Goal: Turn this blog into a Chinese learner's paradise
Problem: I don't use Blogger
Solution: 九牛二虎之力
Monday, November 7, 2011
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Intro to Chinese ::: Learn pinyin (consonants)
欢迎到我的网页！
Whenever one starts learning a new language they should learn pronunciation first, so I introduce to you Pinyin.
Pinyin is the official Romanization scheme approved by the Chinese government back in 1949 ish to help the people become more literate, and to standardize the international translation of Chinese names. The system will teach you how to pronounce the language, but keep in mind that it is NOT the language. Take the pinyin phrase wo ai ni ma. Without the characters/tones, this is very ambiguous statement! I love you? I love your horse? I love your mom...? o.O
Mandarin Chinese spoken language is composed of a consonant "initial" and vowel "final". It will always be consonant-vowel. The only consonant that can end a word is a -n or -ng.
consonants
__________________________
b: soft b almost a p sound very little air :::::::::: sPy
p: definite p sound lots of air ::::::::::::::::::::::::: Power
m: english m
f: english f
d: soft t sound little air ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: sTop
t: regular t lots of air :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Tower
n: english n
l: english l
c: say cats ca-TS its the ts sound on the end of cats. Lots of air
z: say wads of paper wa-DZ tongue should feel like TS position but little/NO air! Vibrate those vocal cords. Think swarm of bees. dzzzzzzz
s: english s
*Retroflex Consonants*
tongue on roof of mouth farther back than normal for these!
ch: say CHurch. lots of air. easy.
zh: tongue in same spot as ch but say.... jurch?
sh: say SHurburt
r: say shurburt again and hold out the urrrrrrrrrrr sound. That's what mandarin 'R' is -- exactly like SH but just go straight to the urrrrrrrrrr -- like a little growl
I hope you didn't gag on your tongue!!
okay these are the strangest to english speakers
q: tip of tongue against back of bottom teeth rest of tongue near top of mouth and makes an air canal of sorts. Similar sound as ch above but front of mouth sound and very weak sounding... LOTS OF AIR!!!
j: exact same tongue positioning as for q but NO AIR!
x: mmm hiss like a snake sssssss whistly sounding as possibly
^^^^ i will provide links for these soon because they are hard to explain
*no initial* ::::::: there is allowed to be just vowels by themselves. I'll cover this more in the vowel post next.
Whenever one starts learning a new language they should learn pronunciation first, so I introduce to you Pinyin.
Pinyin is the official Romanization scheme approved by the Chinese government back in 1949 ish to help the people become more literate, and to standardize the international translation of Chinese names. The system will teach you how to pronounce the language, but keep in mind that it is NOT the language. Take the pinyin phrase wo ai ni ma. Without the characters/tones, this is very ambiguous statement! I love you? I love your horse? I love your mom...? o.O
Mandarin Chinese spoken language is composed of a consonant "initial" and vowel "final". It will always be consonant-vowel. The only consonant that can end a word is a -n or -ng.
consonants
__________________________
b: soft b almost a p sound very little air :::::::::: sPy
p: definite p sound lots of air ::::::::::::::::::::::::: Power
m: english m
f: english f
d: soft t sound little air ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: sTop
t: regular t lots of air :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Tower
n: english n
l: english l
g: soft k sound little air ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: sKrabble (the game, I just spelled with K)
k: hard k lots of air :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Kite
h: H! just exhale. easy
k: hard k lots of air :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Kite
h: H! just exhale. easy
c: say cats ca-TS its the ts sound on the end of cats. Lots of air
z: say wads of paper wa-DZ tongue should feel like TS position but little/NO air! Vibrate those vocal cords. Think swarm of bees. dzzzzzzz
s: english s
*Retroflex Consonants*
tongue on roof of mouth farther back than normal for these!
ch: say CHurch. lots of air. easy.
zh: tongue in same spot as ch but say.... jurch?
sh: say SHurburt
r: say shurburt again and hold out the urrrrrrrrrrr sound. That's what mandarin 'R' is -- exactly like SH but just go straight to the urrrrrrrrrr -- like a little growl
I hope you didn't gag on your tongue!!
okay these are the strangest to english speakers
q: tip of tongue against back of bottom teeth rest of tongue near top of mouth and makes an air canal of sorts. Similar sound as ch above but front of mouth sound and very weak sounding... LOTS OF AIR!!!
j: exact same tongue positioning as for q but NO AIR!
x: mmm hiss like a snake sssssss whistly sounding as possibly
^^^^ i will provide links for these soon because they are hard to explain
*no initial* ::::::: there is allowed to be just vowels by themselves. I'll cover this more in the vowel post next.
Hello and Welcome!
Ever since high school Spanish classes, I knew that I loved foreign languages. There was just something about making snide comments in front of my only English speaking friends that I really loved -- but don't get me wrong -- a major reason why I later picked Chinese to learn was due to the massive number of speakers and thus potential new friends!
It seems like so long ago that I began on my quest to learn Chinese. I went into college at Ball State thinking I wanted to major in Criminal Justice, but finished my freshman year feeling very unfulfilled. Before leaving I bought a book named Chinese in 10 minutes a day and I tell you that summer I spent much more than my 10 minute share. Also, I came across a language learning software called RocketChinese. This turned out to be a fantastic purchase and contained hundreds of hours of audio and endless grammar & culture tips to further your learning.
When I came back the following autumn and began official Chinese classes -- I had found my calling.
Fast forward to present day and Chinese is still so satisfying ::: satisfying like when you are eating salsa and you get to the very last bit of salsa and none of the chips are curved quite right to get the goods, but then you find that perfect chip.... :::::
but its called Chinese KOREAN Corner.... where's the Korean?
Well, I was always interested in the "alien" language Korean, but then I met a Korean girl (in Chinese class) who inspires me ----- so now I study Korean, too.
After graduation I plan to pursue a career in TESOL (teaching english to speakers of other languages) in either Korea or China, so to practice I will be posting about my learning process in the two languages and will do my best to help others get into the languages and cultures that fascinate me.
下次见！
안녕!
It seems like so long ago that I began on my quest to learn Chinese. I went into college at Ball State thinking I wanted to major in Criminal Justice, but finished my freshman year feeling very unfulfilled. Before leaving I bought a book named Chinese in 10 minutes a day and I tell you that summer I spent much more than my 10 minute share. Also, I came across a language learning software called RocketChinese. This turned out to be a fantastic purchase and contained hundreds of hours of audio and endless grammar & culture tips to further your learning.
When I came back the following autumn and began official Chinese classes -- I had found my calling.
Fast forward to present day and Chinese is still so satisfying ::: satisfying like when you are eating salsa and you get to the very last bit of salsa and none of the chips are curved quite right to get the goods, but then you find that perfect chip.... :::::
but its called Chinese KOREAN Corner.... where's the Korean?
Well, I was always interested in the "alien" language Korean, but then I met a Korean girl (in Chinese class) who inspires me ----- so now I study Korean, too.
After graduation I plan to pursue a career in TESOL (teaching english to speakers of other languages) in either Korea or China, so to practice I will be posting about my learning process in the two languages and will do my best to help others get into the languages and cultures that fascinate me.
下次见！
안녕!
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