You can know exactly how Mandarin is supposed to sound—and still not sound that way when you speak.

Maybe you know the tones.

You know the initials and finals.

You can pronounce something correctly when you concentrate on it.

And then you start speaking normally—and the old pronunciation comes right back.

That's because persistent pronunciation problems aren't all the same.

Sometimes you don't know the correct pronunciation.

Sometimes you can't reliably hear the distinction.

Sometimes you can hear it and understand it, but you don't yet have enough control over your voice to produce it consistently.

Sometimes you can do it perfectly in a drill but lose it in conversation.

And sometimes you've simply said something incorrectly so many times that the mistake has become automatic.

Those are five different problems.

They require different solutions.

That's where individual coaching becomes useful.

Our job isn't simply to listen to you speak and make a list of mistakes.

It's to figure out why those mistakes are happening, determine which ones matter most, and give you the specific training you need to correct them.

Your coaching starts with an assessment of your current pronunciation.

Depending on what we find, we may work on:

• individual tones and tone combinations

• tones in words, phrases, and spontaneous speech

• initials, finals, and difficult sound contrasts

• rhythm, stress, phrasing, and connected speech

• habitual or fossilized errors

• hearing and monitoring your own pronunciation

• pronunciation problems in the vocabulary you actually use

Then we build your training around your Mandarin.

The five reasons pronunciation problems persist

1. Knowledge

You don't know—or don't remember—the correct pronunciation.

Solution: learn the correct target and make it readily available when you speak.

2. Perception

You can't reliably hear the distinction you're trying to produce.

Solution: targeted listening and discrimination work.

3. Control

You know exactly what you intend to say, but your mouth produces something different.

Solution: guided imitation, feedback, adjustment, and repetition.

4. Transfer

You can pronounce something correctly during an exercise but lose it during normal speech.

Solution: systematically move the new pronunciation from controlled practice into increasingly natural speech.

5. Habit

The incorrect pronunciation has become automatic after months or years of repetition.

Solution: identify the old pattern, replace it deliberately, and practice the new pattern until it becomes automatic.

This distinction is crucial.

If your problem is control, another explanation won't fix it.

If your problem is perception, blindly repeating the sound may not fix it.

If your problem is transfer, doing more isolated drills won't necessarily change the Mandarin you actually speak.

Different problems require different training.

What pronunciation coaching actually looks like

The core of the program is guided imitation.

You listen to accurate native-speaker models.

You reproduce them.

We listen carefully to what you're actually doing.

You receive precise feedback.

You adjust.

Then you repeat the process until the correct pronunciation becomes increasingly stable.

Over time, we move from controlled practice toward the Mandarin you actually need to speak.

That can mean working with your own vocabulary, recurring errors, conversations, professional terminology, or other speaking situations that matter to you.

The goal isn't to become good at pronunciation exercises.

The goal is to improve the Mandarin that comes out of your mouth when you're actually speaking.

Choose the level of support you need

Five-Week Pronunciation Coaching — $597

A focused pronunciation intensive for learners who want expert diagnosis, targeted improvement, and a clear system for continued practice.

You'll receive:

• one private coaching session per week

• an initial pronunciation assessment

• a personalized training plan

• weekly practice assignments

• feedback on submitted recordings

• work on your own vocabulary and speaking needs

• a personalized list of recurring pronunciation problems, with targeted advice and drills for correcting each one

• a final review and continued-practice plan

During the five weeks, we'll prioritize the issues having the greatest effect on your speech.

You should finish with a much clearer understanding of what's going wrong, improved control over the areas we've addressed, and a practical method for continuing to improve afterward.