My Xiangsheng Recording

[xiaojiang216]

大家好！Hi everyone!

I am performing a xiangsheng for a Chinese New Year festival at my school (yes, it is a little late). I'm really nervous, so I'm trying to memorize it by making a recording of me doing the routine, and going back and listening to it a lot. This is based off of a xiangsheng by 马季 (Ma Ji) called "广东话".

Does anyone have any suggestions? There are some phrases in Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangzhou dialect. If anyone speaks those dialects, do you have any pointers on how to prounce the words better? I didn't put much enthusiasm into it as I am just trying to get the routine right. I find that I can put more enthusiasm and "punch" into it with nervous energy.

Any help would be really appreciated! I threw this recording together really quickly, so my apologies if I sound bad. (I am a non-native speaker.)

Here's the link to the mp3 file:

http://www.webfile.ws/d/8522

The password is: xiang4sheng5

Thanks so much!!!

[wai ming]

Dammit, my browser crashed while I was trying to reply >.<

Your putonghua sounds really good! As for Cantonese/广州话, here are my comments (caveat: I am not a native Cantonese speaker):

马季：In Yale romanisation, it should be ma5 gwai3. The '3' in 'gwai3' is not like Mandarin third tone. Rather, it's a middle-level, flat tone. You can try saying it like Mandarin first tone, but then lower it so it is neither at a high pitch nor a low pitch, almost as if it had 'no pitch'. I think that's the best way I can describe it. As for the vowel in 'gwai3', it is somewhere between Mandarin 'ui' and 'uai' - listen here.

Numbers:

一 ：In Yale romanisation, it should be yat1. The vowel should sound like the 'u' in English 'but', and the 't' is not actually pronounced, but you position your tongue as if you were going to pronounce it (I know there's a proper technical term for this, which someone else will probably provide )

六 ：In Yale romanisation, it should be 'luk6'. The 6 indicates a low tone, which you pronounced fine, but the actual sound should be like Mandarin 'lu' with a 'k' which is not actually pronounced (but you put your tongue in that position).

八 ：In Yale romanisation, it should be 'baat3'. Like Mandarin 'ba' but with a slightly elongated vowel and a final 't' (not pronounced, as for 一 / yat1). The tone should be mid-level and flat.

Here/喺呢度 : in Yale romanisation, it should be 'hai2 ni1 dou6.' I think it would sound better if you made your 'ni1' slightly higher, almost like Mandarin first tone.

Anyway hope that helps - 加油！

[xiaojiang216]

Thanks for the pointers! I can't speak much Cantonese, so I was wondering about that. Thank you! Was there anything regarding pronunciation in Mandarin?

Edit: Also, does anyone find this offensive to Southern Chinese people? I really don't want to offend anyone. I was really worried when I saw some negative posts on Ma Ji's version on

.

[Hofmann]

The Cantonese 季 should not sound like Mandarin 鬼. It is romanized gwai3, but it should not sound like 怪 either. This is MDBG stuff for 季. You can click on "gwai3" to hear it pronounced, but the audio file sucks.

一二三四五六七八九十 are read

is many languages, including Cantonese.

[xiaojiang216]

Thank you, Hofmann! That link is very helpful

[wushijiao]

Very good Mandarin! I had the audio file playing while my wife (Mainlander) walked in....she couldn't even recognize (until I said so) that you are a non-native speaker!

[bhchao]

Are you sure you're a one year student?

[xiaojiang216]

wushijiao, 不敢当啊 我还真是个菜鸟！

Hi, bhchao! I am indeed a freshman

[imron]

But bhchao, just because someone is a freshman at university, doesn't mean they haven't been studying the language for years already. Just looking at the joined date, xiaojiang216 has been on the forums for 3 and half years already.

[xiaojiang216]

Very true! I am very greatful for Chinese Forums and all of its friendly and helpful members It has been a great help and I have learned a lot.

[being jocular]

unbelievable, amazing performance.

[heifeng]

heya, I remember you, you had that cute youtube joke video a while ago. Sounding even better than before, keep up the good work! You make us so proud...*snf*

[anonymoose]

Wow, very good indeed. The shanghainese was a little 'off', but the mandarin was excellent.

[xiaojiang216]

The shanghainese was a little 'off'

Agreed! Ma Ji is an excellent person to learn from in terms of performing Xiangsheng, but certainly not dialects!

[Mangix]

Amazing.. I'm Chinese, you're really excellent.

[xiaojiang216]

没什么呀～ this recording isn't that great. It turned out really well when I performed it, probably because I was under some pressure. I wish I had a recording of it! I did however speak a litte too fast because of nerves. How could I improve this if I ever perform it again? 谢谢大家！

Edited March 11, 2009 at 03:29 PM by xiaojiang216

[xiaojiang216]

大家好～

I just thought I would share another video with you all. This was recorded at the ending ceremony of my semester abroad in Beijing. The 相声 I performed with my very tall classmate to my right is based off of one that 大山 and 赵炎 did years ago called 《一样不一样》, which can be found here .

You can watch our performance

or here if you are unable to access YouTube. You can skip the first minute and a half, as it is slow because I was very nervous and forgot most of my lines! My parents don't even believe this is me because I would never dare to get on a stage and perform like this! If you have any suggestions about how to improve my Chinese, I would love to hear them. 谢谢！

—小陶

[anonymoose]

xiaojiang216, that's pretty good. How long have you been studying Chinese for?

[xiaojiang216]

anonymoose, I think it's been around 6 years now!

[xiaojiang216]

HAHAHA I just noticed that you can hear a little girl in the background saying, "好慢呀！" and her father saying, "别闹！" I don't blame her! Any other suggestions other than it being too slow?