User Comments - John
John
Posted on: A Lot of Sisters
July 27, 2009 at 3:13 AMHey guys, don't forget to use pinyin when you introduce new vocab in the comments of Newbie lessons. (I went ahead and added it in for Jenny's and Cassie's comments.)
Happy learning!
Posted on: A Lot of Sisters
July 27, 2009 at 1:22 AMThanks! It's always a bit awkward to adapt to a different level, but it's also a lot of fun.
Posted on: Pinyin Sections 5-6
July 27, 2009 at 1:21 AMruhnkem,
I agree with you... The R sounds took me the longest to master as well.
Glad our advice is helping!
Posted on: Pinyin Sections 3-4
July 9, 2009 at 3:20 PMbodawei,
Wow, that's horrible! I think it's hardly typical, but definitely something to keep in the back of one's mind...
Posted on: Pinyin Sections 3-4
July 9, 2009 at 10:47 AMgo_manly,
True, perhaps "exactly" was a bit of an exaggeration. The important thing is that if you were to reproduce this "ts" sound exactly and use it in Mandarin, it would be easily understood.
No one can have perfect pronunciation right off the bat, but these tips will get you started on the right track.
Posted on: Pinyin Sections 3-4
July 9, 2009 at 8:08 AMfryewiththat,
I concur with Bababardwan. "Tze tze" is a loanword in English, and there are native English speakers that have trouble pronouncing the initial "ts" sound.
Posted on: Pinyin Sections 3-4
July 9, 2009 at 8:06 AMjheitz,
Wow, you have quite a talent for distinguishing phonetic features! The short answer to your question is yes. We didn't get into the details of phonetics (it's not useful for most learners), but the difference between pinyin c and pinyin z is indeed one of aspiration. This is a common theme in Chinese phonology. Check out this Wikipedia entry on pinyin for more of the linguistic nitty gritty.
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 8: About to Give Birth
July 7, 2009 at 1:56 AMraygo,
Well, in an infinite curriculum, we have to cover everything eventually, right?
The pregnancy series is winding up. I'm ready for some less domestic themes... Maybe not Godzilla or ninjas again, but something good! :)
Posted on: Pinyin Sections 1-2
July 6, 2009 at 8:14 AMbababardwan,
Henning is right. The chart doesn't have a Y either.
W and Y are not separate sounds in pinyin; they are letters used to mark the beginning of syllables which would otherwise be written "uang" or "ing" or "iong." (Writing them that way would cause a lot of confusion when you connect syllables, much the way that words like "jingan" still do.)
We'll actually get into this later on in the Pinyin Program.
Posted on: Fast Cars and Dangerous Driving
July 29, 2009 at 2:23 AMAh, this dialogue reminds me of my high school days...
It's kind of hard to drive fast in Shanghai, though, with all the traffic.