Tips for Remembering Tones

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author photoThis week’s blog post is all about tackling the four tones of Mandarin; those nasty and fun gems of Chinese that turn “may I ask a question” into “can I have a kiss.” After the first day in the traditional classroom and the infamous “mā, má, mǎ, mà” the four tones get pushed to the wayside–we are left to just KNOW the correct tone for every word. Of course teachers and (good) friends will point out when your tones are wrong, but very seldom do they help you actually remember the tones.

In a semi-sick way it makes sense why teachers (especially native speakers) don’t address tones as much as they probably should. The simply reality is that native, first language, acquisition takes place much differently than a second language. For native speakers the distinction between the words “mā, má, mǎ, and mà” is so clear that they would never say it wrong in a million years; the tone has been engrained into the world since birth. But things aren’t so simple for non-native speakers, especially as we blow past the critical period of acquiring language. So, how can we remember the tones?

Tones! And stylish ones as well (http://talkbank.org/pinyin/pronunciation.php)
General Tone Mnemonics 

The first step, and one that might get a mention in a traditional classroom is to assign general mnemonics to the four tones. These are the ones that have always come to my mind.
  • First tone: flat and calm, sitting higher in your vocal range. It has a rather sweet sound to it.
  • Second tone: uneasy and questioning, like at the end of the phrase “are you sure?”
  • Third tone: a fighter, bobbing up and down to dodge a punch. 
  • Fourth tone: mad and forceful! When first learning it really helps to really yell these out.
Word Specific Mnemonics

One way of tackling tones is to actually build the tone into your word specific mnemonics. This certainly takes more time, but will really help solidify the correct tone with the words you are learning. Here are a few examples using words from the recent semantic + phonetic post.
  • 清 (qīng: clear, clean, calm) Think of water (the radical holding the character meaning) being completely calm and flat (the tone mnemonic). So clear, in fact, that I can see right through it. 
  • 晴 (qíng: sunny; clear weather) Think of the sun (meaning and radical) rising (second tone rising up) to bring about a sunny day.
  • 請／请 (qǐng: invite, request) Asking someone to come join me involves using my mouth (radical mnemonic), but if I want to be extra polite I might also bow ( because it is third tone I would have to both bow down and then return to my original standing position). 

 These are going to be much more individualized, and will really help attach the tone to the meaning of the word, but they take a lot of creativity and effort. 

Hand Gestures

Let’s face it, not everyone is an auditory learner. So, if you don’t mind looking like a bit of a fool, than using hand gestures can be a great way to remember the tones of words. Become a conductor of your own spoken Chinese and guide your tones along with your hands. While this might not be a great tip for more advanced students, I find it useful when still at the lower level of Chinese. It really helps get those fourth tones to strike down, and the third tone is fun as heck!
The reason I recommend hand gestures rather than actually moving your head is because moving your head along with the tone looks completely ridiculous. It can also be a really bad habit to break if you start using it early on. Besides, when is the last time you saw a native speaker bob their head to pronounce a third tone?

Physically Write Out Tones

While I generally don’t condone the use of Pīnyīn above or below Chinese characters past elementary level textbooks, as it becomes way to much of a crutch, I do feel that actually taking the time to write tone marks above characters in your text book is a great way to reinforce and test your knowledge of tones. It also helps you work on solidifying those tone change rules that take place in words or sentences. Reading the text out loud after your done is another great step toward reinforcement. If you can, be sure to check your tone marks with a native speaker to make sure you don’t have any mistakes.    
Don’t Isolate Single Characters or Words

While this goes beyond the capabilities of Skritter, it is good to practice using the correct tones within actual phrases. While you might know the individual tones for the characters 等 (děng) 一 (yī) and 下 (xià), you would be better to actually practice them as the phrase 等一下 (wait a moment), which would clip the rising section of the third tone on “等” and make “一” into more of a second tone that smoothly flows into the falling tone of “下”.

In the end, the goal is going to be to really solidify the relationship between a word or characters meaning and the tone that is attached to it. We want to become the native speaker in the sense that 問／问 (wèn: question) could never possibly be the same as 吻 (wěn), but of course, it is going to take some time to get there. I hope that the above tips help you along that journey!

See you next week!
下個星期見／下个星期见

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