Fix up your Mandarin initial consonants!

Do you find Mandarin initial consonants frustrating?

You know what I mean...

● You struggle to pronounce initials like zh-, defaulting to something like English "j" because it's "close enough"—and hope native speakers will figure it out.

● You speak unclearly on purpose because that way people won't hear how you're mispronouncing things (you're not alone)

● You mix up your q- and ch-, or your zh- and j-, and no matter how many times you hear them, they still sound the same.

● Native speakers either don't understand you or keep correcting your pronunciation—leaving you frustrated because you can't hear the difference between how they say it and how you do.

If these problems make you want to pull your hair out…

You're definitely not the only one!

Everyone struggles with mastering initial consonants in Mandarin.

A lot of those sounds probably don't exist in your native language—or if they do, they're used differently.

The usual explanations like "zh- is kind of like 'j' in English" often make things worse, because these shortcuts lead you to say the wrong thing consistently.

It might seem hopeless, like you'll always have foreign-sounding pronunciation.

But now there's a clear path to mastering Mandarin initials!

What if...

● ...you could hear all the Mandarin consonants clearly and distinguish them effortlessly?

● ...you could pronounce even the trickiest initials like q-, x-, and zh- with confidence, no second-guessing?

● ...you could stop guessing or relying on "close enough" and start speaking clearly and naturally?

It's all possible when you sign up for the
January 30-Day Initial Consonants Fix-up Challenge!

With your coach...

Here’s what the challenge entails:

We’ve crafted a 30-day program designed to fix your initial consonants.

You’ll learn how to train your ear to hear subtle differences between sounds, control your speech organs for precision, and drill your consonants into muscle memory so you can produce them effortlessly in natural speech.

By the end of the program, you'll see massive improvement, along with the tools and techniques to keep refining your pronunciation on your own!

Each day has specific tasks for you to complete, which are designed to:

1. help you to hear and produce Mandarin consonants more clearly and accurately,

2. develop more control over your speech organs—the muscles in your lips, tongue, and mouth that work together to create speech,

3. give you a more complete and nuanced understanding of the sounds of Mandarin, and of how those sounds are represented in pinyin.

Just 15-30 minutes a day is all it takes.

All you have to do is show up and do the tasks we give you each day.

The results?

By the end of the month, this experience will deepen your mastery of Mandarin consonants, enabling you to:

● Distinguish and produce them accurately and naturally...

● Begin to incorporate these consonants into your speech, enhancing fluency and comprehension.

What You'll Get...

The concept is simple yet incredibly effective!

Every day, for 30 days, you’ll receive a few tasks to complete.

Days 1-2: The Priming Phase

The first few days will consist of audio and video lessons—foundational knowledge to carry you through the rest of the challenge.

We’ll review the basics: how the Mandarin syllable is structured, the basic points of articulation, voicing, aspiration, and more.

This will be crucial knowledge for the rest of the challenge. But knowing is one thing—the trick is being able to hear and pronounce the consonants correctly in context, in real speech. And that requires practice, not knowledge.

Days 3-30: The Drilling Phase

So for the rest of the 30-day challenge, you’ll spend your 30 minutes each day doing intensive work on your vowels.

• We’ll break down the consonants into manageable groups:
•  
• ● Days 3-7: Labials (b, p, m, f)
• ● Days 8-15: Dentals (d, t, n, l, z, c, s)
• ● Days 16-20: Palatals (j, q, x)
• ● Days 21-25: Retroflexes (zh, ch, sh, r)
• ● Days 26-30: Velars (g, k, h)
•  

We'll give you everything you need for each day, and you just have to show up and do your tasks. Just like a basketball player shoots free throws for reps to build muscle memory for free throws, you'll do consonants for reps to build muscle memory for consonants.

We don’t want you to just "know" about consonants. We want you to train your ear to hear them accurately, and train the muscles in your mouth to produce them reliably.

AND

Each week during the challenge, I'll be conducting a few group Q&A/coaching sessions. I'll schedule the times to accommodate for different time zones.

Plus, you'll get access to the Initial Consonants Fix-Up Community—a whole cohort of people going through the challenge along with you. Find an accountability partner, ask questions, and share tips—our communities are always super lively, and many people have made friends with people they met in the community.

The Results

By the end of the challenge you’ll have practiced all of your initial consonants correctly hundreds of times each.

Yes, you read that right: hundreds of times.

Imagine how much you’ll improve with that amount of practice dedicated to just tuning up your consonants!

You’ll also have a record of how you’ve improved, because you’ll be recording yourself a few times throughout the challenge.

 

Ready to Fix Your Vowels?

We've meticulously organized the entire challenge, so all you need to do is show up and dive in!

Here's what you need to know to join us:

● Start date: January 1st

● Daily time commitment: up to 30 minutes

● Total duration: 30 days

The investment in your vowel transformation is just $97 — equivalent to a couple of sessions with a professional tutor.

All materials, audio files, video lessons, activities, and community interaction are included.

And lifetime access means you get to keep everything, even after the challenge is finished.

Click the "Enroll Now" button to sign up today.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What level is the challenge for?

No matter your level, if you're struggling with pronunciation, this challenge is for you. If you're a beginner, you'll get started off on the right foot with pronunciation. If you're further along, you'll be able to identify and fix your existing issues.

How can I access the challenge?

Mobile, desktop, laptop, tablet... The challenge is super user-friendly and you'll be able to log on from anywhere!

What exactly will I learn? How will this challenge help me?

During this challenge, we'll start by reviewing the basics: how the Mandarin syllable is structured, the basic points of articulation, voicing, aspiration, etc. After that, we'll systematically work through all of the initials in Mandarin.

Along the way, you'll be doing lots of listening and imitating, so you can drill those sounds into your muscle memory. You'll also develop a much more sensitive ear—improving your accent is as much about ear training as it is about mouth training. By the end of the challenge, your consonants will be significantly better and more natural-sounding, and you'll also have a sharper ear for the sounds of Mandarin.

What's so special about this method anyway?

There are a lot of sounds in Mandarin that likely don't exist in your native language. That's definitely the case for English speakers, but it's true no matter what your native language is. Many learners default to making the "approximate" consonant sounds that they're more familiar with, like saying "shway" instead of xué. That's largely due to three problems, which this challenge is designed to fix:

● inability to hear the consonants accurately,

● not knowing quite how to shape their mouths to make the right sound, and

● not having the muscle memory to be able to make the right sounds automatically.

Most people learn the basics of pronunciation early on and then move on before having really mastered the sounds. That's normal, but it leads to fossilized pronunciation issues that can be hard to fix, especially if you're either unaware that they exist, or unsure how to fix them.

With the "Initial Consonants Fix-up" challenge, you'll drill those consonants until they come out naturally, and sound just like a native speaker! The magic of these drills is that they sharpen your ears and move fundamental tasks like pronouncing consonants into your muscle memory.

As you complete your reps each day, the sounds will start to become a part of your subconscious. It doesn't happen right away - in fact it may take a few weeks of consistent work for you to feel the real effects. But by the end of the challenge, you'll have a new command of Mandarin consonants that will amaze you.

I'm not sure I can commit for 30 days

Your daily tasks should only take 30 minutes—sometimes less. The principle of the challenge is, "do a little each day—consistently—and big results will follow." 30 minutes is a pretty manageable amount of time to devote to your Chinese.

You can break it up into 5 minute chunks throughout the day:
• 5 minutes after breakfast
• 5 minutes on your lunch break
• 5 minutes before dinner
• 5 minutes while waiting for the bus...whenever is convenient for you!

The secret sauce is the consistency - working at it for a little bit of time every day. You'll be amazed at the massive progress you make from simply showing up every day to give focused attention to one aspect of your Chinese!

What if I decide the challenge isn't for me?

All of our products come with a 30-day money back guarantee. If you are unsatisfied with it for any reason, reach out to me at any point during the challenge and I'll issue you a full refund.

How long do I have access to the course after the end of the challenge?

How does "lifetime access" sound? While the challenge is 30 days, you will have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like.

What exactly does "lifetime access" mean?

In practical terms, it means the course materials will be available online for as long as Outlier is in business. If we do ever go out of business or otherwise need to remove the course for any reason, we'll make the material available for you to download for a period of at least 6 months.