Mimicry & Meaning
In the last unit, you learned some lyrics from "Taxi" and "Beijing to NY". Due to the nature of these songs, however, you did not really learn the Tonal Flow for those phrases.
For the rest of this course, we will focus on songs that are much more tonally consistent with real speech. In the meantime, what you need is a nice refreshing shot of "Tonal Infusion."
Before you practice with this exercise, you will first learn the "Tonal Infusion," - a "ma....ma...ma" version of the speech that maintains accurate rhythm, timing and tones (left-side audio clips).
The tonal infusion will allow you to focus all your attention on the flow before overloading your brain with the syllables. Practice with the audio files below by mimicking the just the tones as well as the actual speech. Try to hear the difference between what you sounded like before vs. now. You can refer back to this page as often as you like.
When you think you had enough practice, move on to the next unit.
For the rest of this course, we will focus on songs that are much more tonally consistent with real speech. In the meantime, what you need is a nice refreshing shot of "Tonal Infusion."
Before you practice with this exercise, you will first learn the "Tonal Infusion," - a "ma....ma...ma" version of the speech that maintains accurate rhythm, timing and tones (left-side audio clips).
The tonal infusion will allow you to focus all your attention on the flow before overloading your brain with the syllables. Practice with the audio files below by mimicking the just the tones as well as the actual speech. Try to hear the difference between what you sounded like before vs. now. You can refer back to this page as often as you like.
When you think you had enough practice, move on to the next unit.
Taxi Line 1
Tonal Infusion |
Mimic |
Meaning: Where do you want to drive to?
你要开到哪里去
Word for Word: ni (drive)...yao (want)...kai (drive)...(dao) to...na li (where)...qu (go)
你要开到哪里去
Word for Word: ni (drive)...yao (want)...kai (drive)...(dao) to...na li (where)...qu (go)
Taxi Line 2
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Meaning: Don't lose (leave) me here
别把我丢在这里
Word for Word: bie (don't)...ba wo(do <action> me)...diu (lose)...zai (in)...zheli (this place)
别把我丢在这里
Word for Word: bie (don't)...ba wo(do <action> me)...diu (lose)...zai (in)...zheli (this place)
Taxi Line 3
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Meaning: Tomorrow I will lodge a complaint against you
我明天要投诉你
Word for Word: wo (I)...mingtian (tomorrow)...yao (want)....tou su (lodge a complaint)....ni (you)
我明天要投诉你
Word for Word: wo (I)...mingtian (tomorrow)...yao (want)....tou su (lodge a complaint)....ni (you)
Taxi Line 4
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Meaning: But I forgot the license plate!
但是车牌忘了记
Word for Word: danshi (but)...chepai (license plate)....wang le ji (forgot)
但是车牌忘了记
Word for Word: danshi (but)...chepai (license plate)....wang le ji (forgot)
