#i’m a) not a native en speaker and b) don’t know how to describe things. so apologize for any mistakes in advance

[koalchicine]

coda my beloved

[spanishskulduggery]

What grammar should I master at each cerf level?

This isn’t a complete list and I’m sure I’ve messed some things up, but in my experience...

[copy/pasted from a different ask]

A1

alphabet specifically any different letters or sounds like ñ, ll, and rr and silent H

present tense

irregular verbs in present tense - ser, estar, ir, ver, dar and many of the -go verbs like tener, decir, hacer, venir, salir etc

ser vs. estar

the general pronouns like yo, tú, etc

very basic vocab like colors, days of the week, basic emotions, basic place names

description words, particularly with describing people’s personalities or emotions with ser or estar, like hair color, eye color, fat/skinny, blonde/brunette, strong/weak, smart/stupid… as well as sick/well, tired, happy, sad, angry, surprised, and some very basic words

using months and days together, and the rules for things like el lunes and los lunes

just the briefest of introductions to plurals and words that require different spellings based on plural like feliz and felices etc

professions

“my name is” using ser or the briefest of introductions to llamarse and reflexives, not too intense

cardinal numbers 1-10, maybe 1-20(?)

how to form basic questions

question works (especially the difference between cuál and qué)

basic greetings, titles like señor or señora

general overview of how gender agreement works, how singular/plural works, and the basics of la concordancia 

the basics of definite and indefinite articles: el, la, los, las and un, una, unos, unas

general adjective placement and agreement

how to use negatives like no 

contractions with al and del

telling time with ser [usually done when practicing numbers]

brief introduction to “I like” using gustar and how that works, and describing your preferences or things you like to do and how gustar works with infinitives

the basics of adverbs or at least being able to recognize the ones ending in -mente or the commonplace ones like muy or understanding the difference between bueno/a and bien or malo/a and mal

some idioms

A2

weather expressions, seasons

tener expressions like tener hambre, tener sed, tener suerte

numbers 0-100, possibly up to 1000

family tree

clothing and using either llevar or usar for “to wear”

comparisons with más que/de, menos que/de, mayor que, menor que

comparisons of equality with tan / tanto/a ___ como ___

stem-changing verbs: e=>i, e=>ie, o=>ue

use of modals and infinitives like poder + infinitivo, or deber + infinitivo

the use of ir a + infinitivo

use of the gerund/progressive forms of verbs

common names of countries and nationalities

ordinal numbers 1-10, specifically understanding how primer(o), and tercer(o) work

location words with estar

the basics of directions with estar and ir like a la derecha, a la izquierda, enfrente de, detrás de, junto a etc

conmigo, contigo

the basics of possessives

use of hacer with time to mean [ago[

use of hay for “there is/are”

verbs like gustar: molestar, interesar, importar, encantar, costar, etc and how indirect objects generally work

more idioms

places and especially things like “by train” or “on foot”

general prepositions specifically a, de, con, en, entre, sobre, por, para

parts of the body, usually done with doler or something like that

intro to commands

the personal a for personhood or for animate objects

intro to preterite/imperfect

-car, -gar, -zar, and -guar verbs in preterite

superlatives

adjectives that go in front vs behind aka “spotting determiners” like buen(o), mal(o), gran / grande, and other question words

“silent subject”

B1

preterite and imperfect for real, irregular verbs in each

when verbs change meaning between preterite/imperfect like poder, querer, no querer, conocer etc

more on commands specifically the irregular verbs

negative commands specifically the irregular verbs

direct objects

the Greek words that end in -a but are masculine like el problema, el planeta, el programa

alguno/a and ninguno/a

use of double negatives

words that take a masculine article but are actually feminine

indirect and indirect objects together

demonstratives

use of había and hubo for “there was/were”

use of ir a + infinitivo with imperfect for “was going to”

present perfect with haber

past participles, especially the irregular ones

reflexive verbs, usually done with daily routines or with clothing like ponerse/quitarse

por vs para

pluperfect / past perfect with haber and past participles

basic passive voice with ser + participles

future tense

intro to subjunctive mood, specifically present subjunctive

B2

more present subjunctive, especially irregular verbs

understanding the differences between indicative, subjunctive, and imperative mood

object pronouns

relative clauses

more por and para 

really understanding preterite/imperfect

conditional tense

using the perfect tenses with subjunctive

use of imperfect subjunctive with conditional

subjunctive clauses

subjunctive subjunctive subjunctive

weird irregular verbs that aren’t always stressed like -zco, -zo, and other rarer verb conjugations

conjugations that are irregular for the sake of sound/pronunciation like verbs ending in -ñir, -llir, etc

C1

more comprehensive understanding of subjunctive mood

hypothetical situations, probability, doubt, imposition of will

indirect commands

passive voice constructions vs. active voice

using direct/indirect objects and reflexive pronouns with commands and subjunctive, specifically word order

understanding linguistic intention behind certain tenses and how they “translate” differently

changeable syntax and how it’s understood

emphasis vs. subtlety

how to imply politeness, abruptness, impatience, or deference

passive se and imperfect se

regional variations and differences, particularly leísmo and loísmo

C2

coming to understand most of the accent rules and esdrújula

the use of dativo ético and how to sound like a native speaker

when to use subjunctive vs indicative

what preposition to use

verbs that take prepositions

superfluous reflexive

literary and academic Spanish

historical Spanish -historical vos -future subjunctive -the two different forms of imperfect subjunctive and what they meant in historical Spanish vs. what they mean and where they’re used today

colloquial Spanish vs. formal/professional Spanish

striking a balance between the two

regional variations and differences, just in general since it takes a long time to learn them and they show up where you least expect them so it{s an ongoing process

…So really it’s levels A and B that are most often “taught”, while C levels are more things you nail down and get used to seeing and understanding over time

C1 is probably the hardest one to explain because it’s more “make sense of all the things you learned”, and that also is related to B2. You start to feel like you know a lot of things, but you don’t understand them or why they’re that way, so it just feels… confusing. C1 is a lot of revelations and gaining mastery of things, and making sense of all the things you’ve seen but didn’t understand

And C2 is an ongoing process. If you’re at C2, there’s no higher level so it’s you continuing to learn and practice and understand, but you know the basic grammar building blocks.

[jiangling]

Pinyin Pronunciation Guide - Finals/Vowels

Link to Initials/Consonants Link to Other Pinyin Information/Conclusion

Confession: I actually wrote this a little over a month ago, I’ve just been super lazy with finalizing it. I don’t exactly have the best work ethic, in case you couldn’t tell.

There are varying opinions on just how important pronunciation is when learning a language. I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to this thing, so I strive to have a native-like pronunciation (keep in mind it isn’t wrong to not want a perfect pronunciation, just make sure you can be understood by others). Luckily for me, there’s a perfect system in place for teaching you how to master the sounds of a language.

That system is the International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA for short.

What is the International Phonetic Alphabet?

From Wikipedia, “The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin alphabet. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation of the sounds of spoken language. The IPA is used by lexicographers, foreign language students and teachers, linguists, speech-language pathologists, singers, actors, constructed language creators and translators… The IPA is designed to represent only those qualities of speech that are part of oral language: phones, phonemes, intonation and the separation of words and syllables…”

While I am going to be somewhat technical in these posts, this is still going to be a very basic use of the IPA.

This helps us because we now have a precise way to describe how to say the phonemes of Mandarin Chinese.

Of course, there’s already a system in place that organizes the sounds of Mandarin, Pinyin.

From www.yoyochinese.com

Each of the different fragments of Pinyin represent an individual sound, similar to the IPA. If we memorize the corresponding IPA and Pinyin, we can get a better understanding of pronunciation.

Luckily for you, I’ve already hunted down what Pinyin fragment corresponds to what IPA symbols, which I will reveal later in the post. But first, a small tutorial on the vowel system in IPA.

From https://en.wikipedia.org

This is the IPA Vowel Chart, a representation of the basic vowel sounds in IPA. The trapezoid shape is strange, yes, but there is a reason for it. It’s supposed to mimic the shape of your mouth. You’ll see later.

The terms at the side may seem confusing. What the heck is an “open” vowel? Or a “central” one? What does it mean when a vowel is “unrounded”? Let’s go over that.

To the left of the shape, are measurements of the vowel height.

Vowel height is named for the vertical position of the tongue relative to either the roof of the mouth or the aperture of the jaw.

So a close vowel, like [i] (the symbols in the IPA don’t exactly match to the letters in the English alphabet, especially since “i” actually represents different sounds, such as in “night” or “drink”) means that the tongue is positioned close to the roof of the mouth. The vowel sound in “seat” is [i]. Compare this to an open vowel, which leaves an open space in your mouth, [a]. This is the vowel sound that’s in “father.” See (or feel) how your tongue is in a different position compared to [i]?

One sound that’s about in the middle in terms of height, is [ɛ], found in the word “net.” Say all three words: seat, net, father. Your tongue goes from the top of your mouth to the bottom.

At the top of the shape, are measurements of vowel backness.

Vowel backness is named for the position of the tongue during the articulation of a vowel relative to the back of the mouth.

Examples of this are the sounds [i] and [u] (found in the word “food). Say the words “feet” and “food”. Notice how with [u], your tongue is positioned further back in the mouth compared to [i].

The third concept we’ll go over is roundedness. Basically, this is whether your lips are rounded or not when saying the vowel sound. This can also be noticed in the sounds [i] and [u]. [i] is unrounded, but [u] is rounded.

So [i], to be precise, is a close front unrounded vowel. See where it’s located on the chart? In the upper left? That is where your tongue is when you make that sound. All of the symbols on the chart correspond to where your tongue is positioned when you make that sound. Additionally, the symbols are in pairs, where the left one is unrounded, and the right one is rounded.

How does this help us? Because now you can learn how to say vowel sounds that don’t exist in your native language! Chinese, of course, has these unfamiliar vowel sounds. But it has familiar vowel sounds too, so don’t worry too much!

Here is a list of all (for the most part, I may have forgotten some and made some mistakes) the vowel sounds found in Mandarin Chinese. It is split by familiar vowels and unfamiliar vowels. Included are also the English equivalents.

*Note: Assume all words are pronounced the American English way. If you speak a different version of English, you can go to the wikipedia article on the vowel, and it will show example words of where the sound occurs along with a recording of a person saying it.

Familiar Vowels

[ a ] - open front unrounded vowel - father

[ i ] - close front unrounded vowel - me

[ ə ] - mid central unrounded vowel (also called a “schwa”) - about

[ ɛ ] - open-mid front unrounded vowel - bed

[ u ] - close back unrounded vowel - boot

[ ʊ ] - near-close near-back rounded vowel - put

Unfamiliar Vowels

[ ɤ ] - close-mid back unrounded vowel

I’m not the best guide, but I’ll try and explain a good way to say this. This sound is like saying “uhhh,” but more in the back of your throat. Make sure your bottom lip is low when you say it. I guess it sounds like a person getting punched in the stomach?

[ e ] - close-mid front unrounded vowel

[ y ] - close front rounded vowel - a rounded version of [i]

[ o ] - close-mid back rounded vowel - a rounded version of [ɤ]

[ ɔ ] - open-mid back rounded vowel - a rounded version of [ʌ], found in the word “what”

However those, are not the only vowel sounds in Mandarin. There are also things called diphthongs.

A diphthong also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable.

An example of a word with a diphthong is “lie”.

Diphthongs (w/ English equivalents/approximants)

[ai] - sigh

[ei] - similar to fey, but it’s important to note that the IPA transcription of fey is feɪ, with no [i]. Instead of [ɪ], this diphthong uses [i], so it’s said more like “fayeeee” instead of just “faye.”

[au] - out

[ou] - similar to now, but now is transcribed as naʊ, with no [u]. So put more of a [u] sound into “now” at the end. Nowoooo.

All that’s left is to match these sounds with the corresponding Pinyin! I’ve taken the liberty of doing that for you already. :D

A Finals

a - [a]

ai - [ai]

an - [an]

[n] is the IPA symbol for the sound “n” in “note”

ang - [aŋ]

[ŋ] is the IPA symbol for the sound “ng” in “ing”

E Finals

e - [ɤ]

ei - [ei]

en - [ən]

eng - [əŋ]

er - [ɚ]

The pronunciation of “er” can vary greatly and often depends on accent.

[ɚ] is a special symbol in IPA, but all you need to know is that it is pronounced as “ar,” like in “art.”

I Finals

i/yi - [i]

ia/ya - [ja]

[j] is the IPA symbol for the sound “y” in “you”

ian/yan - [jɛn]

iang/yang - [jɛŋ]

iao/yao - [jau]

ie/ye - [ye]

in/yin - [in]

ing/ying - [iŋ]

iong/yong - [jʊŋ]

iou/you - [jou]

O Finals

o - [ɔ]

After the consonants b, p, m, and f, the o sound is [uɔ], which results in a sound similar to “bwoouh.”

ou - [ou]

ong - [ʊŋ]

U Finals

u/wu - [u]

ua/wa - [wa]

uai/wai - [wai]

uan/wan - [wan]

uang/wang - [uaŋ]

uei/wei - [wei]

uen/wen - [wən]

ueng/weng - [wəŋ]

uo/wo - [wo]

Ü Finals

ü/yu - [y]

üan/yuan - [ɥɛn]

[ɥ] is a symbol representing [y] as a consonant.

üe/yue - [ɥe]

ün/yun - [yn]

Congratulations! You made it to the end of this tutorial! Keep in mind it is perfectly okay if you are not good with these sounds on the first try. Like most things, it takes time and practice, and you have to get used to moving your tongue and lips into unfamiliar positions. One thing that may help you is listening to recordings of native speakers.

This post will be updated later with links to future guides on pronouncing Pinyin.

Any corrections/suggestions are welcome.

再见！

EDIT: Fixed a bunch of formatting issues. I hate tumblr sometimes.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin#Pronunciation_of_finals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6167tEzV7Ac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IPA_vowel_chart_2005.png https://www.yoyochinese.com/chinese-learning-tools/Mandarin-Chinese-pronunciation-lesson/pinyin-chart-table?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=pinyin_table a