Who can hear me ?

[oly2006]

I'm at beggining of learning chinese and i still don't know if i'm using good the 4 tones. i've learned some greetings words , the numbers and the (woo,ni,ta are pronouns,right?) and i'd be interested to speak with somebody oin messenger(skype) tyo hear me saying the words and to find out if i'm using well the 4 tones because you know if you're starting to learn something wrong you'll always use in the wrong way. i'd prefer a native chinese.

i'd be thankfu

thanks

[roddy]

Why not record yourself speaking and attach it to a message here, then everyone can listen

You can use Audacity to record yourself, then click the button when making a new post to attach the file.

[kudra]

The Chinese course at www.fsi-language-courses.com has a careful and no-nonsense introduction to the tones. It's at the beginning, the section on pronunciation and romanization in the resource module. That site has mp3's and text. There are other sites on the web that drill the tones. But actually as roddy said, easiest is to load an mp3 of your own speach and let us comment.

[nipponman]

You can use Audacity to record yourself, then click the button when making a new post to attach the file.

I've been looking for a good recording device ever since "Sound Recorder" mysteriously disappeared from my computer... Thanks for the link

[oly2006]

yes..i'll record myself and i'll put it here atached..

[oly2006]

hi... i've uploded 2 audio files(atached) , the first one "4 tones" are the 4 tones and the second one "woo" it's woo3 shi3huan1 nii3.. i know i suck but i wait sugestions ...i didn't repeted the 4 tones to pronounce them in the way are in my mind ...

thanks

4 tones.wav

woo.wav

[imron]

but i wait sugestions

Learn hanyu pinyin. It's much easier to communicate with other language learners if you use a common system, rather than your own phonetic approximation of Chinese sounds.

e.g. wǒ xǐhuan nǐ, rather than woo3 shi3huan1 nii3

Regarding the sound file containing the 4 tones, your 1st and 4th tones both sound like 1st tones to me, although I also think your 1st tone could be a bit higher in pitch (it's not just enough for the 1st tone to be flat, it also has to be high). This will give you much more "room" to differentiate between tones. Also your 2nd and 3rd tones both sound like 3rd tones to me.

In the other file when you are saying wǒ xǐhuan nǐ, your 3rd tones seem to come out as mix between 1st and 3rd tones i.e. you start high and then fall and then rise again. Although the 3rd tone is a falling/rising tone, it needs to start from a lower pitch.

On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being low and 5 being high, the 3rd tone starts at 2, falls to 1 and then rises to 4. Also to differentiate between this and a second tone, a second tone would start at 3 and rise to 5 i.e. your 2nd tone should start at a slightly higher pitch than your 3rd tone.

A good way to improve your tones would be to go to a page like this one and then choose a syllable (ma is a good one for starters). Download the sounds for the 4 tones, and load them up in Audacity (or some other sound program). Listen to the sound and then record your voice saying the same sound. Listen to your recording and see if you can spot the difference between it and the native speakers pronunciation. If there is a difference, repeat the process until you are happy with the results.

[HashiriKata]

I'm with Imron and I strongly advise:

- using pinyin instead of a convenient but non-standard transcription system. It's a good investment.

- listening to your own recording against a known standard (some downloaded recording as Imron suggested), be thoroughly comfortable with pronouncing ma1 ma2 ma3 ma4.

- Even if you work hard, don't expect miracle and don't be discouraged if someone tells you that you're still not there yet.

Good luck!

[oly2006]

thanks all for your replys..

i have just one week of learning chinese that's why i posted here to found out what is wrong , to don't start learning in a wrong way.... i've listened again the way i've reproduced the 4 tones and you're right, no big diference betwn first and third ....in few words it's all a mess.. what i can say..i'll try to repeat more and more the 4 tones until i'll succed.. but it's very hard to me , a 16 years old boy with a non tonal language(i never knowned that chinese is tonal, until now of course) to elarn chinese. the only thing that makes me to keep continuing is that i'm dooing it as a kind of hobby, i don't know if we'll have any use in future but i try to enjoy learning it..

i ll practice more and i'll put here my "improved" tones....

other P.S i founded lot of on line lessons on the internet but i really don t with what to start ... until now i know to write numbers, human, crowd,prisoner and i've learned chines nouns and a verb "to like".....what should be my first lesson? the four tones ? to practice them a lot ? and if so, after the tones what should I learn and if it's good to learn in paralel the writing rules....

A LOT OF QUESTIONS are in my mind and i hope i'll find here the answers...

thanks again, you were helpful

hope i'll get the above answers

thanks