Mandarin Tone Trainer

Abstract

Because Mandarin Chinese uses semantic tones to convey meaning, it can be challenging for new students of the language. Learning to speak these tones correctly requires practice and adequate feedback. Today’s online learning platforms offer instruction in Mandarin, but they lack a good way for students to practice speaking tones. I have built an interactive web application to help students practice these tones using only a browser and a microphone. It shows the pitch of the student’s voice while speaking various practice words. The application also presents a native speaker’s pitch graph for comparison. The Mandarin Tone Trainer offers an interactive way to learn Mandarin, and because it works within a browser it can be easily integrated with existing online courseware.