Yamin Zhang (Peter)
Professional Teacher
Learning Article : Learn How To Really Speak Chinese

Discuss the Article : Learn How To Really Speak Chinese

<a href='/article/81/learn-how-to-really-speak-chinese' target='_blank'>Learn How To Really Speak Chinese</a>

After having taught foreigners to speak Chinese for more than five years, I have met many learners who come to me who have been taking Chinese lessons for a long time, but still can’t communicate in Chinese at all correctly. So, how can Chinese students learn to speak good Chinese?

Apr 22, 2014 12:00 AM
Comments · 11
1

Dear Alister,

Thank you for your further questions.
RFrith has answered your questions very well. Here are a few examples to add.

xie2 鞋 ( Mandarin ) hai2zi 孩子 (Sichuan dialect )
qu2 diao4 渠道 (Mandarin) guan3diao4 管道 (Taiwan dialect )

As for grammar,
我先走。 (Mandarin) 我行先。( Cantonese, adverbs after verbs )
你吃饭了吗? (Mandarin ) 侬饭吃过勿?(Shanghai dialect, nouns as objects
before verbs )
In terms of pronunciation,
Hu2 湖 (Mandarin ) Wu2 湖 (Cantonese )
pao3 跑 (Mandarin ) bo2 跑 (Shanghai dialect)

Above is only a tiny part of the difference between Mandarin and dialects, as examples.

 

August 18, 2014
1

Thank you for your article, Peter.  After your introduction, your first piece of advice is the following:

"Start by finding a professional teacher who speaks standard, native Chinese."

 

This raises three questions.

 

First, what exactly is "standard, native Chinese"?  Do you mean a Chinese person who speaks Mandarin using a northern accent?  Or do you mean something else?

 

Second, how can a native English person identify a teacher who speaks "standard, native Chinese"?  Almost every teacher writes that he or she speaks standard Chinese.  What questions can a student ask? For what sounds should a student listen?

 

Third, what is the harm in learning non-standard Chinese?  I don't mean a non-standard, region-specific dialect.  I mean, if the northern accent is the 'standard', what harm is there in learning the southern accent?

 

Thank you for any further advice you are able to share.

August 18, 2014
1

Great article, Peter!  Any chance of writing another article on how to improve your listening ability?

April 23, 2014

Absolutely, Andy.

August 20, 2014

i am an Chinese,in my opinion,just like learning  a aonther language you just need spaeking at everytime  and don't be shy,in this way your oral Chinese must be improved,that's my ideal,thanks

August 19, 2014
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