Can you guys rate my Mandarin? Possibly give pointers?

[chinesenewbie]

Hi, I'm not exactly new to mandarin, I can understand it well but have problems speaking it.

I have attached an mp3 file and I was wondering if you guys can help me out.

It's an interview on a TW actress.

The transcript is as follows, although perhaps you guys can see if you understand me without reading?

陈乔恩：我完全没有想到，最初决定接这部戏，更多的是因为三立电视台的副台长说希望我来演，我自己反而没太多想法。我只是觉得目前经济这么不景气，每个人的压力都好大，正好有这样一部轻松的戏，可以让大家在笑声中忘记烦恼。

陈乔恩：就像剧中的男主角“纪存希”一样，他虽然很在乎陈欣怡，却故意装成很凶的样子，所以我在剧中经常委屈地解释：“不是啦，我……”结果马上被他打断。其实每一个男人都有任性、耍小孩子脾气的一面，需要身边的女人以最大的爱去包容他，他们跟这样的女人在一起会没有压力和距离感。

I'm just wondering how's my pronunciation? My tones? Is it understandable? What do I need to work on?

Thanks a lot for your help!

[roddy]

Attachment seems to be missing . .

[chinesenewbie]

Sorry I swear I attached it

here it is

thanks!

sample2.mp3

[Hanlink]

It sounded like you were reading, with some parts very familiar and coming through over-fast, whilst other parts were less fluid. It was certainly understandable. However, the phrasing was 'off' and not very natural. You might also want to pay attention to your tones, especially fourth, which was quite weak. Some of the pronunciation could also do with some work 'xi' and 'qi' were 'off' - in fact the first qiao sounded more like xiao. Overall, though, it was not too bad at all.

[chinesenewbie]

thanks!

Your feedback is invaluable and I will definitely work on my 'xi' and 'qi' and especially my tones.

[Hofmann]

Good job.

Some of your initials sound kind of off, for example...

[x] sounds too much like [h]

[ʈʂ], [ʈʂʰ], and [ʂ] aren't sounding too good. Are you curling your tongue behind your alveolar ridge?

Your [tɕʰ] and [ɕ] sound like alveolar consonants, when they should be alveolo-palatal consonants.

Your finals sound OK.

Your 2nd tone sounds like it starts too low.

[chinesenewbie]

I think my 'x' definitely needs work. I pronounce it like an "s", however, I have my tongue right behind the bottom front teeth. My friend has told me it sounds fine, but I think when I try to say full words like xiang, I mess up. I will read up on how to make the correct sound.

I must note, that due to my exposure to the language (my parents both grew up speaking mandarin, albeit in cambodia, not China) so their 'accent' is closer to the Taiwan "guoyu" standard instead. So the retroflexes aren't there which is why you won't hear it in my recording. Neither are the erhua's.

Hopefully this isn't a problem. On a personal level, I do like the TW standard better, but at the same time, I do watch more TW shows so that might be biased.

I also apologize for the recording, the volume is quite low. I will definitely keep this in mind for next time if I were to make another recording.

So far so good, gotta practice more!

[Meursault]

As a Chinese, I would say, GREAT! I think your pronouciation and tones are quite good, even better than many chinese with accent. With your pronounciation, you can already disguise as a chinese! What you can improve is fluency. I am sure you can achieve it after some practicing.

[Wendy Doble]

I am also a Chinese.I totally agree with Meursault. your pronounciation is really good!!!

practice more! you will speak Chinese fluently soon.