Chinese and stuttering

[Rysiek]

Hi,

I've been learning Chinese for the last couple of months using the Pimsleur CDs, and everything is going great. However, I stutter, and certain sound combinations are hard for me to pronounce. In English, stuttering is annoying and slows down the conversation, but I feel like I can still communicate with people relatively well. In Chinese, on the other hand, if I repeat a syllable due to stuttering, it could change the meaning quite drastically.

Could anyone offer any sort of information or advice as far as stuttering in Chinese? In English, I oftentimes start off a phone conversation with "I stutter" to make the other person aware and not hang up or what not thinking it's bad signal. Would doing something similar in Chinese work? From what I remember, less than 1% of adults stutter in the United States. Is it statistically the same in China? Will people even know what I'm talking about if I say I stutter? (Incidentally, how would one say that he stutters in Chinese?) Is there any kind of social stigma associated with stuttering in China?

[Meng Lelan]

You are going to want to see professional help for treating stuttering in English before you tackle this problem in Chinese and I am assuming English is your native langugage. There is help out there and I know this because I had a relative with stuttering and he went to a speech clinic and now he rarely ever stutters, only if he's nervous and uptight then he stutters a bit. Contact your local speech and language clinic, or ask your doctor for a referral.

[Rysiek]

Thank you for the advice, but that's not exactly what I'm looking for. I know there is speech therapy and what not, but at least for the foreseeable future, I'm going to be stuttering. That being so, I need to learn how to live with it.

[kdavid]

This will affect how you're understood, so you should make sure that you're painstackingly studying proper tones in order to minimize your foreign accent. Stuttering + incorrect tones may make you incomprehensible.

Many Chinese are very patient and will be willing to work with you on figuring out your meaning. Many, on the other hand, will not.

I've yet to meet a Chinese who stutters, so I can't help in explaining what they do. Telling someone up front may work. Stutter in Mandarin is 口吃 kou3 chi1.

[roddy]

Moved a few posts - the OP wasn't looking for a discussion on pronunciation differences between the mainland and Taiwan

[flameproof]

I never heard that stuttering makes a problem in foreign language learning. It's makes a problem in speaking, but that's in every language.

If you want to learn it then go for it and concentrate on it.

[heifeng]

I know more chinese males who stutter than male English speakers who stutter, but both seems to get stuck on initials...I dunno what that says, but whatever their nationality usually when they get worked up or are nervous it tends to get worse.

If the speech therepy isn't an option, just try to take it easy, enjoy the language, and who knows, maybe if you give yourself a get outta jail free card since it's a foreign language (and you are suppose to make mistakes anyway) and put less pressure on yourself, the less severe the stuttering will be. Of course, everyone's stutter is a lil' different, so there may not be a one size fits all cure. However, sometimes speaking w/ a certain rhythm seems to help a coworker of mine....so since Chinese can have an interesting rhythm to it with all these tones, maybe it might help lessen your stutter.

anyway, you are not alone: www.stutter.cn

Someone asked the same question here (but after page 1, it's just all crap replies, so ignore those ads and other randomness)

[Rysiek]

kdavid: Thank you, being able to announce up-front should be useful. I'm trying to make sure that my pronunciation is as good as possible to avoid that double whammy.

flameproof: It definitely does not impact my learning, and even if I could not communicate, I'm set on learning Chinese. If nothing else, I will walk around with a notepad and write down what I have to say

heifeng: Thanks for the link, I'll definitely check it out. I was trying to find something like that, but apparently my searching abilities fell short. I'll have to check it out when I can actually read it

A part of my worry was that there's some sort of social stigma associated with stuttering in China. Granted, so far I don't have much knowledge of Chinese culture, but I was worried that me stuttering would cause people to think I was mentally challenged (like some people do in the US...) or perhaps even that it's a disease/curse/whatever*.

* I'm sure that showcases just how ignorant I am of the modern Chinese culture.

[Meng Lelan]

To my experience 20 years ago there was social stigma in China if someone looked or acted or talked different. They would just walk away from you. I've seen a lot of that in the past.

Nowadays it's a lot better. They don't freak out as much as they used too, if someone who looks or speaks different came walking along the street. My guess is they have other bigger and better things to freak out about, like the economy or melamine or something like that.

I don't think you really need to explain that you have stuttering. Just relax and stay cool.

[Luobot]

Chinese can have an interesting rhythm

I’ve heard that singing is a temporary cure for stuttering, which works for some. As Heifeng said, Chinese has an interesting rhythm; it even has sort of a singing quality to it. So I would like to suggest that, in addition to your Pimsleur CD’s, you experiment with listening to and following along with Jenny Zhu in ChinesePod's free Newbie lessons. If you listen closely, I think you’ll hear her speaking Mandarin with a certain singing quality, possibly because she has a musical voice, but also possibly because of the way she enunciates the tones, while speaking with a certain rhythm. I hope this proves helpful, and if not, you’ll still learn some Mandarin. Good luck!