Chinese pronunciation test
Five words, two minutes. Listen to the model, record yourself, and learn what actually needs fixing — tone by tone, syllable by syllable.
The 5 test words
Picked to probe the classic English-speaker traps: 3rd tone and tone sandhi, the zh/x/q initials, the ü vowel, -ing/-ong finals.
What to listen for: Both 3rd tones — does the pair become “ní hǎo”? (It should: tone sandhi.)
What to listen for: A sharp fall, then a light unstressed second syllable — not “shye-shye”.
What to listen for: Flat high start; “zh” with the tongue curled back, not an English “j”.
What to listen for: A dip that actually dips, then a clean fall; “q” is aspirated.
What to listen for: The ü vowel: say “ee” and round your lips — if it sounds like “choo”, that’s the giveaway.
What the full report looks like
In the app, every syllable you said is graded on three axes. A report for 你好 might read:
- nǐ — tone 38, initial 85, final 90 → your 3rd tone dips but never rises
- hǎo — tone 45, initial 88, final 82 → same story — the tell-tale sign natives hear instantly
Then your daily 5-minute drills are built from exactly these weak spots, using only words you know.
FAQ
Is this Chinese pronunciation test really free?
Yes. The 2-minute check is free, needs no account and no card. The paid part is the personalized daily training plan that fixes what the test finds.
How does the scoring work?
Your recording is compared syllable by syllable against reference Mandarin pronunciation. Each syllable gets three scores — tone, initial (consonant), final (vowel) — so you see exactly what fails, not just an overall percent.
Which words does the test use?
Words you already know. You pick your level (from “just started” to HSK 3+), and the test only ever uses vocabulary at or below it — an unfamiliar word would split your attention between meaning and sound.
Do Chinese tones really matter that much?
Yes — tones carry meaning. mǎi (买) is “buy” and mài (卖) is “sell”. If your tones are off, native speakers have to guess from context, and past a certain point they simply can’t.