哈囉，大家好！ 哈啰，大家好！ Hello, everyone!
I'm Grace
Today I’m gonna recommend some free online tools
that will help you improve your Chinese speaking.
And also I'll give you some tips on
how to improve your Chinese pronunciation.
那我們現在就開始吧！ 那我们现在就开始吧！ Let’s get started!
Have you ever wondered how a native speaker
pronounces a certain word?
Unlike some dictionaries like Pleco,
the website “Forvo” offers pronunciation recordings
more aligned with native Chinese speakers.
Let’s take a look at how to use Forvo and the advantages of it.
This website is very straightforward.
Just type in a word and you’ll find its pronunciation.
This can be used to search not only for Chinese
but for any other languages that you’re learning.
So let’s type in 今天 which is “today” in Chinese
and see what comes out.
OK so first you need to check
whether it is under the category of Mandarin Chinese.
Sometimes the search will produce pronunciations for Japanese kanji.
OK, after confirming this, click on the word,
and you will see some pronunciations for 今天 pronounced by different people.
It also includes information about the speaker’s gender and where they’re from.
And also you can see the votes under the pronunciations
to know whether they are good or not.
But only knowing pronunciations for individual words is not enough!
Sometimes we’d like to know how a phrase
or a short sentence is pronounced by native speakers.
So here is an awesome tool for that,
YouGlish.
It’s not only for Chinese,
you can also use it for some other languages.
So first, you need to choose a language, and then start doing the search.
You just simply type in a word or a phrase
and then you will see many clips from YouTube containing this word or phrase.
I love this website so much
because it not only provides you with YouTube clips
showing how native speakers pronounce
certain words or phrases,
it also helps you get to know how a word
or a phrase is used in real-life settings.
And also for Mandarin,
you can also choose whether you want to learn
Chinese accents or a Taiwanese accent.
There’s also a Hong Kong section,
but the results are mostly in Cantonese.
OK, now let’s try it!
Let’s type in a phrase
that I’ve taught on my Instagram account, 有道理,
which means “to make sense, to be reasonable” in English.
And then it will come out with YouTube clips that contain 有道理.
I like this function that allows you to replay the sentence
or slow down the speed to hear it more clearly.
And if you want to see another clip containing this phrase,
just click this button.
I feel like these clips can also help with your listening,
because those words or phrases may be pronounced quickly
and more naturally in day to day conversations,
so you can get used to them
by listening to many of these clips.
So now you have some tools for pronunciation reference.
But in order to correctly produce those sounds,
you need to train your mouth and tongue
to be placed in the correct position.
And for that,
I’ve made a series of pronunciation training videos
that guides you step by step to master Chinese pronunciation.
I put the link here.
You can also find it in the description below.
And also, if you’re an English or Japanese speaker,
I’ve made videos analyzing your Mandarin accents.
Just knowing your tendencies,
you can consciously improve your Chinese pronunciation.
And personally, to improve my English speaking,
I use a technique called “The echo method 回音法”.
This method is created by 史嘉琳,
a professor at National Taiwan University.
I’ve talked about it in detail
and how to apply it in one of my other videos.
If you’re interested, you can click here
or find the link in the description below.
OK, that’s all for today!
If you found today’s video helpful
and would like to support me in
continuing to make more content,
please visit my Ko-fi page.
The link is in the description below!
Thank you so much!
And also, if you want to learn some daily Mandarin expressions,
check out my Instagram @gracemandarin
還有不要忘記幫我按讚、訂閱和分享喔！ 还有不要忘记帮我按赞、订阅和分享喔！ And don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share!
那我們下次見囉！掰掰！ 那我们下次见啰！掰掰！ I’ll see you next time! Bye-bye!