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meichenxi · 3 years

Audio

Hey guys!! I thought I’d be brave today *gulp* and share an example of my spoken Chinese with you. I often feel nervous speaking to native speakers as well as other learners, but what’s a langblr for if not stepping out of your comfort zone...

First things first: this audio isn't scripted apart from the text I read at one point, so there are a few stops and starts and a few mess ups. When you listen to the audio, I think you can really tell that I was more nervous in the beginning: my tones are weird and stilted, and then I get more relaxed as the recording goes on, and by the time I get to reading the lines from TGCF, you can tell I’m enjoying myself a lot + emotion - and, not coincidentally at all, I think it sounds a lot better. Confidence goes a long way lads.

I think speaking naturally as early as possible is incredibly important, and I also want to be honest with you guys about where I am and how far I have to go.

Here I talk a little about one of my favourite methods of practicing spoken Chinese: following and copying someone’s lines in a video or TV show. I love doing this. Not only does it force you to speak quicker than you’re probably used to, but it’s a great way to practice (cough cough) the interplay of tone and intonation. (Some of you will recognise the quote I choose to read lmao)

Here’s a rough translation of what I said:

Hello everyone! I’m Mei Chenxi. Welcome to my blog. (nervous laughter). Today I want to share with you guys how I go about practicing my spoken Chinese, and tell you guys a method I find very useful.

The first step is choosing a TV show or video you like, then, second step, copying the lines/script of that video. Whatever they say, you say too. Let me give an example. Me for example - today I watched the fifth episode of Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heavenly Official’s Blessing), and in the fifth episode there’s a line that Xie Lian says, um...let me give you guys a listen. (it’s not actually in the fifth ep but I got nervous and forgot)

(nervous cough) (please take this translation with a pinch of salt)

‘Many years ago, somebody told me he couldn’t go on living. He asked me what the point of living was, what the purpose was. Do you know how I answered then? I said, if you don’t know how to go on living, go on living for me. If you don’t know what the meaning of life is, take me as your purpose to go on living.’

Whelp, just like that. You shouldn’t only copy the actual lines, but also copy their tone (of voice). Only doing that will help your speech become more natural. If you think that the video is too quick, if you think you can’t hear it clearly, of course you can also speak slower.

You can try it yourself and see if it’s any fun. Alright, that’s it for today. 加油！Bye bye!

Argggh. As you can hear, I’ve still got a *long* way to go. But being able to speak off the cuff and read the lines of a show (albeit very simple ones) at roughly normal speed is something I never would have imagined a couple of years ago. I think what has helped me the most is a) immersion in Chinese, even though at the time I could barely say anything, it laid the foundations of tone etc, and b) deliberate immersion at home, even if the level of the language was way above me.

As for me: I think my fourth tones are always a bit too harsh, and make me sound extra 外国人。I need to integrate them better into the rest of speech. And I’m constantly having problems with my second tone, especially two in a row (listen to 台词).

I really encourage you to try this method. It encourages you to deliberately pay attention to intonation and emotion in speech, which is crucial for sounding natural. This is one of the biggest hinderances many people have in speaking Chinese, I think, and something I’m still working on. People might understand you, but you still sound like a robot.

I’d really love to hear other people recording themselves!! I know it’s scary, but I think as a community we have a lot to help each other with.

加油！

- 梅晨曦

#learn chinese #study chinese #chinese langblr #chinese studyblr #oh my god this was so stressful I hope you appreciate my sacrifice #chinese audio #tgcf #hualian #meichenxi #chinese #mandarin #study mandarin #learn mandarin #langblr #lingblr #studyblr

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gonewiddershins · 3 years

Text

i have time to kill and a brain that needs to be distracted from the looming void of the pointlessness of life so here is an ENTIRE ask meme (part 1)

What book are you currently reading?

A bunch of them, as always. I’ve been dragging myself chapter by chapter through little women for like a couple of months now (i really like the prose, i’m less than convinced by about half of the subject matter and I know Louisa May Alcott likely had the same opinion), There’s a bullet journal guide that I’m forever putting on hold because sigh there are reasons why I need a bullet journal. I’m re-reading The Scum VIllain’s Self Saving System, mostly because the donghua was excellent and gave me cravings. I’m about a third of the way through a halloween anthology and i wasn’t into the latest story so its been like that for a while. I’ve read a couple of chapters and pages each of The Queen of the Tearling and Evensong’s heir respectively and I haven’t gotten back to them but I also don’t want to drop them because they are fine so far. I;m halfway through mexican gothic and I like it but it’s a bit slow-moving so I’m getting twitchy. I��m also about halfway through this segregated magic system urban fantasy thing which would be really good if 90% of the dialogue wasn’t exposition and I have some critique notes for the author about that.

What book did you recently finish?

Another danmei webnovel. And another transmigration novel. This one was both. There was some interesting worldbuilidng and character stuff in the beginning and then it dropped most of the plotlines and devolved into sex scenes I now know how Shen Yuan felt when he was reading proud Immortal Demon Way because SO MANY dropped plot points guys so many.

What’s a book that’s been on your to-read list for a long time?

Rhythm of War? Hopefully I don’t approach this with excitement that fizzles out before I actually start on it like with Oathbringer. I don’t think that’s gonna be the case but I cannot predict the vagaries of my mood reading.

What’s the next book you’re hoping to read?

Eh. Probably RoW again. I do want to read Dawnshard before I read RoW but I’m not entirely sure if that’s going to be possible. RoW takes priority as of now.

Is there a book you own, but aren’t planning on reading?

*gestures vaguely at shelf full of classic novels I am probably never actually going to finish* People keep getting me these things because I “like reading more than anything else” and reading clearly means reading classics.

What was your favourite series as a kid? Would you still read it now?

Animorphs! And yes. I periodically re-read random books from the series for kicks. Not all of it holds up well but enough does to make it a fairly enjoyable experience.

What’s your favourite series now?

I don’t actually do favourites anymore because I’m indecisive and there are way too many metrics to calculate and sometimes I like different books for very different reasons.

Fantasy or sci-fi?

I like both, but I generally prefer fantasy. That said I’m more interested in the applications of weird magic/tech and social consequences than I am in anything else; which means I adore sci-fi like say- The Vorkosigan Saga and Imperial Radch while disliking more standardized/hero-focused fantasy like The Faithful and the Fallen (I STILL DON’T KNOW HOW PEOPLE LIKE IT). It’s a spectrum.

I think someone once mentioned on this very site that they liked fantasy which took a scientific approach to magic and sci-fi which took a magical approach to science and you know what I kinda feel that statement.

What’s a book you want to buy?

Fence: Disarmed. There are disaster gays everywhere.

Have you ever judged a book by its cover?

I've definitely decided to read a book purely because of the cover. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. Same with book titles.

Have you ever bought a book because of who the author was?

I have a small list of auto-buy authors I scream about all the time so Yes. Is Horror not generally my genre but is T. Kingfisher writing some weird horror shit? I’ll take it thank you very much.

If I do find an author I like I generally go through their entire backlist because while quality may vary between earlier and later books (*coughSANDERSONcough*) there are repetitive motifs/tropes I really enjoy which i think the author also enjoys.

Have you ever read a celebrity memoir? If so, whose was it?

Nah. I’ve probably tried to read a couple marketed as funny but I didn’t find them very funny so I gave up. I do have Know My Name by Chanel Miller on my to-do list but I don’t think that qualifies as a celebrity memoir. Oh, and I suppose I’ll get around to reading Trevor Noah’s memoir eventually. Or Bassem Youssef’s.

Are you a fan of autobiographies?

I think that probably depends on the autobiography in question. I remember reading the first part of Gandhi’s autobiography and thinking “wow you are hella judgemental, dude” before I got anywhere hear the Independence movement stuff. I remember starting Booker T Washington’s Up From Slavery with every expectation of giving up halfway through and then powering through it in like a day because it was that good. So. //shrugs

Fiction or non-fiction?

Fiction for long-form stuff and non-fiction for short form stuff. I struggle with short stories, but I can breeze through essays and articles. On the other hand, give me a non fiction book and I’ll brood over it for seven years like I’m trying to hatch a basilisk.

Favourite fiction genre?

I usually say fantasy but a more accurate term would be speculative fiction because I like “how does X change affect society” stories a LOT.

Favourite non-fiction genre?

History (caveat: no biographies, please- just more anthropology-like history) and science. And I do mean science, not technology.

Historical fiction: yea or nay?

generally yea but it really depends on the author and the subject matter. I’m not all that invested in monarchy-based historical fiction (monarchy based fantasy fiction i’ll take), for example. And I really like survivalist fiction so historical survival is a big win in my book.

Do you read the book or watch the movie first?

Ha. Watch a movie? What do you take me for a philistine? (I will however, quite possibly watch a animated series before reading the book it’s a thing.)

Paperback or hardcover?

Paperback. I’m hell on hardcovers. The state of my copy of Goblet of Fire would make anyone with an ounce of sympathy for books weep.

Do you read e-books?

Almost exclusively, at this point.

How many bookshelves do you have?

Physically, not that many. Just two? Everything is crammed in two layers deep though.

How do you organize your books?

Author (Firstname, Lastname) > Series > Series Position. Nonfiction is sorted either by Topic (I HAVE NOT ORGANIZED THIS SUBSECTON WELL ENOUGH IT PREYS ON ME CONSTANTLY), author names I recognize, or books in a series.

Do you prefer borrowing books from friends, borrowing books from a library, or buying them? How willing are you to lend your books to other people?

I guess buying them if I really like the books? I’m a compulsive re-reader. I don’t really like borrowing books from people because I get stressed about forgetting to give them back. I do like lending books to people though. If I have a backup copy in ebook format, anyway.

I don’t really have any libraries I can borrow non-Classics fiction from alas.

In what condition do you keep your books?

“it’s Okay I guess” to Poor. A couple are in “WHAT MANNER OF HIDEOUS BEAST RAVAGED YOU” territory. I need to cover books or I inevitably start wearing down on the corners it’s like i exude an aura of non-lethal but constantly-eroding destruction that affects everything I come into contact with I thank my electronics from the bottom of my heart for their service.

What’s the biggest book you’ve ever read, and how many pages did it have?

I’m reasonably sure it’s this webnovel called Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage because DEAR GOD IT TOOK ME WEEKS even when i was near-constantly reading I think it was even longer than Tian Guan Ci Fu/Heaven’s Official Blessing but idk how long bc webnovel and the pagecount (for the whole novel) is not listed on Goodreads.

#ask meme

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