White people speaking Chinese:
Say the following with me:
Joong Gok...
No...that's not it...use more of your tongue. Not so high. It doesn't sound natu...fuck forget it.
I for one am a person who thinks I can teach anyone anything. It's all the matter of "how" you get the point across. At the same time I think I should offer some little nuggets of wisdom to particularily english speakin people on how to speak Chinese.
Advice #1: Accept only "half" of the anglosized versions of Chinese words. I mean it. The fact of the matter is that of half of the anglosized Chinese I ever read, was like some half assed attempt to cram a circle block in a square hole. I call it "Changlo" from here on in. Actually to tell you the truth, "Changlo" isn't too bad. The most effort you should put into Changlo is only to use it as a guide and ONLY a guide. Why? Later.
Advice #2: You're tongue, nasal passge and throat is going to go to places that you don't even know you have. To me, Chinese (more specifically Cantonese) is a nasal language...no upon reflection it isn't.....then again yes it is. It's hard to say. To go with everyone else, Chinese is more throat oriented than english. Whereas english has reverberation in the nasal passage about 90% of the time, Chinese needs only like 10%, and of that 10% it's only as an aid to smooth out sounds in our fabolous oft seeken language. That's why Chinese people are loud, it's all from the throat baby! It's almost half your nasal cavity is blocked off, forcing the sound to smack the top of your mouth and rocket out of it.
As the throat, nasal passage and tongue get at it, they're there to aid in the sound...not create it. Imagine english as a nail, where when you pound it, it goes in and you know where you stop. As opposed to a screw when is twisted in, smoothly without much stopping...ok bad analogy but the fact is english is direct and have stops and pauses. The sound comes out and stops. To go back to a stereotype, when you hear old stereotypical Chinese people speak in the 60's movies with the lighty flighty air and the "ah...yes...ah....ahaaaaaa" that is somewhat true. Even though a the main part of a word in Chinese might have stopped, the sound of it continues almost continually with small indications of breaks. It's like a wave, and not matter how small the wave is (in this case the aaaa....ah...ah yes blah blah) it's still a part of it to make the complete wave. Which leads me to...
Advice #3: Don't ever say the sound of a Chinese word. It horrors me to teach my friends and hear it so badly. They sound like a robot, let alone in my younger years I felt that they were even making fun of me. You have to observe more thatn meets the eye and ask the positioning the tongue...and don't rely on english positions either. Think of your mouth "transforming" into another machine, to prove the same function of kicking ass, but in a different fashion. Ask how the air seems to come out, where it went, the shape of the tongue and for the love of God, feel breathless, feel that you start each word with an exhale of silent air and end with a exhale of silent air.
That is why Changlo is somewhat acceptable...it gives you a rough "idea" of where to position your tongue, throat and other mouth orfices but it's NOT the way to do it. Ask someone else!
Now...say the following with me:
Tsim Tsa Tsui
No..fuck............forget it.
Say the following with me:
Joong Gok...
No...that's not it...use more of your tongue. Not so high. It doesn't sound natu...fuck forget it.
I for one am a person who thinks I can teach anyone anything. It's all the matter of "how" you get the point across. At the same time I think I should offer some little nuggets of wisdom to particularily english speakin people on how to speak Chinese.
Advice #1: Accept only "half" of the anglosized versions of Chinese words. I mean it. The fact of the matter is that of half of the anglosized Chinese I ever read, was like some half assed attempt to cram a circle block in a square hole. I call it "Changlo" from here on in. Actually to tell you the truth, "Changlo" isn't too bad. The most effort you should put into Changlo is only to use it as a guide and ONLY a guide. Why? Later.
Advice #2: You're tongue, nasal passge and throat is going to go to places that you don't even know you have. To me, Chinese (more specifically Cantonese) is a nasal language...no upon reflection it isn't.....then again yes it is. It's hard to say. To go with everyone else, Chinese is more throat oriented than english. Whereas english has reverberation in the nasal passage about 90% of the time, Chinese needs only like 10%, and of that 10% it's only as an aid to smooth out sounds in our fabolous oft seeken language. That's why Chinese people are loud, it's all from the throat baby! It's almost half your nasal cavity is blocked off, forcing the sound to smack the top of your mouth and rocket out of it.
As the throat, nasal passage and tongue get at it, they're there to aid in the sound...not create it. Imagine english as a nail, where when you pound it, it goes in and you know where you stop. As opposed to a screw when is twisted in, smoothly without much stopping...ok bad analogy but the fact is english is direct and have stops and pauses. The sound comes out and stops. To go back to a stereotype, when you hear old stereotypical Chinese people speak in the 60's movies with the lighty flighty air and the "ah...yes...ah....ahaaaaaa" that is somewhat true. Even though a the main part of a word in Chinese might have stopped, the sound of it continues almost continually with small indications of breaks. It's like a wave, and not matter how small the wave is (in this case the aaaa....ah...ah yes blah blah) it's still a part of it to make the complete wave. Which leads me to...
Advice #3: Don't ever say the sound of a Chinese word. It horrors me to teach my friends and hear it so badly. They sound like a robot, let alone in my younger years I felt that they were even making fun of me. You have to observe more thatn meets the eye and ask the positioning the tongue...and don't rely on english positions either. Think of your mouth "transforming" into another machine, to prove the same function of kicking ass, but in a different fashion. Ask how the air seems to come out, where it went, the shape of the tongue and for the love of God, feel breathless, feel that you start each word with an exhale of silent air and end with a exhale of silent air.
That is why Changlo is somewhat acceptable...it gives you a rough "idea" of where to position your tongue, throat and other mouth orfices but it's NOT the way to do it. Ask someone else!
Now...say the following with me:
Tsim Tsa Tsui
No..fuck............forget it.
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