The Phonetic Errors in Tone of Thai Students Learning Chinese

Today, we focus on one of the challenges for Thai students learning Chinese: tone problems. Below we offer some solutions.
Chinese is a tonal language. Tone is one of the phonetic units, and its proper use can distinguish word meanings. The four tones are the most important phonemes of the Mandarin speech system, so understanding the significance of tones is one of the first steps in learning to speak Chinese.
Thai is also a tonal language, and it has five tones. So the tone is not unfamiliar to Thai students. However, Chinese people's pitch range is relatively large, whereas Thailand's pitch range is relatively small. This may also be related to the Thai culture, as speaking softly is considered polite. The tone errors that Thai students typically make are tone one and tone four errors, where the first tone is not high enough, and the forth tone too long.
1)Yin ping (55): it is easy for Thai students to pronounce the first sound, but the tone pitch is between 3 and 4. It is 1 to 2 degrees lower than Chinese. This is because students are influenced by the Thai first tone (33) Instead, Thai students use the Thai medium tone to replace the Chinese high tone, although they consciously increase tone pitch, but still it is difficult to reach 55.
2)Yang ping (35): Thai students often make mistakes in pronouncing the Chinese second tone, which is about 2 to 4. This is because the Thai students use the fifth tone 14 of the Thai tone to correspond to the Chinese second tone 35. They consciously raise the tone higher, but the tail cannot be increased to 5. In addition, Thai students usually hold the sound making it too slow and long. So there is a sense of procrastination.
3)Shang sheng (214): Thai students usually pronounce the third tone starting from the bottom then end it flat. Some students adjust the tone pitch to 321, while others start with a low tone, so they do not go down.
4) Qu sheng (51): Thai students often make mistakes when they pronounce the fourth tone. They start from 4 instead of 5, so it is not high enough. This is affected by the Thai third sound 41. Some students end at 2 or 3. Other students drop the tone at the end, but influenced by the Thai "polite" principle and making the sound long, the tone drops too much.
To help solve these problems, we suggest the method "hands with mouth." Use your hand to help you to remember the tone. When pronouncing the first sound lift your hand and then“draw a line.”When pronouncing the second sound, a rising tone, indicate with your hand a rising motion. The key is to find the middle position of the tonal pitch, then to raise your hand to show the tone mark. When pronouncing the third tone, use your hand to “draw” a curve; the single syllable must be pronounced fully. With the fourth tone, your hand goes from top to bottom. Practice again and again, to get override of the influence of the mother tongue.
These tone pronunciations are not easy to correct in a short time. If you want to get help, then click the right-hand button and book a free Chinese trial class. Continue to learn Chinese online with us!
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