Introduction

As a student of Standard (Mandarin, Putonghua) Chinese, you know how important it is to acquire a good pronunciation of Chinese words. Good pronunciation eases communication and makes the language learning process more rewarding. Poor pronunciation can cause confusion, hamper communication, and lead to frustration for the learner. Learning the standard pronunciation of Standard Chinese or Putonghua requires the learning of consonants and vowels whose articulations and sounds are often different from those of English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, or even other Chinese dialects. Sometimes these differences are subtle, and sometimes they are very obvious.

Native Chinese use Hanzi like 熊 and 猫 for reading and writing. These characters work well for native speakers, but they provide no systematic indication of the sounds of words. As a result, young children and foreigners find it easier to begin to learn Chinese using Roman letters like the ones used in English to represent the sounds of words. There are several alternative romanizations for Putonghua, including Hanyu Pinyin, Tongyong Pinyin, Wade-Giles, Gwoyeu Romatyzh and several others. However, Hanyu Pinyin is now the most widely used system for teaching Standard Chinese pronunciation. It is now referred to simply as "Pinyin".

The Hanyu Pinyin standard was officially adopted by the government of the People’s Republic of China on February 11, 1958. More recently, on January 1, 2009 it became the official Romanization system of Taiwan. Other bodies adopting the Hanyu Pinyin standard include Singapore, the UN, and the US Library of Congress.

Reasons to Learn

Pinyin is an essential tool for the second language learner. With full competency in Pinyin, the learner will be able to:

1. Learn the pronunciation for new vocabulary items.
2. Read Pinyin annotated text within Chinese language learner texts including school textbooks, exercise books, and learner's resources online.
3. Reference a vocabulary item in the dictionary without knowing either the Hanzi or the exact English translation.
4. Type Chinese on the computer without having to learn the more complicated input methods such as Wubi or Cangjie.
5. Take notes on new words without knowing the meaning of characters for those words.
6. Learn the correct pronunciation for any standard Mandarin word.
7. Make sense out of Chinese tongue twisters.
8. Look up words taken directly from spoken language.
9. Get a good grade in your Chinese classes.

To derive these benefits, one must learn Pinyin with 100% accuracy. By using the Pinyin Tutor, you can quickly narrow down which words, sounds and sound combinations you have mastered and which need further practice.

Usage Worldwide

Pinyin is used in both education and communication. In China, Pinyin is used in elementary school as a first step toward learning how to read. Pinyin has an additional advantage for Chinese schools, because nearly a half of Chinese children do not speak Putonghua as their native dialect or language. Teaching with Pinyin allows them to acquire accurate pronunciation while learning to read.

Pinyin is also used to teach second language learners Putonghua both inside and outside China. It is also used to alphabetically order dictionary entries in Chinese-English, English-Chinese and Chinese-Chinese dictionaries. Beyond the classroom and around the world, Pinyin is used to spell Chinese proper nouns such as the booming city of Shanghai, the Rockets basketball superstar Yao Ming, or household appliance maker Haier. (The main exception you will notice is that foreign newspapers do not use tone markers when the spell using Pinyin conventions.) Finally, Pinyin is used as an input method for typing Chinese characters. The advantages of using this method of inputting Chinese characters for the Chinese language learner is that it is a relatively easy method to learn and using it helps you practice Pinyin spelling and character recognition.