Pinyin Fish Pond: Catch the Missing Half of a Sound - 9314 Toolbox - Pinyin Fish Pond

You can also open the lesson on its full page. Here's how the lesson is designed.

1. Half a sound missing beats ten rounds of copying

When kids memorize whole syllables as one block, māo sticks and mì doesn't. So this lesson never shows a complete pinyin: every cast is a word whose pinyin is missing a piece, the empty slot blinks with a question mark, and five fish cruise the pond holding pinyin cards.

Before picking a card the learner has to answer one prior question: is the missing part the initial or the final? Pick the wrong type and no letter will fit — the pond always holds at least one card of the wrong type, on purpose, to break the "click any letter" reflex.

2. Wrong catches cost nothing, by design

Practice apps that punish mistakes teach kids to stop trying. This one goes the other way: a wrong fish swims off, the cast count stays, and the lesson points somewhere — "what's missing is the initial: the short, quiet part at the front." Miss the same cast twice and the right fish lights up so the learner can recognize it once.

Stuck? Open the hints: three levels, one at a time — position first, then loudness, then method. The answer letter never appears in a hint.

3. Ten casts, then the pond grades you

A round is ten casts. Consecutive catches build a combo bonus, and the round ends with a star rating from "Koi Watcher" to "Pond Master" based on first-try accuracy. The results panel lists every word, the letter caught, and whether it was a first try — easy to review together.

The difficulty slider runs from 6 fish with near-identical cards (m/n, ān/āng) down to 4 fish with obviously different ones. And one more thing: "My own words" lets a parent or teacher add the character learned in class today — the lesson splits the pinyin into initial and final and hides one part in the pond.

4. Think first, then cast

Before playing, ask three questions: can you hold a note on m or on āo? If "cat" (māo) is missing its front piece, what's gone? If a final is missing, could the fish holding m be right? Then open the check-and-compare fold in the lesson.

The whole idea fits in one line: front sound light and short, back sound loud and long — the two snap together in one breath. Position plus loudness identifies the missing half every time.

FAQ

Does a wrong catch cost a cast?No. The fish swims away, the cast count stays, and you get direction first. Miss the same cast twice and the lesson lights up the right fish.

Is zh one initial or two?One. When shān is missing its initial, you're fishing for the whole sh — not s, not h.

Do my words get uploaded?No. Custom words stay in this browser only, and the footer link clears them in one click. Scoring and judging run locally; comments use the site's system comments and appear after review.

中文版：https://www.9314.cn/tools/pin-yin-yu-tang/