Shifting Between Sounds

[ruxiangsuisu]

Hi all,

A question for any native speakers or experienced learners out there...

I've been learning Mandarin for several years and feel like I have a pretty good command of Mandarin pronunciation. At the end of a language program over the summer, though, I realized that I realized that I was pronouncing the Mandarin x, j, and q incorrectly. The sounds I was making were correct, but my tongue was behind my upper teeth or between my teeth rather than behind my lower teeth, and I was making the sound with the tip of my tongue rather than a centimeter or so back on the tongue blade.

I decided to switch to sound as authentic as possible... Unfortunately, over six months later, I still don't have it down. I can make the x, j, and q sounds individually, but I have serious trouble when I try to speak quickly. Certain words (zhi2 jie1, shi2 xing2, etc.) I just can't get right, as my tongue always takes too long to move from retroflex to behind my lower teeth. It seems like what I was doing before was simpler and more natural...

Do any of you have any suggestions? It's been really frustrating, as I've been trying to fix this for so long without results. Do Mandarin speakers always put the tip of their tongue behind their lower teeth when making these sounds, or do they tend to lose this when speaking fast?

Thanks for any suggestions!

[renzhe]

1) If it sounds correct the way you used to pronounce it originally, is it really important? You said "The sounds I was making were correct", right?

2) I am not a native speaker, but I have no problem at all with the words you mentioned. Do you have trouble pronouncing certain things in other languages?

For example, the English word "resist" has exactly such a fast change between a retroflex ® and tongue on bottom teeth (the first 's'). If you can say that, then it should be no problem to pronounce "zhiji"?

[dsrguru]

As renzhe said, if your original pronunciation sounds correct (to a native speaker), there's no reason to change it. That being said, I pronounce the Pinyin j, q, and x with the top side of the blade of my tongue (the part right behind the tip) resting against the backs of my lower incisors. Initially, I also found it difficult to switch from retroflex to that position (e.g. in the number shíqī), but I got used to it over time. Your tongue muscles should get used to the switch eventually. Again as renzhe said, comparable shifts appear in English, and you're fine with them. It's just a matter of practice.