Install on iPhone or iPad: tap the Share button in Safari (the square with an arrow), then choose Add to Home Screen. Sunga will then open like a normal app and work without internet.
No Chinese voice found on this device. Audio needs a Mandarin text-to-speech voice. On Android, install or update Speech Services by Google and add Chinese (Mandarin). On Windows, go to Settings → Time & language → Language and add Chinese (Simplified, China) with speech. On iPhone/Mac, add a Chinese voice under Accessibility → Spoken Content. Then reload this page.
0.85×
The four tones
In Mandarin the pitch of a syllable changes its meaning. mā is "mother" and mǎ is "horse". Tap each card to hear it. The chart shows pitch on the 1–5 scale Chinese teachers use, 5 being your highest comfortable note.
Tone ear-training
Play a word, then pick the tone you hear. Replay as often as you like.
0 / 0
Tone changes in real speech
Tones shift when certain syllables meet. The pinyin in this app shows the changed tone for 不 and 一, which is how you should say them.
Two 3rd tones in a row: the first becomes 2nd tone. 你好 is written nǐhǎo but said níhǎo.
不 bù before a 4th tone becomes bú: 不客气búkèqi.
一 yī becomes yì before tones 1–3 and yí before a 4th tone: 一点yìdiǎn, 一下yíxià.
Half 3rd tone: before any other tone, a 3rd tone usually just dips low and stays there, without rising back up.
Pinyin sounds English speakers get wrong
Pinyin letters don't always sound like English. These are the ones to drill. Tap an example to hear it, then copy it several times.
Tongue twister: 4 vs 10
Tests s against sh, and sì (4th tone) against shí (2nd tone). Start slow.
四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十。
Four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty.
Speaking drill
You see English. Say the Chinese out loud before you reveal it, then compare with the audio and be honest about how you did. Phrases you miss come back more often.
Progress in this set
How to use it
Read the English and say the Chinese aloud.
Tap Reveal. The audio plays.
Repeat it once more after the audio, copying the tones.