Tips for the “ia” sound:
“ia” sounds like sounds like “ee-ah” (quickly, as one syllable), like the “ya” in yacht.
“ia” is written as “ya” when there is no initial consonant.
Tips for the “ie” sound:
“ie” sounds like like “yet”.
“ie” is written as “ye” when there is no initial consonant.
Tips for the “iao” sound:
“iao” starts with “ee” in “see” and ends with “ow” in “now” .
“iao” is written as “yao” when there is no initial consonant.
Tips for the “iou” sound:
“iou” (iu)sounds like “yo” as in “you” or “eo” as in “Leo”, close to “u” in “union”.
“iou” is written as “you” when there is no initial consonant.