PRONUNCIATION AND ROMANIZATION

Mandarin is a tonal language. A tonal language is one in which a syllable can mean different things according to its pitch. For example, depending on the tone, the segment *ma* can mean 'mother' mā (level tone), 'hemp' má (rising tone), 'horse' mǎ (dipping tone), or 'to scold' mà (falling tone). As such, accurate production of tones is crucial to being understood in a tonal language. Using the correct tone is as important in Chinese as distinguishing between, say, the vowels in *eat* and *it* in English.
At this point in your learning, concentrate on accurate pronunciation and tones more than on speed. Take the time necessary to build a good foundation and get familliar with the sound system of Mandarin.
As you work with this pronunciation module, you will find many words you have never heard before. The definitions can be found in the footnotes, but concentrate on modeling the sounds rather than on the meanings.
You have already encountered the term 'romanization.' Romanization is a system of writing Chinese according to the way it is pronounced using the sort of roman letters as in English. It is meant to help you know the pronunciation of each new character you learn. However, romanization is not written Chinese--you still need to learn the Chinese characters! Romanization is just a tool to help you learn the characters. By the way, the Chinese word for romanization is *pinyin* 'spell sound.'

Part I: TONES
Part II: INITIAL CONSONANTS
Part III: VOWELS/FINALS