Requesting feedback on my pronunciation

[alantin]

Chinesepod say it right series had an interesting discussion about the neutral tone. If I remember correctly with a first tone, for example, in normal speech it's pitch is at the same level as the first tone but it's really short. But if you go ask someone how a word with it is pronounced, they'll instinctively use an emphasis pattern in which the neutral tone after a first tone goes to the lowest level and stays really short. ?

[abcdefg]

Thanks for the browser suggestions; I can play the clip now. 

 

Agree with others that the cadence sounds natural. Had no difficulty understanding what you were saying. Very good progress for 3 years. 

 

One of my teachers put me through a couple months of insisting that I strongly emphasize nearly all the tones. She made me overdo lots of  them on purpose like one might do if giving a rousing speech to an audience or reading dramatic poetry out loud. She said that I would sound funny for a while, but then it would settle down and "normalize." Her goal was to make sure that I did not err on the side of just being a "bashful monotone." She wanted to help me sound more assured and less tentative.

 

Sometimes when I'm unsure of a tone, I kind of "swallow it" in the hope that the mistake, if it is one, might be less glaring. I cannot be sure, but this might be happening to you in places where the tones become slightly less distinct in the posted clip. 

[abcdefg]

On 1/29/2022 at 4:19 AM, EnergyReaper said:

Next time, maybe you can try a practice that many native Chinese southerners feel difficult. That's the difference between "N" and "L".

 

I knew a girl once who always said "I am from Fulan." 我是湖南人。

[alantin]

On 1/29/2022 at 10:19 PM, abcdefg said:

I knew a girl once who always said "I am from Fulan." 我是湖南人。

 

Now I know what you guys mean! I've noticed some people pronouncing N as an L like that but I didn't pull up a map to see where they were before! There is especially one tutor who does that a lot, but I got used to it pretty quickly. I don't think this will be a problem for me since N and L are very distinctive in my own native language and also in English too.

Seems like a similar thing to L and R for most (all?) Japanese people. To them those just seem to sound the same!

[suMMit]

真巧 this morning in my lesson there were 3 sentences with that structure:

 

According to my teacher it's 轻声 or no 一 in normal spoken conversation.

[Publius]

Is it just me or your 'xi' is a bit off? 学习, 发现, 很想, even 谢谢. I don't know how to describe but it seems you have too strong a ssssss in it.?

[Jan Finster]

On 1/30/2022 at 6:12 AM, Publius said:

too strong a ssssss

I think this is a mild Finnish accent shining through (!?) (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tMs4BWxQ_k&feature=youtu.be&t=131)

[alantin]

On 1/30/2022 at 10:18 AM, Jan Finster said:

On 1/30/2022 at 7:12 AM, Publius said:

too strong a ssssss

I think this is a mild Finnish accent shining through (!?) (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tMs4BWxQ_k&feature=youtu.be&t=131)

 

Hmm.. Interesting. May very well be! Thank you for pointing it out @Publius!
By the way, @Jan Finster, you seem to have found a lovely tongue twister about a tumor that keeps growing bigger and bigger! ?

 

 

On 1/30/2022 at 5:48 AM, suMMit said:

According to my teacher it's 轻声 or no 一 in normal spoken conversation.

 

I used Braat to analyze my recording of my tutor saying these while demonstrating for me and then using them in her normal speech. The finding was that 一 did become very short, or even a pause in the pitch and intensity contours in her normal speech. We didn't specifically discuss how these chance in normal, fast, speech. I'll make sure to ask her opinion next time.

[suMMit]

Not to keep banging on about it, but we were at the grocery store today looking for a hotpot pot. I asked my wife if she thought they'd have it there and she said 我们找一找 and there was no mistaking a full and clear fourth tone 一 (she speaks to me with her normal speaking manner and speed) . Maybe she stressing that we keep looking. So I would say it can be said full or neutral depending on the speakers feeling. 

[Publius]

According to Wikipedia,

When 一 is used between two reduplicated words, it may become neutral in tone (e.g. 看一看 kànyikàn ("to take a look of")).

The emphasis is mine.

 

In OP's 聊一聊, what needs to be fixed immediately is not 一 but 聊. He pronounced it like 料.

 

Maybe everybody is too polite, so let me be blunt. There are other incorrect tones:

It should be 后来 not 猴来,

办法 not 班法,

口语 not 抠语,

水平 not 虽pìng,

现在 not 先载,

当时 not dáng时,

简单 not 尖单,

这样子 not 这羊子.

Yes, we understand you with no problem. I would even consider it normal after three years study. But who doesn't want a perfect accent? So don't take it too hard and keep practicing. You'll get better. In fact you're already better in the second half, probably because you become more relaxed.

 

[alantin]

On 1/31/2022 at 12:09 PM, Publius said:

In OP's 聊一聊, what needs to be fixed immediately is not 一 but 聊. He pronounced it like 料.

 

Maybe everybody is too polite, so let me be blunt. There are other incorrect tones:

It should be 后来 not 猴来,

办法 not 班法,

口语 not 抠语,

水平 not 虽pìng,

现在 not 先载,

当时 not dáng时,

简单 not 尖单,

这样子 not 这羊子.

Yes, we understand you with no problem. I would even consider it normal after three years study. But who doesn't want a perfect accent? So don't take it too hard and keep practicing. You'll get better. In fact you're already better in the second half, probably because you become more relaxed.

 

Thank you!

 

People often are quite polite and tutors don't want to kill your motivation with a mountain of corrections, but this time I really was after the blunt feedback! It is valuable in giving myself an accurate picture of where I am in terms of pronunciation and where I should focus energy. I already know that I'm "understandable" and that meets my needs but I would still like to improve my pronunciation. I also think that a perfect accent is far out of reach, but on the other hand I also believe that if you reach for the stars, you may hit the moon. ?

My tutor also pointed out some of those, including dissecting all the tones in 聊一聊. She pointed out the wrong tone on 聊 but also noted that sometimes people have problems with pronouncing 一 correctly in these. She gave me feedback on word choice too. For example 以后 instead of 后来.