Pinyin-Initial-z c s

z c s
This group also deserves some notice in the sense you want to differentiate (especially) z and c from their pronunciation in English. You can try to listen to them here and compare the differences.
z: Like the 'ds' in 'woods'.
c: Like the 't's' in 'That's great!'. Compared to z, c is more aspirated.
s: Similar to the 's' in 'speak' as in English.

CC's Note:
For z, do not confuse it with the 'z' in 'zoo'.
For c, do not make the 'k' sound as in cat, capital and so on.
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Pinyin-Initial-j q x

j q x
Though appeared in English, these three may sound the most different in Pinyin. Anyway, please check out their pronunciation here.

To well pronounce them, please be noted to put your tongue tip a bit below your lower teech.

j: Similar to the 'j' in 'jeep', but not in such an 'exaggerated' way.
q:Similar to the 'ch' in 'cheese'.
x:Similar to the 'sh' in 'sheet'.

CC's Note:
For j, do not confuse it with the 'j' in 'jalapeno'.
For q, do not confuse it with the 'q' in 'queen'.
For x, do not confuse it with the 'x' in 'fax'.

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Pinyin-Initial-g k h

g k h
These three are relatively easy since they are almost the same as in English, but still you are encouraged to get a feeling of what they sound like. Listen here!
g: Similar to the 'g' in 'great', but is more like a soft unaspirated 'k' as in 'skate'.
k: Like the 'k' in 'kill', but notice that it is aspirated.
h: Similar to the 'h' in 'hoof', but as you mat notice according to the audio, there is somewhat more friction.

CC's Note:
So far you may feel what you have been practising is a bit mechanical and it's not even like what Chinese people are speaking anyway. It's true, since we are doing it separately. Later we will make the combination and you will have a lot of fun:)

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Pinyin-Initial-d t n l

d t n l
The audio file is here. Just listen, mimic and correct your own pronunciation.
d: Like the 'd' in 'dog'. (unaspirated)
t: Similar to the 't' in 'target' (aspirated)
n: Similar to the 'n' in 'no'.
l: Similar to the 'l' in 'lead'.

CC's Note:
1. For the definition of unaspirated and aspirated, please refer to last post 'Pinyin-Initial-b p m f';
2. 'l' in English has two kinds of pronunciation, like the two 'l's in ''legal'. In Pinyin, the 'l' sounds like the INITIAL l instead of the final one.





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Pinyin-Initial-b p m f

b p m f
You can listen and practise here. Just press the little loudspeaker button and you can hear it.

b: Similar to the 'b' in 'bike', but is more accurately the 'p' in 'spelling' in the sense that it is unaspirated.
p: Like the 'p' in 'pie'. Notice now this 'p' is aspirated.
m:Just as 'm' in 'mind' as in English.
f: Just as 'f' in 'fake' as in English.

CC's Note:
The aspirated/unaspirated distinction is a mojor feature of Chinese you may want to notice. The difference just lies in whether there is an absense of aspiration. For aspirated sounds, like 'p', you need to add a strong puff of air, while for unaspirated ones, like 'b', you better release less or no air. It's easy to compare, just put your hand in front of your mouth when you practise these two and feel the difference in the flow of air from it.

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Pinyin-Introduction

Pinyin is the standard romanization system used in China, and you may find it's somewhat similar to the English counterpart in either spelling, writing or pronunciation. However, it is most important to notice the difference
Accurate pronunciation at the outset should never be overstated. There are many books you can refer to, but here I just want to make it simple and I would like you to follow those steps when practise pronunciation:

Listen->Mimic->Practice->Correct

Just repeat the above steps until you find yourself speak exactly the same as the sample sound.

CC's Note:
Do NOT even think about the corresponding characters and their meaning when you pronounce some words. Just focus on the pronunciation first!

A syllable is composed of three parts:
(1) Initial;
(2) Final;
(3) Tone (4 of them).
For example:
wō contains 3 parts:
w (initial) + o (final) + -(tone)

Our experience is that people usually confuse (1) and (2) with their home tongue (e.g., the pronunciation of 'j'), and cannot remember what the 4 tones sound like. It can be overcome just by some effort.
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Three role models

Before we officially get started, I would like to share with you some people who can speak perfect Chinese with English as their native language. You might not need to be as good as them, since maybe half of that is way more enough, but at least it shows that it is absolutely feasible to make it. OK, now let's check them out:

1. 大山(dà shān* Lit: Big Mountain)-Mark Rowswell
There should be no doubt that he is the most famous and popular foreigner in China but I believe less than 0.001% of us know that his real name is Mark Henry Rowswell! Back to 20 years ago, he was the first foreigner many Chinese people had ever seen. Many people (including me), watch his program to study English. You can have a look at how he speaks Chinese just with the finger tip. Below is his performance in a 'solo Xiangsheng'(单口相声, one kind of Xiangsheng), a style similar to talkshow, with the aim to send audiences laughters:


2. 陆克文(lù kèwén)-Kevin Rudd
He is definitely the one who speaks the best Chinese among prime ministers or presidents (of course, I deliberately rule out President Hu Jintao:). He has the academic background in Chinese and has done some profound research back in university. Below is his speech in Beijing University in 2008:



3. 江喃(jiāng nán)-Jonathan Kott
To be frank, I was deeply shocked when I first saw his TV program because I have never seen a foreigner who can speak Sichuanhua (Sichuanese) so well. I am from Sichuan, a beautiful province in Southwestern China, and I have to admit that the first responce that my friends and I had when we knew such a guy is like crazy, especiall when things that come out of this guy's mouth are in your local language. Here is a clip:



I hope you can speak better Chinese than them someday! Enjoy!

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*: This is Pinyin spelling which we will come to soon.






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