Yingo blog

Make tones visible.

Field notes on Mandarin tone perception, visual pitch feedback, tone-pair drills, and the small pronunciation rules that matter more than they look.

Introducing Yingo: see your tones, fix your tones

Yingo v0.1 is here — Mandarin tone contours drawn on a musical staff, real-time on-device pitch scoring, and Māo-Māo the cat coach. Here's what's inside and what's next.

June 10, 2026 · 3 min read

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02 sandhi third tone pronunciation

The 3+3 rule: why nǐ hǎo isn't pronounced the way it's written

Third-tone sandhi explained: why 你好 is really ní hǎo, how 水饺 'dumplings' turns into 睡觉 'sleep' in a learner's mouth, and the half-third tone nobody warns you about.

June 5, 2026 · 4 min read

03 tones pronunciation training

Why Mandarin tones are the hardest part (and how to actually train them)

Tones aren't decoration — they're the difference between mā 妈 'mother' and mà 骂 'to scold'. Why English-trained ears filter pitch out, and a training method that actually works.

June 2, 2026 · 4 min read