Hi, and welcome to my third newsletter! First off, I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who has replied over the last few weeks. Your feedback has been invaluable, giving me great suggestions for this newsletter and insights into some of the challenges you're facing. Please, keep those emails coming, as they help me tailor the content to better serve you.

嗨！这是我的第三篇推文。首先，我想对过去几周给我写邮件的各位表达衷心的感谢。你的反馈对我来说非常重要，所以也真心希望在将来会收到更多的回复和建议。让我们一起将每次的新推文变得更加精彩！

One of the most common struggles that almost every Chinese learner encounters is how to differentiate between tones. So, in the second half of today’s newsletter, I’ll be sharing some tips to help you with tone learning. Additionally, I'll be creating more videos on this topic in the future.

几乎我遇到的每一个中文学习者都会说：”中文声调好难啊！“所以在今天推文的后半部分我会分享一些关于练习声调的小技巧，同时我也会努力做出更多的视频帮助大家解决这一难题。

But before we dive into that, let's lighten the mood a bit and allow me to introduce you to one of my favorite Chinese movies, "An Elephant Sitting Still." Scratch that—it's impossible to keep things lighthearted because this movie is quite depressing, with an even more tragic real-life backstory. So, let me provide you with some background on how this movie came to life.

在这之前让我们先来聊一聊更轻松的话题：电影。当然今天我要谈的电影并不轻松，因为不管是剧情还是背后的故事都很悲伤。即使这样，我还是非常喜欢这部电影。

An Elephant Sitting Still

Hu Bo was a student at the Beijing Film Academy, and over the years, he had penned a few books, one of them being "An Elephant Sitting Still." He adapted his own novel into a movie. However, there were rumours that the movie’s producers (Liu Xuan and Wang Xiaoshuai) intended to halve the film’s running time (the movie ended up being almost 4 hours long), which placed Bo in direct conflict with them. Tragically, Hu Bo took his own life in the final stages of editing his movie at the age of 29. It's difficult to ascertain if his suicide was partially due to this conflict with his producers, but upon reading his novel or watching his movie, it’s impossible not to consider the possibility that he might have been battling depression himself. "An Elephant Sitting Still" is Bo Hu’s first and final movie, yet it has won several film awards, including Best First Feature Film at the Berlin International Film Festival and Best Feature Film at the Golden Horse Film Festival.

胡波曾经就读于北京电影学院。他是电影《大象席地而坐》的导演和编剧，也是原著小说的作者。当时有传言称，电影的制片人（刘璇，王小帅）关于将电影时长（电影最终上映时长近四个小时）减半和导演胡波有过很大的争执。胡波在29岁时结束了自己的生命，当时电影《大象席地而坐》正处于剪辑的最后阶段。我们很难说胡波的自杀和此前的争执有关，但通过电影能感受到他当时一定深受抑郁症的折磨。《大象席地而坐》是胡波的第一部也是最后一部电影，但它却获得了很多奖项，其中包括柏林国际电影节费比西国际影评人奖和金马奖最佳剧情长片奖。

My take: This movie certainly isn’t for everyone, so I must caution you that it's one of the most emotionally heavy films I’ve watched (visually and narratively), and its nearly 4-hour runtime can be quite taxing. However, if you appreciate serious dramas and wish to gain insight into real social issues in modern China, don’t let the long runtime deter you. The film follows various protagonists, each grappling with their own hardships. It delves into themes like bullying, sexual abuse, and unhappiness, prompting viewers to ponder whether we deserve happiness if we ignore others’ suffering. "An Elephant Sitting Still" is a film that lingers in your mind long after the credits roll. Rating: 9/10

我的影评：这部电影一定不适合所有人看，因为它是我看过的最沉重的电影之一（无论是视觉上还是叙事方式上）。悲伤的故事内容加上将近四个小时的电影时长，看这个电影一定不是非常轻松的事。但是如果你对反映中国当下社会问题的现实题材电影感兴趣，那一定不要仅仅因为时长就放弃它。电影通过故事中每个人物的痛苦与挣扎深入探讨了霸凌，性虐待等问题，引人深思。评分：9/10

For Chinese learners: The film was shot in Jingxing County, the former coal capital of Hebei Province, yet the story unfolds in a fictional city somewhere in China. Most characters speak standard Mandarin, and the dialogue feels authentic, setting it apart from most modern Chinese blockbusters. I highly recommend this movie!

写给你们：电影拍摄于河北省的井陉县，但故事中的城市是虚构的。在当下这个商业电影满天飞的时代，《大象席地而坐》是非常特别的存在。我强烈推荐这部电影！

Mastering Chinese Tones - A Few Tips

I pondered long and hard on compiling a list of ten different tips to enhance your tone proficiency, such as listening to native speakers and using tongue twisters. While undoubtedly beneficial, I realized such a lengthy list might prove tedious, and probably you wouldn’t even finish reading it, let alone taking my advice. Therefore, I've opted to provide just two tips, which I believe will prove far more impactful. I'll begin with the most crucial one and finish it off with a lighthearted suggestion, to counterbalance all the depression in today’s newsletter.

当准备这篇推文时，我整理出了十条提升中文声调的方法，比如：多听多模仿母语者口音，练习绕口令等等。这些方法当然有用，但是我觉得与其一一地列出这些方法，不如分享两个简单有效的小技巧，首先让我带你一起在英语的语言环境中认识中文声调。

Tip 1: All 4 tones in Chinese can actually be found in English too.

中文的四个声调都可以在英语中找到。

First Tone (High-Level): yī/mā - Hi! Picture how you say "Hi!" when greeting someone enthusiastically.

 一声：很热情地和别人打招呼。

Second Tone (Rising): yí/má - Really? - Think of how your intonation rises when you say "Really?" expressing surprise or disbelief.

 二声：很惊讶地问“really？”

Third Tone (Falling-Rising): yǐ/mǎ - yeah - Think of the way you say "yeah". Your voice drops down low before rises up again.

 三声：先降后升的语调说"yeah"。

Fourth Tone (Falling): yì/mà - No! - Imagine the sharp descent in tone when you say "No!" to express disagreement.

四声：态度很坚决地说 "No!"

Begin by practicing the English equivalent of each tone before transitioning to a few Chinese words using the same tone. Once you're confident that your tones sound similar in both languages, proceed to combine words with different tones. As you start feeling your tones improving, advance to practicing with sentences. Continue this method for a few weeks, and before you know it, you'll find yourself pronouncing the tones effortlessly! Now, onto the next challenge: remembering which character corresponds to each tone... but that's a topic for another time.

从英语环境中感知摸索声调，然后用中文里的单个字进行练习。对每个声调都很熟悉后，可以开始练习两个不同声调的词，最后通过句子练习。当你发现声调没那么难了，那么下一步要做的就是，记住每个汉字以及它对应的声调，这个话题我们下次再聊。

Tip 2: Now, here's the fun one. When practicing tones, incorporate head movements that correspond to the tone. For instance, when practicing the falling tone, tilt your head down to the left as your voice drops when pronouncing 'mà'. Do the opposite movement as your voice rises when pronouncing 'má'. Does it seem silly? Yes, it does. Will it help? Absolutely. Just be aware, it might be challenging to break this habit when speaking to others. 😄

接下来这条，你可能会觉得好玩，也可能会想：这也太傻了！那就是在练习时用头的动作来配合声调的样子，从此加强你对这个声调的印象。比如发四声时就让头向左倾斜然后下降。和别人聊天时一定不要保持这个习惯。😄

Let me know if you've tried these tips and whether they've been helpful or not. Or if you've finished watching "An Elephant Sitting Still" and need some emotional support. 😅

记得告诉我今天分享的技巧到底有没有帮助到你。如果你看完《大象席地而坐》需要找人聊一聊，也欢迎写邮件给我。

Until next time,

Sandy

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