Syllable Mimicry (Answers)
Below I include the pinyin transcriptions of the three audio clips, as well as the audio clips on 30% reduced speed.
- Cross check your transcription with the ones below and highlight all the syllables that you got wrong.
- Listen again to the reduced speed clips and try to listen for the syllables that you misheard.
- Practice mimicking each syllable, especially the ones you misheard.
Syllable Mimicry Exercise 1
shang…shi…qian…de…yu…gou…shou…ri…jiu…gao…da…shi…liu…wan…tai…ping…guo…mei…
li...guo…ran…bu…tong…fan...shang….yan…jiu…qi…gou…pu…ping…le…guan..yu…gu
iPad…jin…nian...zhi…shao…dou…you…liu…bai…zhi…ba…bai…wan…tai…chu….huo…liang
li...guo…ran…bu…tong…fan...shang….yan…jiu…qi…gou…pu…ping…le…guan..yu…gu
iPad…jin…nian...zhi…shao…dou…you…liu…bai…zhi…ba…bai…wan…tai…chu….huo…liang
Syllable Mimicry Exercise 2
wo...ai...xiao...gao...wo...zui...xi...huan...de...dong...wu...shi....gou...wo...duo...le..xu...dou...you
guang...gao...de...shu...yan...jing...chang...he...li...ni...zhang...de...gao...zai...yi....qi...wan....shua...gou...ge...zhong...ge...yang
guang...gao...de...shu...yan...jing...chang...he...li...ni...zhang...de...gao...zai...yi....qi...wan....shua...gou...ge...zhong...ge...yang
Syllable Mimicry Exercise 3
you...yu...wo...guo...da...duo...shi...nong...yin...dou...shi...zai...ben...xiang...ben...tu...cong...shi...nong
ye...lao...dong...zhe...shi...ta...men...shi...zhong...sheng...huo...zai...gu...ding...de...shu...ren...quan...se...li
ye...lao...dong...zhe...shi...ta...men...shi...zhong...sheng...huo...zai...gu...ding...de...shu...ren...quan...se...li
No worries if you got more wrong than you expected. A lot of sounds get distorted in recording and mumbled in normal speech. Ultimately, people rely on context to understand language. The purpose of this exercise was to have you pay as much attention as possible to the phonemic nuances of Mandarin speech. Take note of the categories of sound that you struggled to hear the most, and review them in the sound primer. You'll find that most of your perception errors will boil down to just a few habitual things that you can fix once you identify them.
Once you are finished reviewing these syllables, you may move on to The Next Section.