Post a sample of your pronunciation here!

[mandarina]

Hello everyone!

Sorry for not posting anything these days, been kind of busy with exams, anyways, I think we need a new text. I was thinking that we could chose one from the chinese voices project (http://www.clavisinica.com/voices.html), there are different topics to chose from, also different levels, all equipped with a recording of a native speaker and, of course, the transcript. What do you think?

[Hofmann]

I think one should choose a text without a model recording. You're not going to have a model to follow when you're improvising in PSC.

[Hedge]

Here is my attempt, I used the same text as HerrPetersen, as I have barely cracked low intermediate.

I had to look up 靠 and 哀求

I read over it a couple of times to familiarize myself with the text, this was my third recording.

EDIT: I am aware that I don't pronounce 儿 in 有点儿 and 小孩儿, I live in Shanghai and am not used to that part of Beijing pronunciation:)

HedgeRec.mp3

[HerrPetersen]

Props, for posting your version of it. Obviously you had less trouble with certain passages and were able to read it much more fluently than I did. I can not really comment on the pronounciation just yet - but I would not mistake you for a Chinese person

Just playing

[L-F-J]

EDIT: I am aware that I don't pronounce 儿 in 有点儿 and 小孩儿, I live in Shanghai and am not used to that part of Beijing pronunciation

thats standard 汉语普通话.

[HerrPetersen]

I would like to revive this thread with a new text. I chose a relativly simple and short one, so everyone can participate. It is taken from the (highly recommended) Assimil series.

Here the text:

我今天早上起床的时候觉得有点儿冷。

其实外边儿天气很好！

我忽然发现：

昨天晚上窗户没有关好！

Wǒ jīntiān zǎoshàng qǐchuáng de shíhou juéde yǒu diǎnr lěng .

Qíshí wàibiānr tiānqì hěn hǎo !

Wǒ hūrán fāxiàn :

Zuótiān wǎnshàng chuānghu méi yǒu guān hǎo !

Audio from the CD and my own attempt are included. Please criticize honestly but friendly. Also please give your own attempts, I think it would be nice to have a variety.

As for self-criticism: I feel the j in jintian is not good enough and the chuang is not emphasized enough.

mp3Assimil - 01 - Lesson 94.mp3

mp3myAttempt.mp3

[imron]

HerrPetersen:

the 上 in 早上 should be neutral. In your recording it sounds like first tone.

You are pronouncing the 床 in 起床 as first tone, when it should be second.

The 候 in 时候 also needs to be neutral.

The article writes 外边儿, but you don't pronounce the 儿化.

You have a slightly unnatural pause in between 忽然 and 发现, these should ideally be read together.

the 上 in 晚上 should be also be neutral, and here it also sounds like the first tone.

I was also going to say something about trying to read at a slightly faster pace, but then I listened to the native recording and realised that you were just matching that speed. Having a slow recording is good for being able to clearly hear everyword, however keep.....in......mind.......it........is........very.........slow........

Attached is my recording.

recording-2.mp3

[heifeng]

Herr,

I think i heard you say 'p' instead of 'b' somewhere in there also,

plus there shouldn't be a delay between 关 好。

eh..what the hey, here's my goofy* recording:mrgreen: (*sorry, can't get into a serious mood for recording today hehe)

If anyone wants more practice after Herr's sentences feel free to work on this article from last week if you are interested. I forgot I set it aside 'to work on later' oops.

窗户.wma

Edited March 24, 2009 at 03:53 AM by heifeng

[HerrPetersen]

Thanks a lot for the corrections! I really appreciate it, since I don't have a teacher around and my Chinese friends are too polite or just don't know what to correct.

@heifeng Thanks for the link - text is still above my "comfort"-level however those are some cute 北极熊.

[Hedge]

HerrPetersen: I cant think of anything else besides what Imron and heifeng stated. Nice recording though, very clear;)

Imron: Wow, I'm very impressed at how fluently/smoothly you speak! Nothing sounded out of place.

Here is my attempt.

HedgeRec2.mp3

[imron]

@Hedge, thanks. See earlier in the thread for my thoughts on how to improve speaking. It's dull and boring to do, but do it for a couple of months and you'll find your speaking improves no end.

[renzhe]

***puts this on the list of things to do once my vocab learning, character writing and book reading give me some breathing room***

[echo_zkl]

Imron, this is not fun. You guys are doing fantastic jobs here. There's nothing for me to laugh at:-?

Anyway, after listening to your records for 4-5 times, herewith are my comments:

1. Hedge's

很好，很should be the 3rd tone, ur pronuncation is closer to the 1st tone.

昨天，昨should be the 2nd tone and u pronounced the 1st tone again.

2. Imron's

perfect, 我只能鸡蛋里面挑骨头了。

忽然发现，忽然should be stressed instead of发现, or at least they should be equally stressed. That's where I sense a little bit 外国腔only.

[Hofmann]

Haven't looked at this for a while...

Hedge:

The range of your tones could be wider. For example, either your first syllable 我 was too high, or your next syllable 今 was too low. Other things you might note is that first tone and fourth tone should start at the same pitch.

[ɔ] could be more open.

[x] sounds too much like [h].

But fix the tones first.

[Hedge]

Thanks for the advice Hofmann!

[Scoobyqueen]

Compare your recording to the native speaker, note the places that were obviously different. Record the sentence again making a conscious effort to fix the mistakes. For this, it's usually best just to concentrate on fixing one mistake at a time. Continue doing this until you can say the sentence fluently and there is a minimal number of noticeable mistakes.

I really appreciate this advice from Imron. I have done some recording but not thoroughly and consistently. I also found it was a laborious and time-consuming task. At my teacher's advice (oral class) I am starting again, going through text book material sentence by sentence first then the whole text, recording and rerecording. It is amazing how many tone mistakes one "commits" even though one knows full well what the tones of a particular word should be but alas in a sentence it can turn out quite differently.

I was wondering if over time one becomes more conscious of ones tone errors and if it helps isolate problem areas better than perhaps even a teacher could. As I said I find the process a bit boring but if it engenders significant results, I would dedicate a larger part to this area. Imron and others who have tried this approach - is it worth the effort, does it make one more aware of the tones and helps remember them better in the future?

[yersi]

Here's my recording, it's crap compared to Imron's of course and I'm hoping to improve my pronunciation over the summer using his method. Any comments are welcome, be as harsh as possible.

yersirecording.wma

[imron]

I don't necessarily thinks it helps make you aware of your tone errors as you make them (at least not any more that you would be aware of them anyway) but it does help you correct and internalise the correct pronunciations so you don't make those mistakes again (or at least as often) for those words.

What this means is that over time you are making less pronunciation mistakes when coming across new material. It also helps build up fluency in reading and speaking longer sentences. If done consistently over a reasonable period of time (I would say at least a month), then I believe it will provide significant results. I noticed a big improvement in my Chinese from doing this.

[Bluemale_skl]

I'm from Shanghai, and out of curiosity I had a look at your ideas on how to acquire a better prononciation of Chinese. I don't understand what you guys are talking about, and unarguably, you guys know a lot more about how the character was made and from what they are derived. Well I have to say you guys know much more than I do, and I feel rather ashamed as a Chinese. On the other hand, I have listened to your records, and I hope my suggestions can really make a difference for you to improve.

1 Try reading the followings

揭晓了 jie1 xiao3 le0

获得金奖 huo4 de2 jin1 jiang3

2 Try reading the followings with the formal version of the prononciation

幸福感 xin4 fu2 gan3

速度 su4 du4

就业机会 jiu4 ye4 ji1 hui4

Then try reading like this

幸福感 xin4 fu0 gan3

速度 su4 du0

就业机会 jiu4 ye4 ji1 hui0

Find the difference now? Then read the whol passage again

3 I would like to remind you guys of not prononcing every character very explicit. I wonder if there are British here. We never prononce every character very clear and EXAGGERATE.

So that's why many Chinese speak ENglish with very terrible accents. As soon as I realise this point, I began practise my English prononciation myself, and I can succesfully imitate the British accent. Many people ask me if I have ever been to UK or have a British teacher before, and I proudly answered NO

Anyway, try it again. Don't focus too much on what your teachers told you or your books. Try to figure out by yourself and I'm sure you guys are really brilliant.

Bon Courage!!!

[skylee]

I can succesfully imitate the British accent. Many people ask me if I have ever been to UK or have a British teacher before, and I proudly answered NO

So Bluemale_skl could you post a sample of your imitation of the British accent here?