Live Teachers from China!
  U.S. Toll Free: 1-800-521-8065 |   2010 Summer Chinese Program  
Sign up for FREE Mandarin Materials |  Free Trial |  Free Test |  Answers |  中 文  
Excellent! I learned a lot and loved every minute of the classes. I enjoyed the class so much, and my husband will be starting. I will tell my friends about how wonderful your lessons are.
       -- Andrea Lee, San Francisco
See what other customers say
Live Support:
  U.S. Toll Free: 1-800-521-8065 (Mon.-Sun. 8am-5pm Beijing Time)
  U.S. Local Phone:
  (650) 515-3580
  Tel: 86-10-5893.1916
         86-10-5893.1816
  
  Fax: 86-10-5893.1286
  E-mail Inquiries:
  service@eChineseLearning.com
  SKYPE:
  service_eChineseLearning
  MSN:
  service@eChineseLearning.com
  AIM:
  eChineseLearning
 Yahoo:
  service_eChineseLearning
  Google Talk:
  eChineseLearning.service


Learn Chinese Pinyin-Vowels

拼 音 pin yin
Pinyin is a Roman-letter based system that China now uses to mark the pronunciation of Chinese characters. With four tones and pinyin, any Chinese characters can be pronounced precisely. In many cases, Pinyin is quite intuitive to English speakers with only a few exceptions. However, it can be a twist to render Pinyin in four tones for people who just start.Pinyin is made up of 2 tables: vowel table and consonant table, the latter of which will be discussed in consonant.

Vowel Table:

a o e i u ϋ
ai ei ui      
ao ou iu      
ie ue er      
an en in un ϋn  
ang eng ing ong    

As you can see, most vowels are simply a combination of the 6 major vowels in the first row, which is obviously the most important part, and some special consonants. How can you remember all this? We are putting all these into English words with virtually the same sound for you to learn and remember in an easier way.

*Note: letters in the following explanation in "..." are pronounced as in English, and those in '... ' are pronounced in Pinyin. Also, all samples are delivered in 4 tones.

a - as the vowel in "star" without the "r" sound

o - as the vowel in "law"

e - as the vowel in "stir"

i - as the vowel in "bit"

u - as the vowel in "food"

ϋ - as "y" in "yellow" followed by the 'u' above

ai - as the vowel in "bike"

ei - as the vowel in "lake"

ui - combination of 'u' and 'i', the same as word "we" in English

ao - as the vowel in "loud"

ou - as the vowel in "flow"

iu - combination of 'i' and 'u', the same as word "yew" in English

ie - combination of 'i' and 'e', as the vowel in "sierra"

ue - combination of 'u' and 'e', as the vowel in "buena"

er - combination of 'e' and 'r', as the vowel in "early"

an - as the vowel in "anchor"

en - as the word "earn" without the "r" sound

in - as in the word "inn"

un - as in the word "one":

ϋn - as "y" in "yellow" followed by the English word "one"

ang - as the word "long"

eng - as the vowel in "lung"

ing - as the vowel in "England"

ong - as 'u' followed by the 'ng' as above

Learn Chinese pinyin-Consonant

Relation links
HSK Exam
Learn Chinese
How to Learn Chinese Online
Tips for Learning Chinese
Learn Chinese Four Tones
Learn Chinese Characters
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin Chinese and Beijing Dialect
Learn Chinese Language
How Our Online LIVE Chinese Lessons Work
Get a FREE live 1-on-1 lesson and a FREE e-book. Complete the form below:
Your name:   E-mail:  
Country:   Tel:  
Learn Chinese  |   Help  |   Referral Program  |   Privacy Policy  |   Terms of Service  |   Site Map  |   Jobs  |   Contact Us |   Chinese Resources  |   Materials  |   Newsletter
Shanghai World Expo 2010   |  2010 Summer Chinese Program
Copyright © 2006 - 2010 eChineseLearning.com All rights reserved.