Tone cards
The four tones of one syllable, side by side, each with a word you can hear.
Tone Cards
Synthesised voice — a guide to the contour, not a native speaker.
The same syllable in all four tones — and the neutral, where the syllable has one — laid out together so the difference is the only thing on screen. Each card carries a real word read that way, so mā má mǎ mà comes out as 妈 麻 马 骂, and tapping one says it. Learners who can hear mā and mǎ apart in isolation still lose them in a sentence, which is why this is worth returning to long after it feels too easy.
How the tones workOther tools
- Stroke orderWatch any character being written, one stroke at a time.
- Write itA 田字格 grid to write a character in, with the model behind it.
- Say itRecord a phrase and see the shape of your pitch against the model.
- MatchPair characters with their pinyin. Type your own list.
- Build a sentenceScrambled words, and slots to put them back in order.