Mandarin tone visualizer
See your Chinese tones as you say them. Pick a tone, choose the textbook shape or how a native speaker really says it, and your pitch is drawn over that line with a tone accuracy score. A free Chinese pronunciation checker for tones, no sign-up.
The line is our native speaker's average at everyday speed. Real speech starts higher, dips in the middle but not to the floor, then climbs back.
Tap Start, then say any syllable in third tone (or mǎ 馬) and see your pitch drawn over the line.
How it works
Mandarin tones are pitch shapes: high and level, rising, dipping, falling. While you speak, the visualizer measures the pitch of your voice many times a second and draws it as your own line on the same board as the reference, so you can see where your tone goes flat, starts too high or falls too early.
The percentage is tone accuracy: how close your shape is to the line you picked, whatever your speed. For single tones it also says which of the four tones your shape sounded most like. It checks the tone only, not the consonants or vowels.
Textbook vs real speech
Tone charts teach 55, 35, 214 and 51. Real speech is softer and faster: the third tone usually stays low, and pairs change shape (two third tones become a rising tone plus a third tone). Switch between the two lines to see the difference, then practise the one you need. More in the guide to the four Chinese tones.
Questions
What is the difference between Real speech and Textbook?
Textbook is the classic tone chart: first tone high and level (55), second tone rising (35), third tone dipping and rising (214), fourth tone falling (51). Real speech is the average shape of many words recorded by our native Taiwan Mandarin speaker at everyday speed. They often differ: real third tone rarely rises as high as the chart says, and two third tones in a row are not said as written. Pick the one you want to practise; you are scored against that line.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. It runs in the browser on iPhone (Safari) and Android (Chrome). Tap Start and allow the microphone. Hold the phone about a hand's length from your mouth, in a quiet room.
Why do I have to calibrate first?
Everyone's voice sits at a different height. You say one high, level mā and one low mǎ, and the visualizer sizes the board to your voice. That takes about ten seconds, and it is saved on this device. If you have played FlappyTone on this device, it uses that calibration instead.
Why does it say “couldn't hear that”?
The sound was too short or too quiet to measure a tone, so it gives no score instead of a wrong one. Say it a little longer and a little louder, closer to the microphone. A creaky, very low third tone can also drop out; that is normal, just try again.
Is my voice recorded or uploaded?
No. The pitch is measured in your browser while you speak, and the sound is not saved or sent anywhere.