BaoBao Talk
The 14 places and 5 tone settings
The way a character ends decides where its scene happens. The tone decides where in that place you are standing. Between them they pin down the second half of the sound and the tone, which is the part learners most often skip and then have to unlearn.
Places 14
One per ending. Choose places you can walk through in your head: somewhere you have actually been beats somewhere invented.
| Ending | Place | HSK 1 characters |
|---|---|---|
| – | the Lighthouseno final at all: just the bare beam | 一七不习书事五住体你几出医十+43 |
| a | the Farmhouseaaah, out in the open air | 下他假八吗吧哪大她妈家差打拿+7 |
| ai | the Ice RinkI skate | 买再在坏块外太奶孩开快来爱白+3 |
| an | the Antique ShopAN antique | 三元先关前半南天山干年店慢晚+22 |
| ang | the Aircraft Hangarh-ANG-ar | 上两唱商场帮常床忘忙想房放方+3 |
| ao | the Owl SanctuaryOW-l | 到包叫号告好小少找教早条校毛+10 |
| e | the Car Parkuh, where did I leave it | 个么也了些介写别呢和哥喝姐学+16 |
| ei | the Bakeryb-AKE-ry | 会北回备妹对岁最杯水没睡累给+4 |
| en | the Engine ShedEN-gine | 人什今们准分很怎您文新本真认+5 |
| eng | the Laundrettethe drum goes ung-ung-ung | 京兴冷净名听影明星朋正生病等+5 |
| o | the Rowing Clubr-OW | 作做国坐多左我昨果桌火说过错 |
| ong | the Gong Foundryg-ONG | 东中从动同工用送重 |
| ou | the Oat MillOA-ts | 九休候六友口右后就手有楼牛球+3 |
| er | the Pearl Diver's Hutp-EAR-l | 二儿 |
Tone settings 5
Every place has the same five spots. A character's tone says which one the scene plays out in, so the tone is carried by the picture rather than remembered as a number bolted onto the pinyin. The colours here are the same ones the app uses throughout.
| Tone | Where in the place | HSK 1 characters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | the flat forecourt out frontlevel ground, level pitch | 一七三东中书些京今他休先八关+50 |
| 2 | the stairs going upthe pitch climbs with you | 习人什从儿元别前十南同名和回+43 |
| 3 | the sunken pond in the yarddown into the dip, then back out | 两九也买五体你假写冷准几北午+49 |
| 4 | the slope down to the cellarone sharp drop | 上下不个事二介会住作候做六再+93 |
| neutral | the roofnothing to climb, no weight at all | 么了们吗吧呢子的着 |
Hear the tone, then place it
The setting only helps if you can hear which tone you are dealing with. The app trains that with human recordings and a pitch contour for every character.