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Mandarin at university | ||
Tags: College/University | Mandarin | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6661 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 1 of 6 09 September 2013 at 9:02am | IP Logged | ||
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So, I eventually (mostly for student union reasons) ended up studying mandarin. It's a cute language. We use Pollard
and Tung's 'Colloquial Chinese' in class, and some oral proficiency books that the faculty has imported from China (not really sure why they did not find Colloquial Chinese to be enough). I've already become a bit disappointed during the first lesson on pronunciation: the teacher said that pinyin B sounded like B in Swedish (which is the same as English). This is not true, as pinyin b is an unaspirated p… I look forward, with a bit of fright, to the lesson where we're going to 'learn' q, j and x… On my own spare time, of which I hardly has any, I do use Heisig's book 'Remembering the Hanzi'. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6661 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 2 of 6 09 September 2013 at 11:27pm | IP Logged | ||
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Today: nothing but Heisig repetitions; tomorrow: language lab introduction… I'm more afraid than enthusiastic.
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| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6661 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 3 of 6 10 September 2013 at 10:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Todays lesson almost gave me a panic attack as I sat in class listening to what is only to be called disinformation.
Pinyin z was explained to sound like dz, voiced, and pinyin j was also explained weird, namely as j in judge, with emphasis on it being voiced. I'm not sure what to do really… I don't want to be "that guy" – but what she's teaching is clearly wrong… Is her Mandarin bad or just her perception of Swedish phonology? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mahasiswa Pentaglot Groupie Canada Joined 4434 days ago 91 posts - 142 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, German, Malay Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), Persian, Russian, Turkish, Mandarin, Hindi | Message 4 of 6 11 September 2013 at 12:46am | IP Logged | ||
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Whenever I've had a problem with a professor, I just speak with them after class, in their office if possible.
Every professor is willing to provide an extra explanation to what they teach in class, and if you're a more advanced student they will be happy to accomodate your needs. But I would love to read a log of discoveries, not anxieties. Good luck! Edited by mahasiswa on 11 September 2013 at 12:46am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6661 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 5 of 6 11 September 2013 at 12:15pm | IP Logged | ||
It'll come. As of yet, I haven't really learned anything to be brutally honest, a part form Chi1le mei2you2. But soon we're gonna get into doing some actually studies of mandarin grammar and that will be fun. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6911 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 6 11 September 2013 at 11:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Is the teacher Chinese or Swedish? Are you studying in Sweden or somewhere else?
Sounds can be really tricky sometimes. During a stay in Barcelona a few weeks ago, I asked a guy about the nearest cybercafe. His reply suggested a place I didn't know, so I asked if heard it correctly: -P-A-N-S? (He really said [pʌns], hence my guess.) -No, B-A-N-S. (Now with a clear .) Later that day, I saw a dozen of those "Pans & Company" fast food restaurants... From some years of Mandarin studies, I think it's "better" to suggest that a Mandarin B is similar to a Swedish B etc. Maybe voiced consonants are somewhat closer to unaspirated unvoiced counterparts, I don't know. It seems that you are easier understood if you say [beɪdʒɪŋ] than if you accidentally use aspirated consonants. For most Swedes, a B is a B, a P is a P and so on, and adding/deleting any degree of aspiration usually makes no difference in understanding. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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