LingoDrop
Chinese · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "星期" in Chinese?
shing-CHEE, both syllables high and flat. A thin palatal hiss then an aspirated palatal stop — two different sounds made in almost the same place.
xīngqī
Two level tones in a row, giving no pitch movement at all — an excellent calibration exercise, since any sag on the second syllable reveals an unstable first tone. It also makes the word a stable neighbour, leaving any dipping tone before it fully intact.
Listen: 星期
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
下个星期见。
Xià ge xīngqī jiàn.
See you next week.
Listen: 下个星期见。
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下个星期见。 gives xià falling, ge toneless, xīng level, qī level, jiàn falling. So the sentence drops, empties out, holds high for two beats, and drops again. That flat middle section is what learners let drift downward, turning a plateau into a gentle decline and losing both first tones at once.
Where English speakers slip
The two initials both get produced as English "sh" and "ch" with rounded lips and a retracted tongue, when both should be made forward with the lips spread. The aspiration contrast is the other half: x has none and q has a lot. And the -ing ending on the first syllable drifts forward to xīn, which is a different and very common syllable.