<p>For people who tell me they "don't get" the tones, or who can say them but quickly forget them, I usually explain them as listed below. I imagine you're well past this point, but the visuals might help remembering them:</p>

<ul>
<li>1st tone: Sing it -- <strong>♪</strong></li>
<li>2nd tone: Like a yes/no question -- <strong>?</strong></li>
<li>3rd tone: Low, creaky. -- Still can't think of a good symbol >_&lt;</li>
<li>4th tone: Like a one-word command -- <strong>!</strong></li>
</ul>

<p>So, for instance, you might have:</p>

<ul>
<li><code>妈</code> = <code>ma♪</code> (or <code>ma#</code> if you require ASCII friendliness)</li>
<li><code>麻</code> = <code>ma?</code></li>
<li><code>骂</code> = <code>ma!</code></li>
</ul>

<p>If this is useful at all, great. If you think it's crazy nonsense, just ignore it. Different strokes for different folks.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-11-01T00:10:01.663Z
I love this, and I suggest "+" for the third tone. "And" in English has a fairly 3rd-toneish sound, don't you think?
Simon Woodward
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-06-20T16:19:02.680Z
2012-06-20T16:19:02.680Z
Stumpy Joe Pete
<p>I've been developing and using the TOP (Tonally Orthographic Pinyin) system since 1995. There's a free online converter available at <a href="http://www.chinesepronto.com/triple/flashfix.php">http://www.chinesepronto.com/triple/flashfix.php</a>.</p>

<p>The TOP system is redundantly marked for tones: with colors, with capital and small letters, and with the standard Hanyu Pinyin tone marks. </p>

<p>The color system is simple and consistent:
BLUE for first tone (high like the sky)
Green for second tone (grows UP like a plant)
black for third tone (low like dirt on the ground)
Red for fourth tone (an angry sound in English, which is often associated with red)
Neutral tone is gray and adds an asterisk (*) to the third tone form.</p>

<p>The scheme of capitalization and small letters is also simple:
FIRST TONE -- all capitals  (voice is high)
seconD tonE -- lasT letteR capitalizeD (voice rises)
third tone -- all lower case (voice is low -- 3rd tone does not really dip)
Fourth Tone -- First Letter Capitalized (voice falls)</p>

<p>So a sample sentence would look like this:</p>

<p>xia1ren2 chao3fan4 hao3chi1 ji2le5!
XIĀréN chǎoFàn hǎoCHĪ jÍle*!
(I can't figure out how this system would allow me to post colors, but the converter gives both colored text for use in word processors and in HTML pages. It works on my sites.)</p>

<p>The other useful thing to do with tones is to assign a directional gesture (another Mandarin-teaching extension I've been working on for some years now) to each new word. Yes, this is pain. But it really works. The gesture you choose (which can be arbitrary) must have both a meaning element and a tone element. As in ASL, which uses different areas of space to express past or future tense, with directional gestures we use areas of the body to indicate the tone of the syllable. </p>

<p>All first-tone syllables are gestured at the chin level or above; all third-tone syllables at the waist level or below. All second tone syllables must have a gesture that rises, and all fourth tone syllables must have a gesture that falls. Combining two syllables with two separate tones and getting a "meaningful" gesture in there can be challenging but it's worth it. I've had students actually forget the word and remember the tones -- which had never happened before we started experimenting with this method.</p>

<p>The combination of color-coding (we also color-code characters in our reading materials for students using the same color scheme, to reinforce when they are reading characters as well), tonal spelling and directional gestures works wonders with students' tones, both in knowledge of what is the correct tone and in their performance. Students are far more aware of tones when they are part of the syllable (you have to start writing a TOP syllable all over again if you get the wrong tone -- you can't just scratch in another tone mark as you can in Pinyin, and you know we are all guilty of that, at least I certainly was for many years!) and when the class cries out when you accidentally write a syllable using the wrong marker on the whiteboard, you know things are going in the right direction.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-06-21T02:33:13.967Z
Maybe just me, but I find it much easier to rean with tone marks than with capital letters.
Cocowalla
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-11T14:40:49.183Z
2012-01-11T14:40:49.183Z
Terry Waltz
<p>I feel this is a pedagogical shortcoming. New words should be introduced using pairs of words with the same sound but different tones, for example {天、甜｝,｛湯、糖｝,｛上海、傷害｝. This might help the learner make remembering tones a prioity in his efforts to learn the language. </p>

<p>For example, in a lesson with 20 new vocabulary words, perhaps there should be two pairs of words with the same sound but different tones.</p>

<p>In my early struggles with Chinese it seemed that there was no placeholder in my brain for the tone associated with a word.  I think exercises like finding words with similar sounds but different tones helped to "create" that slot in my brain to hold the tone.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-07T22:47:49.340Z
2014-03-08T04:19:37.340Z
2014-03-08T04:19:37.340Z
user6546
<p>I don't speak Mandarin and never will, but I was faced with the same problem as you in Cantonese -- and we have a couple tones more, and no real rules for tone sandhi.</p>

<p>So my first step was to stick to jyutping and learn the reading(s) of sinograms as a "full set": sound+tone number. So I wouldn't just learn "gwok" for 國 but "gwok3" (<code>gwok three</code>, and later <code>gwok saam</code>, in my head).</p>

<p>The second step was "musical" -- in the sense that I was memorizing the tone contours of a word, an aural memory of my voice going up/down while pronouncing (hopefully correctly) the word. I am gifted with a very acute sense of hearing and musical memory, so this may or may not work for you.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-25T14:38:33.763Z
2012-08-25T14:38:33.763Z
dda
<p>If none of these work for you, there's a Romanization system that takes tone into account.  It's called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwoyeu_Romatzyh" rel="nofollow">国语罗马字</a>.  I know ditching Pinyin can be tough, but some people find this very useful to learn the tones.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-17T06:15:06.660Z
I find acquiring Pinyin to be tough - and I know half a dozen totally different alphabets fine `\-:`
hippietrail
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-06-20T22:25:46.600Z
2012-06-20T22:25:46.600Z
Kang Ming
<p>I use my fingers whenever I say the character.</p>

<p>Tone 1 -- index finger</p>

<p>Tone 2 -- middle finger</p>

<p>Tone 3 -- ring finger</p>

<p>Tone 4 -- pinky</p>

<p>Tone 5/neutral tone -- thumb</p>

<p>I also use color-coding, just as the others have shared.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-12T13:00:47.947Z
2015-06-12T13:00:47.947Z
Yizwa
<p>I am keen to share my tips with you - colour coding to master tones. </p>

<p>What is the commonality between the below pairs of characters? 
(i) mother 妈 &amp; horse 马; 
(ii) field 田 &amp; sky 天; 
(iii) king 王 &amp; net 网;
(iv) mother 妈 &amp; sky 天; 
(v) field 田 &amp; king 王; 
(vi) horse 马 &amp; net 网</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/hKumK.png" alt="Chinese Colour Example"></p>

<p>Answer: The first three pairs of characters share the same spelling in PinYin: (i) ma; (ii) tian; (iii) wang. The following pairs of characters share the same tone: (iv) 1st tone (high); (v) 2nd tone (rising); (vi) 3rd tone (falling-rising). </p>

<p>See more at <a href="http://www.chinesecolour.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.chinesecolour.com/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-02T08:21:03.920Z
2015-09-08T10:29:56.410Z
2015-09-08T10:29:56.410Z
user5909
<p>Update: I think using Pinyin with tonal spelling is the best way I've found so far.</p>
<hr />
<p>One old issue of <a href="http://www.pinyin.info/readings/xin_tang/xin_tang_04.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Xin Talng (新唐)</a> uses a modified version of Pinyin with tonal spelling inspired by Gwoyeu Romatzyh (国语罗马字), but dramatically simplified. This journal actually uses a bunch of different romanizations, including simplified Gwoyeu Romatzyh and toneless pinyin; it's kind of interesting.</p>
<p>I'm using a slightly modified version of Xin Talng's romanization for a simple quiz program.</p>
<p>I'm calling the abbreviated spelling <code>jiu</code> instead of <code>jiou</code>, <code>dui</code> instead of <code>duei</code> etc. Pinyin always uses the abbreviated spelling, but Pinyin-with-tonal-spelling only uses it for T1 and possibly 轻声.</p>
<pre><code>T1:  Use the abbreviated spelling
T2:  Add an l after the main vowel
T3:  Double the main vowel
T4:  Add an h after the main vowel
轻声: Add a . before the word, spelled to reflect its etymology.
</code></pre>
<p>This gives you ma (妈) mal (麻) maa (马) mah (骂).</p>
<p>I also use v instead of ü to represent the sound /y/ after n and l like some IMEs do, e.g. lvvxilng (旅行).</p>
<p>This scheme has the following advantages compared to GR</p>
<ul>
<li>Compatible with Pinyin</li>
<li>Rules for tonal spelling are simple (GR's are very complicated, especially for 儿化'd syllables and syllables with no onset)</li>
<li>Preserves etymological information for 儿化'd syllables</li>
<li>Onsets are spelled consistently (GR treats x as an allophone of sh).</li>
</ul>
<p>It also shares one nice property with GR.</p>
<ul>
<li>Etymological information is preserved for 轻声 syllables (e.g. gaoh.suh for 告诉).</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>Original answer</p>
<hr />
<p>When writing pinyin on flashcards or annotating text, write the tone number <em>before</em> the onset and rime.</p>
<hr />
<p>I used to write out words in pinyin when trying to memorize them, but my handwriting is bad so all the tone diacritics except 3rd tone ended up looking the same.</p>
<p>Now, I write the tone number first, and write the spoken tone in front of the citation tone if a tone sandhi rule applies. I use a 0 for a neutral tone rather than a <code>5</code> or <code>.</code> or the absence of a mark.</p>
<pre><code>   你   好
 23ni  3hao.
</code></pre>
<p>Taking the example from <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/145">another answer</a></p>
<pre><code> 我   不    是    中    国    人,  你   呢?
3wo 24bu 4shi 1zhong 2guo 2ren, 3ni  0ne?
I'm not Chinese, are you?
</code></pre>
<p>I think this works well for personal use, even if it looks a little odd. It's also very easy to type if you replace ü with v.</p>
<hr />
<p>Writing syllables with a tone number first isn't my idea, I got it from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQyeslB-kdo&amp;t=284s" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this lecture on Tangut (西夏语)</a> a Sino-Tibetan language with a complicated writing system. The professor in the video uses leading numbers to record reconstructed tones for Tangut, the final numbers are used for grades, a concept specific to historical Tangut phonology.</p>
<p>Writing tone sandhi rules this way is inspired by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_orthography" rel="nofollow noreferrer">how Irish spelling works</a>. Irish constants change under certain circumstances, and this is reflected in the spelling by putting the new sound in front of the old one.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-13T22:31:33.107Z
2021-10-28T01:43:52.190Z
2021-10-28T01:43:52.190Z
Greg Nisbet
<p>Depends on your method of memorizing characters. If you are using a story, it would be easy to append the tone somewhere in there. 
Even if you are not, I would recommend using this method, works well!</p>

<p><strong>Update</strong>: So far, I was largely ignoring tones when memorizing new words. Not a good idea, but it did help in giving me a good momentum. Now, I have switched to using bopomofo (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bopomofo" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bopomofo</a>) and not pinyin which I was using earlier, this thing really helps as when you are typing characteres you actually have to key in the tones to get to the final set. 
I like how it reinforces the association. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-11T06:27:02.567Z
2014-07-17T14:52:24.673Z
2014-07-17T14:52:24.673Z
Manish
<p>If we use letters to represent the tones, just like how we use letters to represent the rest of the pronunciation of a syllable, we can remember them better. Some languages, such as Hmong, use silent final consonants to indicate the tone. So instead of using the complicated system of Gwoyeu Romatzyh, we could do something similar with Mandarin pinyin. Perhaps we could arbitrarily say that first tone = default, second tone = <sup>p</sup>, third tone = <sup>t</sup>, fourth tone = <sup>k</sup>, neutral tone = <sup>z</sup>. You could use this in addition to tone colors. Of course, when actually pronouncing a word, remember to omit those final consonants we just added in as Mandarin doesn't actually have any of these final consonants. Some examples:</p>
<p>款待 kuǎn<sup>t</sup>dài<sup>k</sup><br />
兴致勃勃 xìng<sup>k</sup>zhì<sup>k</sup>bó<sup>p</sup>bó<sup>p</sup><br />
悬挂 xuán<sup>p</sup>guà<sup>k</sup><br />
争端 zhēngduān<br />
点缀 diǎn<sup>t</sup>zhuì<sup>k</sup></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-24T08:49:31.860Z
2020-09-24T08:49:31.860Z
mic
<p>I dislike the idea of using colours.</p>
<p>A general technique that often works for me is to relate the character in my mind to other characters, which have identical and/or similar pronunciations, that I have already learnt really well, i.e. whose pronunciation and meaning are clearly known to me. But it's a slow, gradual process.</p>
<p>Lots of characters are picto-phonetic (aka semantic-plus-phonetic) compounds, and that also can be very helpful in learning them.</p>
<p>For instance, to learn 趣 in 有趣 (yǒuqù(r) / interesting; fascinating; amusing) - assuming you already know 有 of course! - first of all you have to look at 趣's components. (This can be done with the Pleco app, or various online tools.) Then you can relate 趣 in your mind to its sound component, 取 (qǔ / to take). Then you can use the fact it also has 走 (zǒu / to go; to walk; to run ...) in it to link it in your mind with another verb with the meaning of going somewhere: 去 qù, which is pronounced exactly the same as 趣. So thinking of 去 can help you remember how to read 趣.</p>
<p>I really think that making these links in your mind is a better technique than using artificial techniques like mental association with colours. (I also avoid using mnemonics in general - I think it's a technique that can be overused).</p>
<p>Having said all this, I still very frequently forget the correct tone for newer vocabulary. I think there may be only one way to master this and that is frequent repetition and regular practice. Reading a character should be semi-automatic exercise where you don't need to think about it for very long.</p>
<p>(Edit, added after my first draft:) For another example, today 迭 came up in my flashcards (meaning: alternate, change; also 书面语 as a. repeatedly; again and again; or b. in time for). I remembered its pinyin, “die” but I forgot if it was the first or second tone. One way I can try to remember it would be to associate it with 轮流 （lúnliú, to alternate), which was given as a synonym by one of my Chinese-language reference dictionaries. I'm more familiar with the readings for 轮 and 流; in general I will remember they are second-tone characters. Still, doing this means I have to be able to make the mental jump from 迭 to 轮流, which is quite hard.</p>
<p>Another notable point is, after checking I see that there are only two first-tone “diē” characters (爹 “father” and 跌 “to fall”). So I can associate diē, as a verb, with falling (跌).</p>
<p>In this way, trying to remember that 迭 uses the second tone can also help me get more familiar with other vocabulary. Indeed, writing this has made me look up the characters with readings of “die” in third and fourth tone. I discovered that there are only rarities that for now I judge to be outside of my current scope of study. So now, “die” vocabulary seems much simpler to me. There are just two first-tone characters, 爹 and 跌, and then all the others are second-tone: 叠, 碟, 迭, 蝶, 谍. So from now on, if ever I see a character that I know has pinyin “die” I'll know it's a second-tone “dié”, unless it's 爹 or 跌. (Except, and there often is an exception, apparently 跌 has the second tone in Taiwan...!)</p>
<p>Anyway, my number one basic technique for learning is, try to hear the sound in my head, repeat a few times, and use spaced repetition/memorisation techniques (I recommend a tool with flashcards like Anki) to get it learnt by rote. Without thinking about it much more. Sometimes it's only when I've gotten it wrong dozens of times that I then look into it more deeply! Of course this is a fairly slow way to go and with this method you have to accept being wrong dozens of times, but I believe ( / hope) that this way I'll end up getting real profiency and fluency with the vocabulary I'm studying.</p>
<p>Here are some more tips I have written about studying Chinese: <a href="https://goplayerjuggler.blogspot.com/2019/08/tips-on-studying-chinese.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://goplayerjuggler.blogspot.com/2019/08/tips-on-studying-chinese.html</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-14T08:58:40.310Z
2020-09-14T13:56:19.507Z
2020-09-14T13:56:19.507Z
goPlayerJuggler
<p>I use this way to teach my students: use finger motion accompanying your memorizing of the new character.</p>
<p>Index finger, moving (in front of you, form you view), left to right fully:
flat all the way:  tone 1
left bottom to right top:  tone 2
left top downward half way to center (important) then right top, the motion should be quick:  tone 3
Left top downward all the way to right bottom:  tone 4</p>
<p>After you practice several times, you can minimize your finger movement to just in front of your chest.</p>
<p>By the way, I already stop asking students to include tone marks in Pinyin.  Let them spend the time on most important part of language learning: how to communicate using language.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-14T02:22:18.547Z
2020-09-14T02:22:18.547Z
James Liu 刘老师
<p>There is a technique I started to use and actually, I've seen it also in other dictionaries, so maybe I wasn't that original... </p>

<p>But anyway, the answer is colors! When you're studying new Hanzi or vocabulary, just color each character according to the tone... It's very helpful to remember the tones, because after a while, you visualize the tones in your head through the colors. For example:</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/am6J0.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>The tones obviously indicate the tones of the single characters<sup>1</sup>, it doesn't take into account the tone changes in spoken Mandarin<sup>2</sup>.</p>

<p>Obviously these tones are just mine, which means you can change the colors according to your taste. This technique is very useful for the computers, since you can use the colors. Concerning something handwritten, I can suggest using colored flashcards for each tone, for example, or using different pen colors.</p>

<p>For color blind people an alternative solution is needed. For single Hanzi on actual flashcards (not digital ones), a good idea would be the shape of the paper. Or the border style. For example an undulated border for the first tone and so on.</p>

<p>For expressions instead you could add a symbol below each Hanzi. I know that it sounds too complicated, but right now I don't have a better idea.</p>

<hr>

<p><sup>1: dictionary tones</sup><br>
<sup>2: tone sandhi</sup></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-21T05:18:57.483Z
This is a great suggestion. It could be worth noting that many Chinese language resources adopt colour schemes like this, and if the learner intends on using one of those resources, it could be worth choosing the same colour scheme. See e.g. [here](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/Tone_colors)
JBentley
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-20T02:57:52.270Z
This extension (Chinese words separator) show tones in color. It can also show tone marks

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chinese-words-separator/gacfacdpfimbkgcnlegknnmcccjgcbnp
Michael Buen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-11T15:06:11.463Z
In my experience it's a very bad idea. When students tried this they had to remember what color corresponds to what accent and what color has one character. (the process in their head was "What color is 去 and what accent is that color?" when it should have been simply "what accent is 去") That's a lot to remember. What's wrong with just remembering the accent itself instead? (with a small mark above the character or simple have a sentence in pinyin below for some time?)
龚元程
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-11T15:10:36.967Z
@龚元程 Well, you can't expect this to work for the 100% of the human population. Everybody has a different method, and that's why you'll find many methods in the internet. This is mine and it was an idea also to inspire the readers to create theirs or modify this (or use it as is). When I use it, I don't even think about the mental process you said, it's instantaneous from color - tone. When I try to speak later, I visualize the colors so I exactly remember the tones for that expression. Sometimes it makes me remember the pinyin too, not just the tone.
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-25T13:38:09.040Z
@Cocowalla I added something for the colorblind. Sorry for the huge delay.
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-17T06:06:19.250Z
@Alenanno: I added little terminology notes for "dictionary tones" and "tone sandhi" which will be helpful for at least some people. Hope you don't mind.
hippietrail
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-17T06:08:28.790Z
This system should still work for colourblind people. Most colourblind people just see certain limited colours as being alike, so you just have to choose the colours on the basis of what that person is able to distinguish. It would probably not be possible to come up with a set of colours that would work for all colourblind people generally though of course.
hippietrail
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-17T10:40:24.423Z
@hippietrail You did? I can't see edits... :D
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-17T10:43:35.547Z
@Alenanno: Ah yes they haven't been accepted yet. I'm more active on some sites where I have enough reputation to edit posts without needing somebody else to accept them so I forgot this was the usual way (-:
hippietrail
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T10:15:45.833Z
不 should be 2nd tone.
**Edit:** sorry didn't see you said "The tones obviously indicate the tones of the single characters, it doesn't take into account the tone changes in spoken Mandarin."
StarCub
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T10:21:37.990Z
@StarCub Yes. I chose to ignore that in my studying because I can always do that by myself, since I "know" the rules, but seeing the actual tone of the single character comes in handy when you start studying hard characters and not basic ones likes these. :D But obviously, it's a customizable method, everybody can change the rules.
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T10:31:02.267Z
I'm colour blind, so I guess this won't help me much ;)
Cocowalla
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T10:32:17.833Z
@Cocowalla Oh... I didn't consider that... Give me some time, I'll think of something for that too!
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T11:41:07.680Z
It is a great idea but it can be dangerous since a single character can have several different pinyins with different tones. Though if both colored 汉子 + pinyin are present, it is a nice system !
Vincent B.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T11:42:30.527Z
@VincentB. Pinyin is not taken into account, since it's the one you're supposed to remember when studying. This only tells you which tone it is. :)
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-14T10:12:02.953Z
2013-11-17T10:58:30.667Z
2013-11-17T10:58:30.667Z
Alenanno
<p>I find it a great struggle to try and remember tones for all the new vocab I learn, and aside from gradually picking up tones by listening and talking with native speakers, I can't really remember tones. Does anyone have any suggestions for good techniques to do this?</p>

<mandarin><tones><vocabulary>
What is a good technique for remembering tones?
# What is a good technique for remembering tones?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-12-14)

I find it a great struggle to try and remember tones for all the new vocab I learn, and aside from gradually picking up tones by listening and talking with native speakers, I can't really remember tones. Does anyone have any suggestions for good techniques to do this?

**Tags:** mandarin, tones, vocabulary


---

## 13 answers

### Answer by username_16 on 2011-12-14. Score: 22 | Accepted answer

There is a technique I started to use and actually, I've seen it also in other dictionaries, so maybe I wasn't that original...

But anyway, the answer is colors! When you're studying new Hanzi or vocabulary, just color each character according to the tone... It's very helpful to remember the tones, because after a while, you visualize the tones in your head through the colors. For example:

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/am6J0.png)

The tones obviously indicate the tones of the single characters1, it doesn't take into account the tone changes in spoken Mandarin2.

Obviously these tones are just mine, which means you can change the colors according to your taste. This technique is very useful for the computers, since you can use the colors. Concerning something handwritten, I can suggest using colored flashcards for each tone, for example, or using different pen colors.

For color blind people an alternative solution is needed. For single Hanzi on actual flashcards (not digital ones), a good idea would be the shape of the paper. Or the border style. For example an undulated border for the first tone and so on.

For expressions instead you could add a symbol below each Hanzi. I know that it sounds too complicated, but right now I don't have a better idea.

---

1: dictionary tones  
2: tone sandhi

> **Comments:**
> **username_20**: 不 should be 2nd tone. **Edit:** sorry didn't see you said "The tones obviously indicate the tones of the single characters, it doesn't take into account the tone changes in spoken Mandarin."  
> **username_16**: @username_20 Yes. I chose to ignore that in my studying because I can always do that by myself, since I "know" the rules, but seeing the actual tone of the single character comes in handy when you start studying hard characters and not basic ones likes these. :D But obviously, it's a customizable method, everybody can change the rules.  
> **username_4**: I'm colour blind, so I guess this won't help me much ;)  
> **username_16**: @username_4 Oh... I didn't consider that... Give me some time, I'll think of something for that too!  
> **username_21**: It is a great idea but it can be dangerous since a single character can have several different pinyins with different tones. Though if both colored 汉子 + pinyin are present, it is a nice system !  
> **username_16**: @VincentB. Pinyin is not taken into account, since it's the one you're supposed to remember when studying. This only tells you which tone it is. :)  
> **username_19**: In my experience it's a very bad idea. When students tried this they had to remember what color corresponds to what accent and what color has one character. (the process in their head was "What color is 去 and what accent is that color?" when it should have been simply "what accent is 去") That's a lot to remember. What's wrong with just remembering the accent itself instead? (with a small mark above the character or simple have a sentence in pinyin below for some time?)  
> **username_16**: @username_19 Well, you can't expect this to work for the 100% of the human population. Everybody has a different method, and that's why you'll find many methods in the internet. This is mine and it was an idea also to inspire the readers to create theirs or modify this (or use it as is). When I use it, I don't even think about the mental process you said, it's instantaneous from color - tone. When I try to speak later, I visualize the colors so I exactly remember the tones for that expression. Sometimes it makes me remember the pinyin too, not just the tone.  
> **username_16**: @username_4 I added something for the colorblind. Sorry for the huge delay.  
> **username_8**: @username_16: I added little terminology notes for "dictionary tones" and "tone sandhi" which will be helpful for at least some people. Hope you don't mind.  
> **username_8**: This system should still work for colourblind people. Most colourblind people just see certain limited colours as being alike, so you just have to choose the colours on the basis of what that person is able to distinguish. It would probably not be possible to come up with a set of colours that would work for all colourblind people generally though of course.  
> **username_16**: @username_8 You did? I can't see edits... :D  
> **username_8**: @username_16: Ah yes they haven't been accepted yet. I'm more active on some sites where I have enough reputation to edit posts without needing somebody else to accept them so I forgot this was the usual way (-:  
> **username_17**: This is a great suggestion. It could be worth noting that many Chinese language resources adopt colour schemes like this, and if the learner intends on using one of those resources, it could be worth choosing the same colour scheme. See e.g. [here](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/Tone_colors)  
> **username_18**: This extension (Chinese words separator) show tones in color. It can also show tone marks  https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chinese-words-separator/gacfacdpfimbkgcnlegknnmcccjgcbnp  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2012-06-20. Score: 14

For people who tell me they "don't get" the tones, or who can say them but quickly forget them, I usually explain them as listed below. I imagine you're well past this point, but the visuals might help remembering them:

* 1st tone: Sing it -- **♪**
* 2nd tone: Like a yes/no question -- **?**
* 3rd tone: Low, creaky. -- Still can't think of a good symbol >\_<
* 4th tone: Like a one-word command -- **!**

So, for instance, you might have:

* `妈` = `ma♪` (or `ma#` if you require ASCII friendliness)
* `麻` = `ma?`
* `骂` = `ma!`

If this is useful at all, great. If you think it's crazy nonsense, just ignore it. Different strokes for different folks.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I love this, and I suggest "+" for the third tone. "And" in English has a fairly 3rd-toneish sound, don't you think?  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2012-01-11. Score: 8

I've been developing and using the TOP (Tonally Orthographic Pinyin) system since 1995. There's a free online converter available at <http://www.chinesepronto.com/triple/flashfix.php>.

The TOP system is redundantly marked for tones: with colors, with capital and small letters, and with the standard Hanyu Pinyin tone marks.

The color system is simple and consistent:
BLUE for first tone (high like the sky)
Green for second tone (grows UP like a plant)
black for third tone (low like dirt on the ground)
Red for fourth tone (an angry sound in English, which is often associated with red)
Neutral tone is gray and adds an asterisk (\*) to the third tone form.

The scheme of capitalization and small letters is also simple:
FIRST TONE -- all capitals (voice is high)
seconD tonE -- lasT letteR capitalizeD (voice rises)
third tone -- all lower case (voice is low -- 3rd tone does not really dip)
Fourth Tone -- First Letter Capitalized (voice falls)

So a sample sentence would look like this:

xia1ren2 chao3fan4 hao3chi1 ji2le5!
XIĀréN chǎoFàn hǎoCHĪ jÍle\*!
(I can't figure out how this system would allow me to post colors, but the converter gives both colored text for use in word processors and in HTML pages. It works on my sites.)

The other useful thing to do with tones is to assign a directional gesture (another Mandarin-teaching extension I've been working on for some years now) to each new word. Yes, this is pain. But it really works. The gesture you choose (which can be arbitrary) must have both a meaning element and a tone element. As in ASL, which uses different areas of space to express past or future tense, with directional gestures we use areas of the body to indicate the tone of the syllable.

All first-tone syllables are gestured at the chin level or above; all third-tone syllables at the waist level or below. All second tone syllables must have a gesture that rises, and all fourth tone syllables must have a gesture that falls. Combining two syllables with two separate tones and getting a "meaningful" gesture in there can be challenging but it's worth it. I've had students actually forget the word and remember the tones -- which had never happened before we started experimenting with this method.

The combination of color-coding (we also color-code characters in our reading materials for students using the same color scheme, to reinforce when they are reading characters as well), tonal spelling and directional gestures works wonders with students' tones, both in knowledge of what is the correct tone and in their performance. Students are far more aware of tones when they are part of the syllable (you have to start writing a TOP syllable all over again if you get the wrong tone -- you can't just scratch in another tone mark as you can in Pinyin, and you know we are all guilty of that, at least I certainly was for many years!) and when the class cries out when you accidentally write a syllable using the wrong marker on the whiteboard, you know things are going in the right direction.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Maybe just me, but I find it much easier to rean with tone marks than with capital letters.  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2014-03-07. Score: 8

I feel this is a pedagogical shortcoming. New words should be introduced using pairs of words with the same sound but different tones, for example {天、甜｝,｛湯、糖｝,｛上海、傷害｝. This might help the learner make remembering tones a prioity in his efforts to learn the language.

For example, in a lesson with 20 new vocabulary words, perhaps there should be two pairs of words with the same sound but different tones.

In my early struggles with Chinese it seemed that there was no placeholder in my brain for the tone associated with a word. I think exercises like finding words with similar sounds but different tones helped to "create" that slot in my brain to hold the tone.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2012-08-25. Score: 2

I don't speak Mandarin and never will, but I was faced with the same problem as you in Cantonese -- and we have a couple tones more, and no real rules for tone sandhi.

So my first step was to stick to jyutping and learn the reading(s) of sinograms as a "full set": sound+tone number. So I wouldn't just learn "gwok" for 國 but "gwok3" (`gwok three`, and later `gwok saam`, in my head).

The second step was "musical" -- in the sense that I was memorizing the tone contours of a word, an aural memory of my voice going up/down while pronouncing (hopefully correctly) the word. I am gifted with a very acute sense of hearing and musical memory, so this may or may not work for you.


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### Answer by username_7 on 2012-06-20. Score: 2

If none of these work for you, there's a Romanization system that takes tone into account. It's called [国语罗马字](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwoyeu_Romatzyh). I know ditching Pinyin can be tough, but some people find this very useful to learn the tones.

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: I find acquiring Pinyin to be tough - and I know half a dozen totally different alphabets fine `\-:`  

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### Answer by username_9 on 2015-06-12. Score: 1

I use my fingers whenever I say the character.

Tone 1 -- index finger

Tone 2 -- middle finger

Tone 3 -- ring finger

Tone 4 -- pinky

Tone 5/neutral tone -- thumb

I also use color-coding, just as the others have shared.


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### Answer by username_10 on 2014-07-02. Score: 1

I am keen to share my tips with you - colour coding to master tones.

What is the commonality between the below pairs of characters?
(i) mother 妈 & horse 马;
(ii) field 田 & sky 天;
(iii) king 王 & net 网;
(iv) mother 妈 & sky 天;
(v) field 田 & king 王;
(vi) horse 马 & net 网

![Chinese Colour Example](https://i.sstatic.net/hKumK.png)

Answer: The first three pairs of characters share the same spelling in PinYin: (i) ma; (ii) tian; (iii) wang. The following pairs of characters share the same tone: (iv) 1st tone (high); (v) 2nd tone (rising); (vi) 3rd tone (falling-rising).

See more at <http://www.chinesecolour.com/>


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### Answer by username_11 on 2020-09-13. Score: 1

Update: I think using Pinyin with tonal spelling is the best way I've found so far.

---

One old issue of [Xin Talng (新唐)](http://www.pinyin.info/readings/xin_tang/xin_tang_04.pdf) uses a modified version of Pinyin with tonal spelling inspired by Gwoyeu Romatzyh (国语罗马字), but dramatically simplified. This journal actually uses a bunch of different romanizations, including simplified Gwoyeu Romatzyh and toneless pinyin; it's kind of interesting.

I'm using a slightly modified version of Xin Talng's romanization for a simple quiz program.

I'm calling the abbreviated spelling `jiu` instead of `jiou`, `dui` instead of `duei` etc. Pinyin always uses the abbreviated spelling, but Pinyin-with-tonal-spelling only uses it for T1 and possibly 轻声.

```
T1:  Use the abbreviated spelling
T2:  Add an l after the main vowel
T3:  Double the main vowel
T4:  Add an h after the main vowel
轻声: Add a . before the word, spelled to reflect its etymology.

```

This gives you ma (妈) mal (麻) maa (马) mah (骂).

I also use v instead of ü to represent the sound /y/ after n and l like some IMEs do, e.g. lvvxilng (旅行).

This scheme has the following advantages compared to GR

* Compatible with Pinyin
* Rules for tonal spelling are simple (GR's are very complicated, especially for 儿化'd syllables and syllables with no onset)
* Preserves etymological information for 儿化'd syllables
* Onsets are spelled consistently (GR treats x as an allophone of sh).

It also shares one nice property with GR.

* Etymological information is preserved for 轻声 syllables (e.g. gaoh.suh for 告诉).

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Original answer

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When writing pinyin on flashcards or annotating text, write the tone number *before* the onset and rime.

---

I used to write out words in pinyin when trying to memorize them, but my handwriting is bad so all the tone diacritics except 3rd tone ended up looking the same.

Now, I write the tone number first, and write the spoken tone in front of the citation tone if a tone sandhi rule applies. I use a 0 for a neutral tone rather than a `5` or `.` or the absence of a mark.

```
   你   好
 23ni  3hao.

```

Taking the example from [another answer](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/145)

```
 我   不    是    中    国    人,  你   呢?
3wo 24bu 4shi 1zhong 2guo 2ren, 3ni  0ne?
I'm not Chinese, are you?

```

I think this works well for personal use, even if it looks a little odd. It's also very easy to type if you replace ü with v.

---

Writing syllables with a tone number first isn't my idea, I got it from [this lecture on Tangut (西夏语)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQyeslB-kdo&t=284s) a Sino-Tibetan language with a complicated writing system. The professor in the video uses leading numbers to record reconstructed tones for Tangut, the final numbers are used for grades, a concept specific to historical Tangut phonology.

Writing tone sandhi rules this way is inspired by [how Irish spelling works](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_orthography). Irish constants change under certain circumstances, and this is reflected in the spelling by putting the new sound in front of the old one.


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### Answer by username_12 on 2014-03-11. Score: 1

Depends on your method of memorizing characters. If you are using a story, it would be easy to append the tone somewhere in there.
Even if you are not, I would recommend using this method, works well!

**Update**: So far, I was largely ignoring tones when memorizing new words. Not a good idea, but it did help in giving me a good momentum. Now, I have switched to using bopomofo (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bopomofo>) and not pinyin which I was using earlier, this thing really helps as when you are typing characteres you actually have to key in the tones to get to the final set.
I like how it reinforces the association.


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### Answer by username_13 on 2020-09-24. Score: 0

If we use letters to represent the tones, just like how we use letters to represent the rest of the pronunciation of a syllable, we can remember them better. Some languages, such as Hmong, use silent final consonants to indicate the tone. So instead of using the complicated system of Gwoyeu Romatzyh, we could do something similar with Mandarin pinyin. Perhaps we could arbitrarily say that first tone = default, second tone = p, third tone = t, fourth tone = k, neutral tone = z. You could use this in addition to tone colors. Of course, when actually pronouncing a word, remember to omit those final consonants we just added in as Mandarin doesn't actually have any of these final consonants. Some examples:

款待 kuǎntdàik  
兴致勃勃 xìngkzhìkbópbóp  
悬挂 xuánpguàk  
争端 zhēngduān  
点缀 diǎntzhuìk


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### Answer by username_14 on 2020-09-14. Score: 0

I dislike the idea of using colours.

A general technique that often works for me is to relate the character in my mind to other characters, which have identical and/or similar pronunciations, that I have already learnt really well, i.e. whose pronunciation and meaning are clearly known to me. But it's a slow, gradual process.

Lots of characters are picto-phonetic (aka semantic-plus-phonetic) compounds, and that also can be very helpful in learning them.

For instance, to learn 趣 in 有趣 (yǒuqù(r) / interesting; fascinating; amusing) - assuming you already know 有 of course! - first of all you have to look at 趣's components. (This can be done with the Pleco app, or various online tools.) Then you can relate 趣 in your mind to its sound component, 取 (qǔ / to take). Then you can use the fact it also has 走 (zǒu / to go; to walk; to run ...) in it to link it in your mind with another verb with the meaning of going somewhere: 去 qù, which is pronounced exactly the same as 趣. So thinking of 去 can help you remember how to read 趣.

I really think that making these links in your mind is a better technique than using artificial techniques like mental association with colours. (I also avoid using mnemonics in general - I think it's a technique that can be overused).

Having said all this, I still very frequently forget the correct tone for newer vocabulary. I think there may be only one way to master this and that is frequent repetition and regular practice. Reading a character should be semi-automatic exercise where you don't need to think about it for very long.

(Edit, added after my first draft:) For another example, today 迭 came up in my flashcards (meaning: alternate, change; also 书面语 as a. repeatedly; again and again; or b. in time for). I remembered its pinyin, “die” but I forgot if it was the first or second tone. One way I can try to remember it would be to associate it with 轮流 （lúnliú, to alternate), which was given as a synonym by one of my Chinese-language reference dictionaries. I'm more familiar with the readings for 轮 and 流; in general I will remember they are second-tone characters. Still, doing this means I have to be able to make the mental jump from 迭 to 轮流, which is quite hard.

Another notable point is, after checking I see that there are only two first-tone “diē” characters (爹 “father” and 跌 “to fall”). So I can associate diē, as a verb, with falling (跌).

In this way, trying to remember that 迭 uses the second tone can also help me get more familiar with other vocabulary. Indeed, writing this has made me look up the characters with readings of “die” in third and fourth tone. I discovered that there are only rarities that for now I judge to be outside of my current scope of study. So now, “die” vocabulary seems much simpler to me. There are just two first-tone characters, 爹 and 跌, and then all the others are second-tone: 叠, 碟, 迭, 蝶, 谍. So from now on, if ever I see a character that I know has pinyin “die” I'll know it's a second-tone “dié”, unless it's 爹 or 跌. (Except, and there often is an exception, apparently 跌 has the second tone in Taiwan...!)

Anyway, my number one basic technique for learning is, try to hear the sound in my head, repeat a few times, and use spaced repetition/memorisation techniques (I recommend a tool with flashcards like Anki) to get it learnt by rote. Without thinking about it much more. Sometimes it's only when I've gotten it wrong dozens of times that I then look into it more deeply! Of course this is a fairly slow way to go and with this method you have to accept being wrong dozens of times, but I believe ( / hope) that this way I'll end up getting real profiency and fluency with the vocabulary I'm studying.

Here are some more tips I have written about studying Chinese: <https://username_14.blogspot.com/2019/08/tips-on-studying-chinese.html>


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### Answer by username_15 on 2020-09-14. Score: 0

I use this way to teach my students: use finger motion accompanying your memorizing of the new character.

Index finger, moving (in front of you, form you view), left to right fully:
flat all the way: tone 1
left bottom to right top: tone 2
left top downward half way to center (important) then right top, the motion should be quick: tone 3
Left top downward all the way to right bottom: tone 4

After you practice several times, you can minimize your finger movement to just in front of your chest.

By the way, I already stop asking students to include tone marks in Pinyin. Let them spend the time on most important part of language learning: how to communicate using language.


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