When speaking to your Mandarin speaking family, be vert careful when it comes to tones, especially with the 4 different characters that are pronounced Ma..... 妈 Mā (mother) - tone 1 麻 Má (hemp) - tone 2 马 Mǎ (horse) - tone 3 骂 Mà (scold) - tone 4 Calling your mother-in-law a horse....could be a very VERY bad thing