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Although we give you the tones for every new word that is introduced, don’t try to remember the tones separately from the word. The tones are given to you to help you pronounce the word initially. After that, remember how the word is said and every time you pronounce it, pronounce it in that same way. This way you don’t have to consciously worry about what tone a word is since if you pronounce it in the same way that you originally heard it, that will give you the right tones as well.

When listening to a new dialogue in our lessons, try and pick out as much vocabulary as you can and see how much you can figure out before listening to the explanation. Guess the meanings of the words you don’t understand and try and ‘connect the dots’ to figure out the overall meaning of the dialogue. After listening to the explanations, see if you were right. Some people have mastered this skill well and learn to read body language and clue in on other signals to guess the meaning of words and sentences they don’t understand. If you can master this skill, you won’t be put off by hearing unfamiliar words and in fact can look forward to it as a challenge.