第二课：韵母+（finals）

Simple Finals a o e i u ü
 * ~ Sound ||~ Pronunciation ||~ Making the Sound ||
 * ~ a || Pronounced like the a in English father || The mouth is wide open, the tongue is at its lowest, and the lips are unrounded. ||
 * ~ o || Pronounced like the o in English more || The opening of the mouth is medium, the tongue position is mid-high and slightly to the back, and the lips are rounded. ||
 * ~ e || Pronounced like the ir in English bird || To produce this vowel, first pronounce o, and then change the shape of the mouth from rounded to unrounded; At the same time spread the lips apart, as if you were smiling. ||
 * ~ i || Pronounced like the ee in English bee || The opening of the mouth is narrow, the lips are spread, and the tongue position is high and slightly to the front. (except after the initials: z c s, zh ch sh r, details later) ||
 * ~ u || Pronounced like the ue in English blue || The opening of the mouth is narrow, the lips are fully rounded, and the tongue position is high and slightly to the back. ||
 * ~ ü || Pronounced like the ü in German || To produce this vowel, first pronounce i, and then change the shape of the mouth from unrounded to rounded. ||

Video Resources media type="custom" key="23459970"

Session One: Compound Finals In this lesson you will learn how to pronounce and use a common set of finals known as compound finals. Since compound finals combine a vowel with one or two secondary vowels, you will use this lesson to practice and perfect these sounds. Compound finals comprise a main vowel and a secondary vowel: Video Resources media type="custom" key="23459964"
 * ai ei ao ou
 * ia ie iao iu (iou)
 * ua uo uai ui (uei)
 * üe
 * er

When the initials vowels are a, e, o, they are stressed. The vowels following are soft and brief. When the initial vowels are i, u, ü, the main vowels come after them. i, u, ü are transitional sounds. In Pinyin orthography some vowels are omitted for the sake of economy, for example i(o)u, u(e)i. However, when pronouncing these sounds, the vowels must not be omitted.

Session Two: Nasal finals In this lesson you will learn how to pronounce and use a common set of finals known as nasal finals. Since nasal finals combine a vowel with the nasal ending -n and -ng, you will use this lesson to practice and perfect these sounds. Finals ending with n/ng are called nasal finals:
 * an en ang eng ong
 * ian iang in ing iong
 * uan un (uen) uang ueng
 * üan ün (üen)


 * To produce the nasal final, first form the final vowel sound.
 * Then without stopping the air flow, form the ending “n”/ “ng.”
 * The main vowel “e” is omitted in un (un=uen)/ün(üen).

Viideo resources media type="custom" key="23460074" Finals Practice