Confusing "Fuzzy" Sounds in Mandarin?

[DespikableMi]

Native Language: Cantonese

Second Languages: English > Mandarin

Character Level: "Mastered" simplified and traditional

Pinyin Level: Intermediate

Mandarin Fluency: Intermediate

Confidence: Too afraid to speak Mandarin outside the classroom =_=||

Problems:

1. Confusing the following initials: z/zh, c/ch, s/sh

2. Unable to distinguish the following finals: an/ang, en/eng, in/ying, uan/uang

3. Often confuse the first tone with the fourth tone

4. Difficulty in saying Liang/Niang

Examples

Original -> My pronunciation

1. Yīn wèi -> Yīng wèi

2. Pán -> Páng

3. Chí dào -> cí dào

4. Shì -> sì

5. Máng -> Mán

[anonymoose]

Why be afraid? Lots of people speak like that.

[DespikableMi]

Let say I'm a very shy person...

[anonymoose]

Well, if you're just afraid of talking to people, that's a different issue. But as I said, there's no need to worry about your pronunciation - many people speak like that in southern China. What's the worst that can happen? You might get a snicker, probably behind your back, but most likely, noone will even bat an eyelid.

[Hofmann]

Are you sure you speak Cantonese?

Edit: I mean -in and -ing? Those correspond to two different finals with different vowels in Cantonese.

[DespikableMi]

Yes I speak Cantonese with my friends and family all the time.

[Hofmann]

...

Just speak confidently.

You're probably not going to notice anything different about people from when you speak Cantonese.

(Man I'm so mean.)

[David Wong]

You might get a snicker, probably behind your back, but most likely, noone will even bat an eyelid.

My pronunciation is far from perfect. And sometimes I say the wrong word altogether. On all the occasions that I've conversed with native Mandain speakers, from all parts of the mainland, not once have I ever encountered any negative feedback about how I speak. Not even a hint of it.

Sometimes I wish someone would correct my mistakes. Buth that only happens when I solicit it, sometimes needing to do so imploringly "这句话是不是这样说？这样说对不对？".

[jbradfor]

Too afraid to speak Mandarin outside the classroom

Drink a beer or two, and then try again.

I'm actually serious. Alcohol is a well-known to remove inhibitions. It may be what you need to help you feel comfortable speaking Mandarin.

[DespikableMi]

lol thx guys... hope i can overcome this. But are there anything I can do to improve my pronunciations?

[Glenn]

Beer was certainly my friend when it came to speaking in my first learned language at first. I used it extensively. Although, I was afraid to speak without it for a while...