My lesson plan for this week. Initial Tones.

Initials

A syllable in Chinese is composed of an initial, which is a consonant that begins the syllable, and a final, wich covers the rest of the syllable.

b	p	m	f
d	t	n	l
g	k	h
j	q	x
z	c	s
zh	ch	sh	r

• m, f, n, l, h and sh are pronounced as in English.
• d like "d" in "bed" (unaspirated)
  j like "g" in "genius" (unaspirated)
  z like "ds" in "beds"
  zh like "j" in "job"
  b like "p" in "spin" (unaspirated)
  g a soft unaspirated "k" sound
  x like "sh" in "sheep" but with the corners of the lips drawn back
  r somewhat like "r" in "rain"
• Particular attention should be paid to the pronunciation of the so-called "aspirated" consonants. It is necessary to breath heavily after the consonant is pronounced.
  p like "p" in "pope"
  t like "t" in "tap"
  k like "k" in "kangaroo"
  q harder than "ch" in "cheap"
  c like "ts" in "cats"
  ch (tongue curled back, aspirated)
• Distinction between certain initials:
  b / p d / t g / k j / q z / c zh / ch

This is teaching me how to pronounce the different initial letters in mandarin. Once i master this, I will go on to the final tones, which when you combine the two together, you get words.