Ni Zao Ni Hao, book and CD, intermediate

[wlee08]

I picked up "Ni Zao! Ni Hao!", (Rainple Cocchi, 2006) It's for French language speakers learning Chinese. I am a bit confused because many times in the book the character 和 (he) is written as "han", instead of "he". For example, "Tamen qing wo han Jack qu nali gongzuo", or "Wo xiang qing ni han ni taitai lai wo jia chi fan". These examples occur quite often in the book and I am wondering if this is a mistake or some kind of regional dialect.

On the CD there are 3 or 4 voices and I have a suspicion that one of them is not a native Chinese speaker (his pronounciation doesn't sound quite right) If anyone is familiar with this program I would be curious to know your opinion.

Thanks!

[edelweis]

Have a look at this thread

[EDIT] Also if you post a sound clip, people here can tell you what they think of the accent... China is a huge country with many regional accents in addition to the difference between "mainland standard mandarin" and "Taiwan standard mandarin".

[wlee08]

Here is a clip from the "Ni Zao! Ni Hao!" intermediate level CD.

Shi Zhonguoren ma.wma

[creamyhorror]

Here is a clip from the "Ni Zao! Ni Hao!" intermediate level CD.

Definitely not a native speaker. Are they trying to simulate a learner's imperfect accent? :blink:

[edelweis]

It sounds a bit like a southern or Taiwanese accent (no retroflex consonants, so zh sounds like z, ch sounds like c etc...). But the initial consonant in 不 also sounds weak... so my feeling is it's a westerner speaking with a southern accent.

What do you advanced learners and native speakers think?

[wlee08]

Here is another clip. I think the woman is authentic, but I have serious doubts about the man! Shi zhongguoren ma.wma

[creamyhorror]

The guy's not a native speaker, his pronunciation is absolutely peppered with mistakes.