Vier Töne

Learners often flatten all tones into monotone speech. The 2nd and 3rd tones are hardest to distinguish — 2nd rises sharply while 3rd dips then rises. English speakers: Tend to use English intonation patterns (rising for questions) which conflicts with lexical tones. Russian speakers: May confuse tones with Russian stress patterns; Russian stress changes vowel quality, not pitch. Czech speakers: May confuse tone with Czech vowel length (á vs a); length and pitch are independent in Chinese.