Mandarin foundations
Two notations.
One way into sound.
Pinyin and Bopomofo help you read how a Mandarin syllable is pronounced. Neither replaces Chinese characters, and both need tones.
Latin-letter notation
āHanyu Pinyin
Familiar letters, new sound rules. Start with initials, selected finals and tone marks.
45 starter cards · Open Pinyin ↗Taiwan’s pronunciation notation
ㄅBopomofo
Learn the 37 Zhuyin symbols, with Pinyin correspondences and traditional-character examples.
37 symbols · Open Bopomofo ↗Which should I start with?
Pinyin is useful for many Mandarin courses, dictionaries and typing tools. Bopomofo is especially useful when working with Taiwanese learning materials. Choose the notation used by your course; you can learn the other later. Pinyin can accompany either simplified or traditional characters.
The cards develop written recognition. Pair them with listening and feedback from a teacher or trusted pronunciation resource.