How do I pronounce Xué (学)?
Xue can be broken down into three components:


X, ipa: ɕ, similar to the English ‘sh’ in sheep but with the tongue placed closer to the teeth.
u, ipa: y, not to be confused with ipa letter: u, similar to German: ü; or the u in French: tu
e, ipa: e, similar to the “e” in English: yes.


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Tone: second tone in Mandarin, which 学 is, is a 35 on the tonal scale - meaning you need to start kind of high-pitched to begin with and then rise it even higher. It’s often compared to the English intonation of asking a question, with a rise at the end.

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The biggest pitfalls for foreigners: most westerns end up pronouncing 学 more like 水 - I’m not totally sure why because the initials and finals are completely different. Try finding audio to imitate and only treat pinyin as a guide because it won’t match up with English in the way you might imagine it should.