Pinyin reading and writing skills

ladave
 October 13, 2007, 06:01 PM posted in General Discussion

Hi,

I'm hoping someone will have advice for me on how to improve my Pinyin reading and writing skills.

Thanks to CP, I can now carry on short spoken conversations with my professor. However I have lots of trouble taking the spoken word and writing it in Pinyin, and vice versa.

 TIA

 
-David

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kyle
 October 14, 2007, 03:15 AM

I found that after about 2 - 3 months of intensive study I was able to aurally identify both tone and pinyin spelling correctly. It takes some time. The best way to practice is just to speak... a lot. =)

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wildyaks
 October 14, 2007, 03:36 AM

Have you studied the pin yin sounds? There is a limited number (can't remember how many) and once you have them down - know how to sound them - you should be able to write what you say... Or what the professor says. It takes some practice. When I started learning chinese the teacher drilled those pin yin sounds in us for two weeks. The whole class was chanting through the charts. Was a bit boring. But it payed out.

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John
 October 14, 2007, 08:54 AM

I agree with wildyaks. Go to the ChinesePod Pinyin and Pronunciation Guide, and download the chart. Pay close attention to what sounds are NOT on the chart. Knowing what sounds are NOT possible in Mandarin will really help you identify what you hear.

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Kyle
 October 14, 2007, 09:21 AM

I heard that there were only 462 sounds in Mandarin (including tonal variations). Is that about right?