Chinese Alphabet 1.0

SUAVE is a Chinese language learning company that offers a comprehensive course teaching individuals how to read, write, and speak Mandarin Chinese. One of the key aspects of the course is the Chinese alphabet, which SUAVE introduces in a clear and straightforward manner.

Contrary to some belief, there is no exact Chinese alphabet that corresponds with English letters. Instead, the Chinese writing system uses characters, which are pictographs or ideographs representing both sound and meaning. However, there is a romanization system used in China called pinyin, which translates Chinese characters into the Latin alphabet. Pinyin is what individuals typically use when they first start to learn Chinese.

There are 26 pinyin initials sounds, which correspond with English consonants. These are: b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, h, j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, and s.

Additionally, there are 37 pinyin finals sounds which correspond with English vowels. These include: a, o, e/i (or ü), ai (or ei), ao (or ou), an (or en), ang (or eng),-ong (or -eng), –i,-u,-v (or ü), ia (or ya), iao (or yao), ie ( or ye), iou (or you), iong ( or yong), uai ( or wai), ui ( or wei), uan ( or wan), uang ( or wang), ueng ( or weng).

Additionally to its courses and classess SUAVE also offers study materials related to the different topics covered in class like theIntroduction to Pinyin, which is great for individuals starting to learn Chinese.

the Chinese alphabet, even though it doesn't match up with the English counterpart, it is a crucial part of beginning Chinese learning. SUAVE makes sure that its students learn pinyin accurately and in a manner that is easy to follow.