Pronouncing Romanized Chinese Names: Consonants These consonants are similar to their English equivalents: f, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, w, y These are not unfamiliar sounds to speakers of English: b – like p in spare d – like t in stand g – like g in girl These consonant sounds are more difficult: c – like ts in tents ch – like ch in chair, but with the mouth in a round shape and the tongue further back h – like h in him but with a bit more fiction in the throat (not as much as in Scottish loch) j – like j in joke but with the tongue nearer the teeth q – like ch in chair, but with the tongue further forward r – like r in rough, but with the tongue curled upwards sh – like sh in ship x – between s and sh, though there is no sound in English which is the same as the sound x in Chinese. Place the front of your tongue behind the lower front teeth, then let the air pass through. z – like ds in lads zh – like j in jump, but with the tongue further back Source: Real Chinese - Mini-guides - Pinyin | BBC Languages
See Also:
Jordan: Mandarin Pronunciation | UCSD
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) - Wikipedia
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