sound "almost the same" to a foreigner. English has "it" and "eat", "year" and "ear", "oat" and "ought" to name a few. French has "un" and "ans", "crée" and "craie". Italian has "ano" and "anno". Spanish has "pero" and "perro". Korean has 살 and 쌀. The list is endless... But the point is, to a native speaker, these words sound nothing alike, because words like "it" and "eat" occupy highly distinct phonological categories in the mind of a native speaker.

[@ns8851]

@@ChineseZeroToHero exactly , in Arabic ح and ه are different but foreigners hear them as H. I met a Spanish guy and he can't tell the difference even when he produces the sound correctly. Same with س and ص (different tones of s) Etc

[@etoobrute]

I can hear the intonation when the word is by itself - but when it's combined with other words, like in movies/speech - I can NOT hear it! I probably just need more practice since I just started learning, but geez...

[@fallenstar5759]

I've considered learning Chinese but this makes me wanna give up that idea. I can barely or not all hear difference. 🤦🏻‍♀😂

[@ayi3455]

I just realize the difference. when listening to Chinese speaking channels, I only get the meaning of each word as I have learned previously. I only got Hsk-3 in 2019.....

[@akw4711]

I want to contact with you

[@AbdouAbdou-pp3sg]

Not yet, I think I need more practice

[@christian.dewanto7498]

0:34

[@ufufu001]

the difference is just so small. it's gonna take a hell lot of practice for me to able to tell them apart. i could tell the difference when the instructor is explaining, but the dialogues on the videos are literally impossible for me. way too difficult

[@Theceosad]

now i do not wonder if chinese musician better hearing than me! right now i am thinking can i pronounce this words some day - not in this world!

[@ttyaaa]

still don`t recognize them in a sentence):

[@catastrophe2155]

I wanna watch untamed now 😭

[@Lppt87]

I can tell the difference with the dada, after that it becomes a blurry mess. And male voices, that are usually low, add that the speaking tone of acting, and is impossible.

[@medicwine]

Okay but heres thing nobody will explain. So what if you hear it, how do you commit it to memory? How can i get my brain to permanently lock in an exact tone for a word when my brain is designed from birth to drop that information and only remember the spelling? WHY ARE THERE NO VIDEOS OF WESTERNERS EXPLAINING HOW THEY DID THIS? I can only find videos of natives pointing out the sounds. Cool! Now how I do LEARN them?? How does an american learn this?

[@muhammadzaintahir4191]

used all my braincells just to learn this. The vid was helpful

[@akw4711]

I want install language pro player

[@rothschildianum]

People can understand due to the context. If we isolate only the word, even native speakers will have problem. This is an exegerate cases. Don't believe what this guy said.

[@Domik_u_lesa]

😩 это так сложно.

[@ivorythaw3432]

请老师，你能不能给我们教“北京冬奥会短文”为HSKK中级？🙏♥️

[@イノリ-U_O]

With all due respect sir, but I literally cannot notice the difference between any tone mentioned hhhhhhhh they sound like they don't use tones at all...

[@chelbystanford0323]

❤💯

[@y.shaawe8441]

谢谢老师

[@patblack781]

我听不到... 为什么声调这么难了... D:

[@IcarusGabe]

I still cannot hear....maybe I'm not fit for tones

[@ЛевПарицкий]

Wow! 😶

[@ЛевПарицкий]

@Arid Sohan 😄👍

[@Mizamizaki_Sushi]

Actually learning Chinese helps me with my tone deafness 😅

[@vanyathespark]

What programm do you use to make the tones graph

[@ChineseZeroToHero]

It's called Praat. It's a speech signal processing application www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/

[@РикоРи-и5с]

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@CassiaSamsa]

same

[@CassiaSamsa]

same