How Mandarin Fits into The Mimic Method
The core philosophy of the Mimic Method is as follows: The only way to achieve native level fluency in a language is by actively mimicking the speech patterns of native speakers. We can develop this ability by singing and rapping songs in the target language with a perfect accent.
Once listening and reproducing speech patterns becomes automatic, we can focus on acquiring the language through mimicking chunks of sound and attaching the proper meanings to them.
- When we listen to songs, our brains recognize speech patterns and develop mechanisms for processing them automatically.
- When we sing songs, we develop the coordination and muscle memory needed to reproduce these speech patterns automatically.
Once listening and reproducing speech patterns becomes automatic, we can focus on acquiring the language through mimicking chunks of sound and attaching the proper meanings to them.
The Increased Importance of Mimicry For Highly Tonal Languages

To be clear, virtually all languages are tonal to some degree. The term "tonal" only means that meaning can be communicated through pitch variation, i.e. the inflection of your voice. In English for example, the only acoustic difference between the question, “It was you?” and the accusation, “It was you!” is the tone.
What distinguishes languages like English from “highly tonal” languages like Mandarin is the type and degree of meaning information communicated through tone. In English, tone only communicates second level meanings like emotion and mode (i.e. declarative, interrogative, exclamation). In Mandarin on the other hand, tone determines the actual meaning of words.
When people speak foreign a language with an accent, much of that accent is attributed to the speaker applying his native tonal inflection patterns to the foreign speech. It is possible to apply a foreign tonal pattern to English and still be understood by native speakers since the tone is only of secondary importance. Highly tonal languages such as Mandarin, however, are much less forgiving of tonal accent. In Mandarin, saying something with an accent can result in actually saying something entirely different.
To give an example, there is a famous Chinese joke about a foreigner who means to order dumplings and instead tells the waitress that he wants to sleep with her. The word for “dumplings” and the word for “sleep” are the exact same in terms of their sounds/phonemes; the only difference is in the tones.
In other languages, mimicry is only necessary for achieving native-level fluency. In Mandarin, mimicry is the only way you will ever be understood at any level of fluency.
What distinguishes languages like English from “highly tonal” languages like Mandarin is the type and degree of meaning information communicated through tone. In English, tone only communicates second level meanings like emotion and mode (i.e. declarative, interrogative, exclamation). In Mandarin on the other hand, tone determines the actual meaning of words.
When people speak foreign a language with an accent, much of that accent is attributed to the speaker applying his native tonal inflection patterns to the foreign speech. It is possible to apply a foreign tonal pattern to English and still be understood by native speakers since the tone is only of secondary importance. Highly tonal languages such as Mandarin, however, are much less forgiving of tonal accent. In Mandarin, saying something with an accent can result in actually saying something entirely different.
To give an example, there is a famous Chinese joke about a foreigner who means to order dumplings and instead tells the waitress that he wants to sleep with her. The word for “dumplings” and the word for “sleep” are the exact same in terms of their sounds/phonemes; the only difference is in the tones.
In other languages, mimicry is only necessary for achieving native-level fluency. In Mandarin, mimicry is the only way you will ever be understood at any level of fluency.
The Challenges of Learning Mandarin Through Song

In the Mimic Method, we use a technique called Rhythmic Phonetic Training (or RPT for short) to learn and memorize foreign language song lyrics. RPT focuses exclusively on the rhythm and phonemes of a song, since these are the most important attributes of speech.
The rhythm and phonemes are also the most important attributes of Mandarin speech, but the addition of tone complicates the process of learning through music. This is because the melody of a Mandarin song will distort the tones. Much of a song's meaning can be abstracted by context, but even Chinese people have to look up the written lyrics of songs to fully understand them. So you cannot learn tones through melodic music. Fortunately, the majority of the music you'll learn is tonally consistent.
The rhythm and phonemes are also the most important attributes of Mandarin speech, but the addition of tone complicates the process of learning through music. This is because the melody of a Mandarin song will distort the tones. Much of a song's meaning can be abstracted by context, but even Chinese people have to look up the written lyrics of songs to fully understand them. So you cannot learn tones through melodic music. Fortunately, the majority of the music you'll learn is tonally consistent.
Developing Tonal Awareness & Command

Recent research has shown that most speakers of non-tonal languages are actually deaf to the tonal variations of Chinese. As an English speaker, your brain has had no reason to develop such a finely-tuned sensitivity to pitch variation (unless you have trained music). So when you first hear the Chinese tones, you will NOT be able to distinguish the differences.
Your brain will, however, develop this sensitivity with enough targeted exposure. I have developed a series of techniques for developing tonal awareness and command. Along with these techniques, passively listening to tonally accurate Chinese rap and other Chinese language media will help your brain develop this awareness.
The key is patience. You ABSOLUTELY MUST develop tonal awareness and command before learning anything else in Mandarin. Unfortunately, most Mandarin learners are impatient and delve into grammar and vocabulary study before developing tonal awareness and command. As a result, they develop and reinforce an arsenal of words and expressions that are completely unintelligible to Chinese people. In my personal experience living in China for a year, I'd estimate that 90% of the foreigners I met studying and living abroad there were fluent in an unintelligible version of Chinese.
You do NOT want to end up like this. These people have literally wasted hundreds of dollars and years of their lives learning a language that no one understands but themselves. The lazy, “accented” approach to language-learning has no place in Chinese.
Your brain will, however, develop this sensitivity with enough targeted exposure. I have developed a series of techniques for developing tonal awareness and command. Along with these techniques, passively listening to tonally accurate Chinese rap and other Chinese language media will help your brain develop this awareness.
The key is patience. You ABSOLUTELY MUST develop tonal awareness and command before learning anything else in Mandarin. Unfortunately, most Mandarin learners are impatient and delve into grammar and vocabulary study before developing tonal awareness and command. As a result, they develop and reinforce an arsenal of words and expressions that are completely unintelligible to Chinese people. In my personal experience living in China for a year, I'd estimate that 90% of the foreigners I met studying and living abroad there were fluent in an unintelligible version of Chinese.
You do NOT want to end up like this. These people have literally wasted hundreds of dollars and years of their lives learning a language that no one understands but themselves. The lazy, “accented” approach to language-learning has no place in Chinese.
Getting Started
Because mastering the tones will be your biggest challenge, I've created an entire unit based around them, called Tone Bootcamp. In Tone Bootcamp, you will learn about all the little nuances of the Mandarin tones in isolation and combination and get a lot of feedback on your own pronunciation.
In the meantime, we are going to forget about tones and just focus on the core consonant and vowel sounds. Fortunately, most of the Mandarin sounds already exist in English, but there are a few nuances that most learners overlook. In the following sections, we will go over these little nuances and clean up your articulation of Mandarin sound.
In the meantime, we are going to forget about tones and just focus on the core consonant and vowel sounds. Fortunately, most of the Mandarin sounds already exist in English, but there are a few nuances that most learners overlook. In the following sections, we will go over these little nuances and clean up your articulation of Mandarin sound.
Once you have finished this page, you may move on to the next section - Syllable Finals.