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Nǐ hǎo! Chinese · Module 2 of 8
🪨 No device needed

Nǐ hǎo — Say It Loud Enough to Startle a Chicken

Chinese is a language you sing, and the tune changes the meaning, so you must say it out loud and big.

mā ˉ má ˊ mǎ ˅ mà ˋ
Four little roofs above the same letters. Flat, rising, dipping, falling — four different words.

🎒 What you need

✋ Do this

  1. Stand up. Hold your arm out flat in front of you and sing a long flat 'maaa'. That is tone 1: mā.
  2. Now sweep your arm upward like you are asking a question, and say 'má' going up. That is tone 2.
  3. Dip your arm down and back up like a valley: 'mǎ'. That is tone 3.
  4. Chop your arm down sharply like you are annoyed: 'mà'. That is tone 4.
  5. Now say nǐ hǎo — two dipping tones, two valleys with your arm. Walk up to someone in your compound, wave, and greet them: Nǐ hǎo! Do it to three different people today.
  6. Say xièxie every single time someone hands you anything today. Every time.

💡 Why it works

Moving your arm with the tone puts the tune into your body, not just your ears. Learners who drill tones with a hand movement keep the tones years later; learners who only read the tone marks lose them. And greeting real people means the words get attached to real faces.

🔥 Challenge

Greet someone with Nǐ hǎo and see if you can keep a straight face when they ask what you just said. Then teach them.

📖 New words

你好 nǐ hǎohello
谢谢 xièxiethank you
再见 zàijiàngoodbye
我 wǒI; me
你 nǐyou
🎵
Tone Singer

Tap when you have finished this module.