In Mandarin, the toneis part of the word.

Say mā with the wrong tone and “mother” becomes “scold”. Mandarin pronunciation starts with the four tones, then adds a puff of air that splits words apart and a retroflex SH that learners flatten into S. These are the contrasts PronounceFit trains, and how.

SOUNDS

Sounds that trip up Mandarin learners

Each pair below is a real set from the app — same syllable, different tone or sound, different word.

First tone vs fourth tone
- 妈 / 骂
- 书 / 树
- 汤 / 烫
A high, level first tone against a sharp falling fourth: 妈 mā (mother) and 骂 mà (to scold), 书 shū (book) and 树 shù (tree).
Second tone vs third tone
- 鱼 / 雨
- 麻 / 马
- 白 / 百
The rising second tone and the dipping third are the pair learners confuse most: 鱼 yú (fish) and 雨 yǔ (rain), 麻 má and 马 mǎ (horse).
With or without a puff of air
- 爸 / 怕
- 包 / 抛
- 办 / 判
Mandarin separates B and P by a breath, not by the voice: 爸 bà (dad) has none, 怕 pà (to fear) has a clear puff.
SH vs S
- 山 / 三
- 沙 / 撒
- 说 / 缩
The Mandarin SH is made with the tongue curled back; S stays flat behind the teeth. 山 shān (mountain) and 三 sān (three) depend on it.

TRAINING

How PronounceFit trains Mandarin

Tone pairs, scored
Every tone against every other: hear the pair, say it back, and see whether the tone came through.
The pinyin chart
Chinese characters don’t tell you how to say them, so the chart of initials, finals and tones is where learners start. PronounceFit trains it one unit at a time.
Real sentences, word by word
Read Mandarin text aloud or speak freely; every word comes back marked clear, close or off, and any slip opens in Word Coach.

All of it runs on the same core loop: Learning path · Read & score · Word Coach

Privacy

Your voice stays on your device during normal practice.

During normal practice, audio is analyzed on your device and recordings stay there. If you sign in, your scores, error history and practice progress sync across your devices. Personal texts and their transcripts sync only if you turn that on. A recording is sent only when you explicitly choose a sharing option, such as feedback, a support request or an improvement donation.

Audio analyzed on device
Signed-in progress syncs
Text sync is opt-in
Recording sharing is opt-in

FAQ

Questions about Mandarin pronunciation

How do I practise Mandarin tones?

By contrasting them: the same syllable with two different tones, heard and then said, with every attempt checked. PronounceFit has pairs for every combination of the four tones.

How accurate is the feedback for Mandarin?

Mandarin is in early access. You get the full practice and the same word-by-word marks; the scores are still being tuned for Mandarin, so treat them as a guide — the app labels them that way too.

Do I need to read characters?

It helps, but the pinyin chart trainer is built for the stage before that — learning the sounds the characters stand for.

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