Learn Chinese Tones — A New Way To Master Them, Once and For All

This is THE WAY to master Mandarin Chinese tones, whether you’re just starting out or have studied a bit but still struggle with voicing and identifying the tones.

The 90-minute course combines the expertise of native Mandarin Chinese speakers with tricks and methods from non-native speakers who learned Chinese fluently.

An app version of this course is in the works farther down the line – any updates will appear in this video description.

I hope you find this course useful and helpful.
VERY BEST WISHES FOR SUCCESS WITH YOUR CHINESE STUDIES!

-- Mike Kitchen

Table of Contents:

0:00:33 — Introduction
0:01:54 — Lesson 1: General Overview and Tips
0:07:16 — Lesson 2: The First Tone
0:13:58 — Lesson 3: The Fourth Tone
0:20:10 — Lesson 4: The Second Tone
0:27:04 — Lesson 5: The Third Tone
0:37:11 — Lesson 6: Single Tone Review
0:38:18 — Lesson 7: Single Tones Self-Test
0:42:02 — Lesson 8: End-4 Tone Combinations
0:51:24 — Lesson 9: End-1 Tone Combinations
1:01:29 — Lesson 10: End-3 Tone Combinations
1:09:42 — Lesson 11: End-2 Tone Combinations
1:19:57 — Lesson 12: End-5 (Neutral) Tone Combinations
1:23:09 — Lesson 13: Three-Tone Combos and Rules With 不, 一
1:27:55 — Lesson 14: Tone Combination Review
1:29:57 — Lesson 15: Tone Combinations Self-Test

Notes:
* The translations and Chinese characters for some of the words in this course are really just there for reference, and in many cases there are other possible translations.

* My apologies in advance if there’s any confusion over when best to use the “full third tone” and when to use the “clipped third tone.” For beginning students, this course generally recommends using the full tone for single-syllable words and using the clipped tone when it’s in combination with other tones. That said, Chinese speakers use both (as explained in the course), so try to feel comfortable with both.

Sources:

* The frequency of the different Chinese tones (which appears at 0:14:30) is from a publicly posted December 2012 study by Kevin H. Lin

[manjubashinidhayanidhi]

So underrated, 440 views for a one and a half hours bro. Subscribed.

[rpk..]

I'm so glad youtube recommended this to me, this should have at least a million views

[MyPianoArchives]

This is simply the greatest video I found on learning the Chinese tones — I’ve lived in Guangzhou as a model (in 3 month increments, for nearly a year in an entirety) and I never thought of trying to acquire the language beyond the basics. This has inspired me so much, as I was trying to use comprehensible input via YT and it just wasn’t feeling like I’d retain anything beyond words and phrases. But, this gave me an eye opening moment and I am so thankful for this content!

[v]

I am learning Mandarin Chinese for my friend. I have been trying to learn it for a while now but haven't really full focused on it due to the fact that there was not resources I could find that I could rely on. I'm going to try this video out, will update when completed.

[iqbalkuria]

Mike, you classically raised my tone recognition and pronunciation to high level. How you illuminated the darkness.
Iqbal gitau (Kenya)

[Joyhopefaithlove]

I can't believe I got this high quality content for free! I was about to give up! Thank you so much for sharing your hardwork!

[Jalaxe]

This video is amazing!! This should absolutely be viewed in the millions for all those trying to learn Mandarin - best one I've come across

[summcunt]

This is exactly what I've been struggling with. Next thing I need to learn are the Pinyin that don't sound like they're spelled. I know there are certain letters that only have a ü sound even though the dots aren't written and also some that have an extra unwritten vowel. I already saw those on another video, but they didn't sink in yet. So the main thing I learnt from this video was right at the very end with the tone changes for bu & yi. I hadn't learnt those before. Otherwise, this video was great to help me practice. I learnt about the tone change rules for 3rd tones a couple of days ago. I think I'm going to make a lot of improvement now that I've got these down. I've been struggling for quite a while wondering why native speakers never match the tones that are written. Now I know.

[Alexbfd]

Good luck on your journey, everyone! 加油！

[ashleycapdeboscq]

Amazing job here, thank you so much! I'm still struggling to recognize the tones, and I know I'll be watching this video many more times to help make it click. Super quality content <3

[samvelshishmanian]

The best video I found here about Chinese tones. Understandable and very helpful. Thank you!

[Blechmamber]

Nice, this really is exactly what I need at the moment. Thanks a lot.

[LarghettoCantabile]

Some useful tips. Thank you.
For the fúwù type, I find it useful to imagine "one, two." (concluding an enumeration). The second tone is what we use in Western languages for counting.

[benthelearner]

Good video. There is a very big difference between being able to say one word correcly with good tone vs, reading sentences. This is my problem so far. I know tones but it takes a lot of time to master it.

[ksyp]

Thank you) Very helpful! I was confused with half-third tone, but now it's clear

[karoma]

Man, this is the best Chinese Tones Course I've seen in my two years studying Chinese. This is a master piece. Too beautiful, too good and FREE. I can't believe it! I've been struggle with tones for too long, but this kinda cleared out most of my doubts. Sigh, so the sky was blue after all! ❤🎉

How is the app going btw? Can I still keep dreaming on meeting that sweetie someday?

[reuwfsu]

Great video, thank you. Just starting out in Mandarin. This is so helpful! I love how thorough it is and the recognition exercises are super useful.

[kingchickenwing]

This is very useful information, and the videos is masterfully made. Maybe if this channel was spread on Reddit language learning forums it could get the attention it deserves?

[georgelewisray]

World Class, Amazing, Incredible, Impressive . . . . . thank you very much for what you do !!!

[haymanhp]

Thanks a lot, I'm learning this video in separate pieces since I have only a little time per day