Practicing your tones online

As I was searching online for teaching materials for my lesson plans, I found a website where anyone can exercise and practice Mandarin tones as many times as desired. I think it is a very good tool even you don't know any Mandarin. This tool can give you a good idea of the 4 tones in speaking Mandarin, and show you how Chinese people SING their language so beautifully.

• The 1st tone is marked with a line ("a" + "^-" = "ā"). This is a high, even, and constant tone.
• The 2nd tone is marked with a rising line ("a" + "´" = "á"). This is a rising tone that grows stronger.
• The 3rd tone is marked with a hook ("a" + "^v" = "ă"). This tone is first falling and fading, then rising and growing strong.
• The 4th tone is marked with a falling line ("a" + "`" = "à"). This is a quickly falling and fading tone. Try to make it strong, hard, and fast.

Tone drill: http://www.shufawest.us/language/tonedrill.html

If you are interested in learning pinyin, Wikipedia online has a lot of information for you.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin