There are four tones in Mandarin, five if you counted the soft tone. In the first year of primary school, all children are taught this little poem to help memorize the four tones:

一声平，Yīshēng píng, the first tone (is) flat.

二声扬，Èr shēngyáng, the second tone rises.

三声拐弯，Sān shēng guǎiwān, the third tone turns (first it goes down then it goes up).

四声降。Sì shēng jiàng, the fourth tone falls down.

The first tone is flat, even, and long. It could sound pleasant, like the word for “mom” 妈妈 Māma, you feel happy and pleasant when you call out this name; and it comes out long and even. The second 妈 is soft toned. Just as it’s named, the tone is soft and short.

The second tone rises up. It sounds like you are surprised. It’s shorter compared to the first tone. 麻 má, meaning “hemp, flax, cannabis, or numbness, tingling”, it goes up and the sound is short.

The third tone first goes down then goes up, and like the first tone, it’s long. The word for “horse”,马 mǎ, is the third tone.

The fourth tone goes down, and like the second tone, it’s short. 骂 mà, to scold, sounds sharp and short.

And here is a tongue twister to help you learn the tones: 妈妈骑马，马慢，妈妈骂马 (Māma qímǎ, mǎ màn, māma mà mǎ.) Mom rides a horse, horse (is) slow, mom scolds the horse.

The Chinese alphabet, 拼音 Pīnyīn, was developed in the 1950s and was based on the Latin alphabet. The sounds are similar too: if you were already familiar with the Latin alphabet, you could spell out “pīnyīn” tolerably well even if you had never learned it. In fact this was demonstrated by a seven-year old New York boy after just one lesson. To his surprise and delight, he found out he could read “pīnyīn” without help or hesitation.

There are two letters in Chinese alphabet that might be confusing when used as initials in pīnyīn:

“W” as an initial pronounces as “u”.

“Y” as an initial pronounces as “i”.

This ends the third lesson. Have fun learning!

Here is the audio material for this lesson: