Intro to Mandarin Pronunciation & Pinyin

In this online course, which is a part of our more comprehensive Mandarin Pronunciation & Accent Masterclass, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to pronounce any sound in Mandarin!

Get this self-paced online course for just $49, or if you'd like a more comprehensive course, check out the Masterclass!

About this course

We'll start with the tones—which are often even more important than the consonants and vowels—and then move on to consonants and vowels, and finally two-syllable combinations. We'll guide you through, with audio examples provided by a native Mandarin speaker from Taiwan.

Whether you're a complete beginner, or an intermediate or advanced student who needs a review, or maybe you have some pronunciation issues you'd like to fix, this is the course for you.

You can go at your own pace—you get lifetime access to the content!

You'll get access to 4 video lessons and 6 audio lessons, plus supporting PDF and audio materials.

You'll get lifetime access to all 10 lessons on Chinese pronunciation.

Audio lessons focus on first teaching you to hear each sound, then teaching you how to produce it accurately. The audio lessons build up systematically, starting with the easiest sounds and then moving on to more difficult sounds. Extensive use of dictation and pronunciation drills ensure that you master both the listening and spoken aspects of pronunciation.

The video lessons in each unit prepare you for that unit's audio lessons by teaching things like Mandarin syllable structure, tongue placement for producing the correct sounds, tone change rules, etc.

This comprehensive approach will bring you to mastery of all of the sounds of Mandarin in as efficient a way as possible!

Improve your pronunciation & develop a good accent!

Most people learn by focusing on reading and writing—text focused learning that's more appropriate for native speakers because the already know how to speak!

Through guided imitation of a native speaker from Taiwan, you'll be able to master all the sounds of Mandarin, and their spelling in the pinyin romanization system!

The best way to learn pronunciation is by listening to and imitating good speech by native speakers. Use your ears and mouth to learn, not your eyes!

Curriculum

Unit 1: Tones

Video Lesson 1: Tones

Audio Lesson 1: Tones

Unit 2: Finals and Initials

Video Lesson 2: The Finals + Syllable Structure

Video Lesson 3: The Initials + Syllable Structure

Audio Lesson 2: Consonants & Vowels I

Audio Lesson 3: Consonants & Vowels II

Audio Lesson 4: Consonants & Vowels III

Audio Lesson 5: Consonants & Vowels IV

Unit 3: Multi-syllable words

Video Lesson 4: Tone Change Rules

Video Lesson 5: Two-tone Combinations

Audio Lesson 6: Two Syllable Words

This course is designed with two groups of people in mind:

1. Complete beginners who want to get started off on the right foot, and

2. Intermediate and advanced learners who are still struggling with specific sounds in Mandarin

This course does not require you to own or use any of our other products—it's entirely self-contained!

Your Instructor

John Renfroe

Co-founder, Outlier Linguistics

Before co-founding Outlier, John studied Linguistics and Paleography in the Graduate Institute of Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University. He co-founded and later ran the Taipei Classical Chinese Reading Group, a weekly reading group consisting mostly of graduate Sinology students from western universities. He also taught classical Chinese to members of the group who had no previous instruction in the language. His coursework and research focused on excavated Warring States bamboo texts, historical Chinese character morphology, and the Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字 and its commentaries and criticism.

Self-paced online course for just $49!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Rated 4.8/5 by 1000's of Chinese learners

30-DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!

We believe in the quality of our products and are committed to your satisfaction. That’s why we offer a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee on all purchases. If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, simply contact us within 30 days for a full refund, no questions asked.

Copyright © 2026 Outlier Linguistics - All Rights Reserved