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Chinese tones interact, and the 3-3 rule means the first of two third tones is pronounced as a rising tone instead.

Here is how it works:

• Take 你好: written nǐ hǎo, but spoken as ní hǎo because of this rule.
• Other common words follow the same pattern: 很好 (hěn hǎo) becomes "hén hǎo".
• Ignoring tone sandhi makes speech choppy, which is why practising this early matters.

This phonetic shortcut makes Mandarin flow better and is essential for sounding natural.

In Wellington, private Chinese tutoring runs about £15/h per session.

This rate can vary based on several factors:

• Your proficiency level, whether you are starting from scratch or refining fluency
• The tutor's qualifications, native speaker status, and teaching experience
• The choice between face-to-face, online, or hybrid learning
• Booking multiple lessons upfront often lowers the per-hour cost

Many tutors offer the first lesson free, so you can test their teaching style before committing.

The foundation of Chinese numeracy is mastering these ten basic numerals and their tones.

Here are the numbers with pinyin and tones:

• One is 一 (yī), two is 二 (èr), three is 三 (sān)
• 四 (sì) = 4, 五 (wǔ) = 5, 六 (liù) = 6
• 7-10: 七 qī, 八 bā, 九 jiǔ, 十 shí

Once you know 1-10, larger numbers follow a logical pattern: 11 is 十一 (shí yī), 20 is 二十 (èr shí).

Practise saying these aloud daily until the tones become automatic.

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