In the video the husband tries to master the four tones of “ma.” In the process, he made a lot of mistakes. But with the help of his wife, he gradually mastered the four tones. Is it really so hard to master Chinese tones? Today we will introduce an easy and interesting tongue twister- “Mom Rides a Horse” to help you learn the four tones in the Chinese language.
Tongue Twister
Māma qí mǎ, mǎ màn, māma mà mǎ.
妈妈 骑 马，马 慢， 妈妈 骂 马。
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Mom rides a horse. The horse is slow. Mom scolds the horse.
Vocabulary&Tones
1. 妈 noun mā mother
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The first tone is high and flat. The pitch should be high and held constant.
2. 骑 verb qí to ride
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The second tone is a raising tone.
3. 马 noun mǎ horse
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The third tone drops low then rises. Be sure to let it drop low.
4. 骂 verb mà to scold
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The forth tone is sharp and falling.
Exercises
1. Which of following pinyin matches its pronunciation?
A. mà
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B. má
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C. mǎ
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2. Which of the following tones is the second tone?
A. mā
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B. má
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C. mà
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3. The correct tone for “妈妈” is ___.
A. māmá
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B. māmǎ
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C. māma
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Further practice the four tones with video
exercises by clicking:
https://www.dongyu.com/chinese-test/review-of-the-tones-using-a-tonguetwister/video-exercise.
