Post a sample of your pronunciation here!

[kfu001]

Hello,

Thank you for your suggestions and advice. Here are two more I have to do for my class.

Thank you,

Part 1

A: Zhejia guanzi hen ganjing

B: Bu-dui ba, wo juede zhejia guanzi hen zang

Part 2

A: Ni zai yiyuan douchang shijian le

B: Wo zai nar wuge ban xiaoshi le

Part 1.wma

Part 2.wma

[hewching]

Hello! I'm a first year student in learning Mandarin, however, I've spent my life speaking Cantonese with my family. My tones need a bit of help, please lend some constructive criticism!

Pinyin:

Dù Qiū: Měidùn fàn zhīqián zǒngshì shuō: "Dù Qiū, xǐshǒu. Bù-xǐshǒu, bùxǔ chīfàn." Dào-le wǎnshang, "Dù Qiū, xǐjiǎo. Bù-xǐjiǎo, bùxǔ shàngchuáng."

Tóngshēng: Hēi, nà hái bù-hǎo a? Jiǎngjiu wèishēng a.

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

wong1.wma

[Shi Tong]

Yinbobobo:

Some of your tones are way out, I'd say about half, and your pronunciation is generally ok, but also not quite right. I think you need more practice, but generally pretty good.

asingh:

Your pronunciation is fine, but your tones are all over the place:

I wrote down your whole tonal pronunciation and you probably only got about 10% right. So while you're pronouncing things pretty well, you must make more effort with tones.

I would suggest singing them to yourself in your head while you walk, and making sure you get them all right. Then make sure you apply these to the words you're learning.

kfu:

Again, tones. I'd say the pronunciation is pretty good, but the tones need a lot of work.

hewching:

You are really getting along pretty well, and sound like you're fluent in your knowledge in places, some parts are still a little off, but generally just practice will get you to a better level.

On another note, Hofmann, I find it HARDER to speak slower, because to me, tones come naturally, if I slow down, I start making mistakes because I'm not used to it.

I generally agree with your analysis (slow down), but I'd say it's even more important to take each word, recognise it's meaning, recognise it's tone, ane make sure you apply this to speaking it every single time. Put it this way:

Every Chinese word has a meaning, so even if it's applied to longer words, you can still apply the tones effectively:

电 (diàn) electric/ electricity, practice this tone and this pronunciation.

电视 (diàn) (electric/ electricity), (​shì)​ (look at, inspect, observe, see), these two are the same tone (diànshì), and is one word (television), but the words used to make up this word both have a tone, and they're both relevant to your learning (electric/ vision). Practice saying both of these together and make sure the tone applies to both of the sounds made.

电影 (diàn​yǐng​) (electric/ electricity)/ (shadow; image, reflection; photograph). This means electric image, and means film. Keep practicing all of these and applying all of the tones to all of the sounds. The list goes on:

电话 diàn​huà (telelphone), 电闪 diàn​shǎn (lightning), 电扇 diàn​shàn​ (electric fan)

You can also then use the same pronunciation and tone when dian is the second element in the word, and also apply to other words which have the same pronunciation but different meaning like 店 diàn (shop), 商店 (shāng​diàn​) (store / shop).

Hope this helps!!

[slcarden]

Im a first year student chinese here is a tongue twister called niu niu bao dou dou! I would appreciate any feedback

sandra cardnas.wav

[ktorres728]

Here is one of the questions that we had to know for class. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Kai Li - question.wav

[slcarden]

practicing a dialogue for my chinese class any feed back on tones would be greatly appreciated

correct form of 3.wav

[edelweis]

ktorres - the sound volume is very low.

I heard zao1fan1 instead of zao3fan4 (please keep in mind I'm a beginner... perhaps I heard wrong.)

slcarden: I can't understand what you are saying (but perhaps that's because you use words I have not learned yet). How about you post a transcript?

Edit: All these posts made me anxious to get feedback too.

Here's a sample of me reading from a Chinese Breeze book.

Is it intelligible? Are there big flaws? Do I need a teacher urgently

(I think my 2nd tone is my poorest tone. Also I am unsure I pronounce weak tones correctly...)

从外面回到家里，明明的爸爸妈妈和真真的爸爸妈妈都觉得问题很大了。

现在是下午4点半了，没见到明明和真真已经8个小时了，孩子还没有回来，两家人都觉得应该马上去找警察。

lianggehaizi.mp3

Edited April 29, 2010 at 08:57 PM by edelweis

[Shi Tong]

slcarden:

I feel like you dont really have a grasp of your tones. I listened to your first tongue twister (that I dont actually know anyway), but I could still tell that your tones need work.

This is your biggest problem, so make sure you concentrate on them hard!!

ktorres:

I think I've told you before that your recording is very quiet.. Can you turn it up a bit? I think I can hear that basically you're ok, but again.. tones!!

edelweis:

I think your pronunciation is really great, including your tones. I did notice one that was off, but I think that's ok.. probably just a mistake!

I think you could try to sound a bit more natural, because it does sound a bit robotic, but then.. you are recording onto a computer and posting on the internet.. as if speaking to someone face to face isn't bad enough!:lol:

One thing I'm confused on again.. if you're speaking tongue twisters, then surely the tones should be addressed first? One of the challenges of tongue twisters is keeping the tone right, even when you are speaking fast.

Example one is of, first the mother riding the horse, the second part of this is the sister walking the cow.

The point of these is totally tonal-

1) ma1 qi2 ma3, ma3 man4 ma1ma1 ma4 ma3 (I use first tone for mother ma1ma1 because of my Taiwan based learning, in China this would be ma1ma).

2) niu1 qian2 niu2, niu2 ning4 niu1niu1 ning4 niu2 (Again, niu1niu1 would be niu1niu in China).

The second example is of sounds and tones- si4shi2si4 zhi1 shi2 shi1 zi- this means 44 stone lions, and the point being that si4, shi2, zhi1 and zi are "similar" sounds, or live in related kinds of groups, but must be said clearly.

If anyone has any comments on these, or questions from the students on these clips, let me know and I'll expand!

maniu.wma

lions.wma

Edited April 30, 2010 at 12:30 PM by Shi Tong

[edelweis]

it does sound a bit robotic

drats I'm unmasked

Thank you for the feedback. After reading some of the comments about those students' tones I got worried about mine. I'm glad they're acceptable - at least at my slow reading-pace. I think I will try to get a teacher or tutor anyway to work on the "robotic" aspect and to gain a more natural and faster speech - when I have time.

[CrisPal]

The dialogue is quite short but your pronunciation is OK.If I can give some suggestion that is do not hurry when you talk,slowdown and get every charactar clear pronunciation.

nar(哪儿---哪的儿化音) is 3 not 4.

[Shi Tong]

hehehe.

You didn't sound THAT robotic!!

Funny how I always pronounce this as 哪3儿2.. but then, I'm not used to erhua useage!

[calibre2001]

Here's my recording. I'm using the text in #147. My accent sucks but do let me know if it's intelligible. Criticisms wanted. Thanks.

trial1.wma

[flippant]

This is my feeble attempt at the "Oh noes! The window!" text. My nose is a bit clogged, so bear with me ;)

edit: C-F doesn't like the iPhone's .m4a AAC schmutz.

window.mp3

[renzhe]

flippant: sounds quite natural and relaxed, very good.

On a closer listen, though, some issues. You might be too relaxed

1. 3rd tone often turns into 4th. The first 我, or 有 in 有点儿冷. Sichuanese influence perhaps?

2. 1st tone sometimes low. Like 今 in 今天 should be 11, but sounds like 31.

3. 3rd tone sandhi, like in 很好. It is 33, but should be spoken more like 23.

4. Initials and finals are fine, just the initial "r" sounds a bit "American", if you know what I mean. Try unrolling your tongue more and actually touching your palate

Otherwise, good work. You can probably get all this right if you concentrate and speak a bit more slowly. Now try the text from the original post!

calibre, the quality is very poor, I really can't hear much. I notice the retroflex thing (sh/s), but maybe it's intentional.

It sounds quite good, but mechanic. A bit too staccato. Your main problem is the pacing and natural phrasing. For example the neutral tone in 孩子. 孩 should be stressed, and longer, 子 is spoken quickly, in passing. You give them both equal time and stress. Similar with 爸爸 and 妈妈. The first character is stressed more. AFAIK, the stress variation is more pronounced on the Mainland, and you tend to use more Taiwanese materials (if I'm not mistaken), so maybe it is not as obvious, but there should be an audible stress nevertheless.

It's not bad, though!

And 察 in 警察 is 2nd tone, but this is probably just a nerve thing.

[flippant]

1. 3rd tone often turns into 4th. The first 我, or 有 in 有点儿冷. Sichuanese influence perhaps?

I think it's just a matter of speaking too quickly. I've never even been to Sichuan, so I don't think that's ... possible. All my teachers have been Northern or Taiwanese.

2. 1st tone sometimes low. Like 今 in 今天 should be 11, but sounds like 31.

Yes! Great catch, this has been annoying me a lot. I guess it's a holdover from my mother tongue (starting sentences with a lower pitch).

3. 3rd tone sandhi, like in 很好. It is 33, but should be spoken more like 23.

On listening, I realize I mangled that 很. The sandhi stuff normally isn't a problem.

4. Initials and finals are fine, just the initial "r" sounds a bit "American", if you know what I mean. Try unrolling your tongue more and actually touching your palate

Good catch. I'm not American, but in the old country, we have been known to roll a few Rs. You do mean 忽然的然，right?

(God, touching the palate makes me sound like the Laowai Governator. Sheesh).

Otherwise, good work. You can probably get all this right if you concentrate and speak a bit more slowly. Now try the text from the original post!

I will when I can read it comfortably.

Thanks for the feedback. Good observations.

Question: what's the technical term for the strange little "pull" the -ing gets in for instance ming, ping or jing? It sounds more like -iionhg if you know what I mean (especially with second and to a lesser extent first tones). 批评 is a good example.

[natra]

sample article:

08年度中国最具幸福感10大城市出炉

2008年12月26日在云南昆明，揭晓了2008年度中国最具幸福感城市，其中10座城市入选，并举行了隆重的颁奖仪式。这10座城市分别是杭州 宁波 昆明 天津 唐山 佛山绍兴 长春 无锡 长沙。其中杭州由于连续五年在调查推选活动中名列前茅而获得金奖。

此次评选由新华社《瞭望东方周刊》联合中国市长协会从今年四月开始，调查内容涉及自然环境，交通状况，发展速度，文明程度，赚钱机会，医疗水平，教育水平，房价，人情味，治安状况，就业机会，生活便利共12项指标，采取专业公司调查与公共调查相结合的方式进行，近300家媒体参与，共计700万张调查问卷和 7000万次网络投票。

Here is my recording. I've quoted the text for the convenience of anyone who responds to mine.

natra.mp3

[Shi Tong]

Hellooooo

Calibre,

You're very muffled.. hard to hear, so I'll reserve comment.

Flippant,

When I first opened that file, my immediate reaction was that you're speaking too quickly, almost unnaturally quickly, though you sound very fluent, like renzhe says. There are a couple of tonal issues, but nothing particlarly "bad".

Natra,

This sounds pretty good- I would say you have an accent though. This is evident in the soft approach you have to tones. I dont think there are any I'd particularly like to pull out and tell you that they're wrong, but it sounds very soft tonal wise. I also think it's a bit harsh because you're clear and correct, just accented.

[calibre2001]

Thanks for the feedback.

renzhe, you're right on about retroflexes.

I've rerecorded using a better mic and added another sample.

I'm reading it at a faster pace to give it a more honest representation of how I sound when I speak mandarin. Without a doubt I've made more tonal mistakes. Do let me know if it's still too soft. I talk softly by default. Else you could turn up the volume.

fast.wma

goodmorning.wma

[anonymoose]

calibre, I thought that was pretty good.

[renzhe]

I've given out some pluses to all the people who posted their samples. I've exceeded my quota, but I urge others to do the same.

Recording yourself is awesome and helps build a sense of community.