Let’s face it. When learning a new language, we all feel a little tone-deaf. I still feel like crying sometimes when working on my English or Japanese pronunciation.

But what if you could turn your frustration into a learning milestone?

With precise feedback and smart note-taking, you can turn confusion into real progress. Today, we’ll use the 12-Word Tone Challenge to help you pinpoint exactly which tones you struggle with and how your mistakes tend to show up.

Download the PDF to follow along and start diagnosing your tones.

The 12-word tone challenge

Test your Chinese tones! Watch the video below to take the 12-word tone challenge.

Test Your Ears with Different Voices

I am just one person and one accent. Mandarin is spoken by over a billion people across different regions and genders, so it’s important to train your ear with variety. Take the challenge again using different voices and accents to see if you can still catch all the tones. (chose the option “answer with pinyin”, “multiple choice” and click “start test“. Click on the sound icon to hear the recordings.)

How did that go? Do different voices and accents affect how you hear the tones? Leave a comment down below to share what you discovered in this exercise!

Test Your Pronunciation

Now it’s your turn. Can others hear the tone you’re trying to say?

This is where it gets real: ask a native speaker to listen to you say one of the 12 words and guess which one they think it is. Have them look away if you tend to use hand gestures or head movement to show the tone. 😉 Don’t forget to track your mistakes!

(Want my help? You can book a lesson with me!)

Track and Understand Your Mistakes

Keep taking notes. Not just during this challenge, but whenever you catch tone issues in lessons, conversations, or when watching TV shows.

Some mistakes are one-offs. Others are patterns. By tracking the type and frequency of your tone errors, you’ll start to see your personal tendencies

Have you downloaded your PDF yet? Download and print it out to help keep track of your mistakes.

What’s next?

In the next few weeks, we’ll tackle each tone one by one and troubleshoot common pitfalls. So be sure to collect your data now. You’ll need it when it’s time to fine-tune your tone. Stay tuned, and keep practicing!