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When listening to speakers from different parts of China, expect to hear differences in accents. For example you hear Kirin pronounce Ránhòu starting with the “r” sound (as it’s spelled). However, in other regions you may hear versions like Lánhòu as some speakers alternate “l” and “r” sounds. To keep things simple and consistent we recommend you pronounce it as its spelled and as Kirin pronounces it. However, it is important to recognize the regional differences that you may encounter when other people speak Chinese to you.

Our last lesson’s motivation tip also extends to Chinese characters. Many people are turned off from learning Chinese characters just because of the sheer number of them that would need to be learned. However, while there are over 15 000 Chinese characters out there (even more if you count ancient characters that aren’t in use today), learning the most frequent 2000 is enough to allow you to read more than 80% of a Chinese newspaper. Use the tools we have provided in the Premium section to test your recognition of the Chinese characters used in our lessons. You will find many of them repeated from lesson to lesson which should aid in recognition.