There are many sounds in Chinese that are not used the same way, or don’t exist, as in American English. The most noticeable difference is in the tones used — I am learning to adjust my intonation to communicate the words I learn, as different tones can distinguish what would otherwise be the same words. There are four tones, usually labeled as first, second, third, and fourth (āáǎà), as well as a somewhat unofficial fifth “flat” tone. My first lesson allowed me to practice with the pronunciation of the different pinyin (phonetic representations of words using a Latin alphabet), and while I began to understand each sound individually, recognizing them when they are put together to form words (and pronouncing those words) can still be a challenge. Two new sounds for me are “er” (ɘɾ) and “yü” (y), as I need to shape them in different ways than I am used to. Some other words that provide examples of different sounds are 冷 (lěng, ɭəŋ (with the third tone on the vowel), which means cold and has a much more nasal pronunciation of the “ng” sound), and 菜 (cài, tʼsɐɪ), meaning dish or vegetable, which uses a combination of the English t and s sounds for the letter "c" in pinyin. In order to practice, I have been searching for films on Scola where I can listen to spoken Chinese and understand the intonations for questions and statements, as well as try to match the characters I recognize with their sounds and become more capable of understanding the ways the characters I recognize are represented in day-to-day speech. I am also working with my tutor to understand how regional accents might differ from each other (for example, in Beijing it is common to attach the “er” sound to the ends of phrases). I try to balance speaking at normal speed in conversation and pausing to repeat words and focus more strongly on pronunciation in order to become a well-rounded speaker and reinforce my speaking ability in practice.
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