Chinese Pronunciation Workbook: 16 Questions to Check Yourself

This workbook checks not whether you remember facts, but whether you can explain how to make a sound. Do not look at the answers first; for the spoken questions, record before you read the explanation. For a question you are unsure of, going back to the matching chapter beats memorising the answer.

A. Finals and initials (1–6)

1. How do the tongue and lips differ for the ü in 女 (nǚ, “woman”) compared with u?
2. 安 (ān, “peace”) and 肮 (āng, “dirty”) differ in where you stop, or where you resonate, at the end. Explain.
3. What is the clearest cue that separates p from b?
4. How do zh/ch/sh and j/q/x differ in whether the tongue curls back?
5. Why is the vowel after the x in 学 (xué, “to study”) read as the üe series in writing?
6. The iu in 六 (liù, “six”) is the short form of which spelling?

B. Tones and changes (7–12)

7. Say 妈 (mā), 麻 (má), 马 (mǎ), 骂 (mà) from first to fourth tone in a row, and record it.
8. What tone does the first sound of 你好 (nǐ hǎo, “hello”) actually become close to?
9. 不 (bù) in 不是 (bú shì, “is not”) changes because the following syllable is which tone?
10. 一 (yī) in 一个 (yí ge, “one [item]”) changes because the following syllable is which tone?
11. Why do you not read the second syllable of 妈妈 (māma, “mum”) with equal strength?
12. When you say 朋友 (péngyou, “friend”), how do you place the you at the end?

C. Listening and speaking (13–16)

13. Say 买 (mǎi, “to buy”) and 卖 (mài, “to sell”) three times alternating, and note which pitch movement differs.
14. Say 知 (zhī, “to know”), 七 (qī, “seven”), 子 (zǐ, “child”) in order and sort which curl the tongue back and which do not.
15. Record 我想喝咖啡 (wǒ xiǎng hē kāfēi, “I want to drink coffee”) and pick just one of tone, air, or rhythm to fix.
16. Listen to about 10 seconds of Chinese, pick one spot you could not catch, and make a hypothesis about whether the initial, final, or tone caused it.

Explanations and chapters to revisit

Questions	What to check	Chapter
1, 5, 6	ü, spelling shortcuts, compound vowels	Finals / Building a syllable
2	tongue vs nose in -n/-ng	Finals
3, 4, 14	air and tongue position	Initials
7, 13, 15	not flattening tones	The four tones / Telling tones apart
8–10	changes of the third tone, 不, 一	Tone sandhi
11, 12	rhythm from the neutral tone	Neutral tone & erhua
16	checking an unheard sound with your mouth	From pronunciation to listening

You do not have to do all 16 at once. Re-record a weak section two days later and check whether even one distinction got clearer. Confirm not just that you knew the answer, but that the sound changed, in the self-assessment.

Answer guide

Spoken questions have no single “correct recording.” Here the answer is the action to check when you compare.

1. For ü, keep the tongue forward as for i, and round only the lips as for u.
2. The -n of 安 (ān) puts the tongue tip on the ridge behind the upper teeth; the -ng of 肮 (āng) keeps the tip down, raises the back of the tongue, and resonates in the nose.
3. On p the air continues enough to move paper; on b the air is held short. Do not sort them as voiced/voiceless.
4. zh/ch/sh curl the tongue tip slightly back; j/q/x keep the tongue flat and forward.
5. The u after j/q/x writes the ü-series sound with the dots dropped.
6. iu is the short spelling of iou.
7. First tone flat, second rising, third held low, fourth dropping short. Listen to the movement, not the absolute pitch.
8. In 你好 (nǐ hǎo) the first third tone shifts toward a second tone.
9. Because the syllable after 不 (bù) is a fourth tone, 不是 becomes bú shì.
10. Because the syllable after 一 (yī) is a fourth tone, 一个 becomes yí ge.
11. The second syllable of 妈妈 (māma) is a neutral tone — placed short and weak, leaning on the one before.
12. The you of 朋友 (péngyou) is also a neutral tone; do not stretch it heavily.
13. 买 (mǎi) is third tone, 卖 (mài) is fourth: the former holds low, the latter drops short.
14. 知 (zhī) is retroflex, 七 (qī) is palatal, 子 (zǐ) is made near the front teeth. Only 七 is also aspirated.
15. It is enough to name one of tone, air, or rhythm against the model — e.g. “hold the third tone of 想 (xiǎng) low.”
16. After seeing the text, make a hypothesis narrowed to one sound type — e.g. “the tone was flat,” or “I heard -ng as -n.”

Once you have read these answers, re-record only the practice words for the numbers you missed. The aim is not to be satisfied by reading the explanation, but to confirm one movement changed in the next recording.