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-- Mandarin speakers?
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quote:

Originally posted by Intellekshual It is not an easy language to learn at all, and most learners drop that letter altogether because they simply cannot pronounce it. Quite a few of them, however, persist and manage to reproduce it, or something tolerably close.

I'm not going to give up that easy. I mean, I learnt how to pronounce some of the basic clicks...



... and implosive consonants (the ones that you pronounce pulling the air inwards)...



... no way I'm going to let THAT "hhhhhh" thing defeat me

quote:

Originally posted by Intellekshual That is wrong!

It's the best we can do

Mandarin sounds neat and I'd like to learn it but it also seems like it would be too fucking difficult to be worth it. Same with Russian really.

holy fuck.

reading Lira's post made me feel like a complete retard. sick.

wheres the floppy disks at to install languages into brain pl0x. matrix me up brah

quote:

Originally posted by Lira ...some of the basic clicks...

Those actually don't seem that difficult, probably because I've made all sorts of clicking noises with my mouth as a habit for years.

One day I went through a ton of Wikipedia IPA sound pages and tried making all the sounds. It seemed like some of the hardest ones came from Vietnamese.

It seems like the trick is being able to speak two "letters" or sounds simultaneously.

Keeping in mind that it doesn't matter, since you would need to learn the specific region anyway. Kind of like how a Yankee can't really speak to a Southerner. :P

quote:

Originally posted by Vector A Those actually don't seem that difficult, probably because I've made all sorts of clicking noises with my mouth as a habit for years.

But speaking a language with those clicks is tricky for some people. Actually, the only time in my life I met someone who could speak a language with clicks, he kept insisting no one he knew (here) could get it right. Although I suspect he was mainly bragging

quote:

Originally posted by Vector A One day I went through a ton of Wikipedia IPA sound pages and tried making all the sounds. It seemed like some of the hardest ones came from Vietnamese.

I simply hate Vietnamese tones. I decided to pick up the language earlier this year, and I can't tell how frustrated I was listening to the tones trying to understand what the hell was going on.

What I found confusing as hell in Vietnamese is the letter "a", because it often (but not always) sounds exactly like it does in English - and my first reaction is to interpret it as an open "e". So if I'm just listening to the language (instead of reading and listening to it), I always need to double check because the words are short and one single vowel can change everything

However, except for the letters "b" and "d", which are somewhat different from what we're used to, I would've imagined the language posed no challenges for someone who speaks English. What did you find difficult?

quote:

Originally posted by r5a holy fuck. reading Lira's post made me feel like a complete retard. sick. wheres the floppy disks at to install languages into brain pl0x. matrix me up brah

Haha, it's just what I do for a living, mate. I only know the basics, by the way, and I would never be able to survive in China for more than... well... how long does it take for a person to die of starvation?

After a full day devoted to this language, all i can say is I now know why they are always kicking stuff.

Lira, mystery meat can be awesome sometimes if you never find out what it was.

quote:

Originally posted by Lira However, except for the letters "b" and "d", which are somewhat different from what we're used to, I would've imagined the language posed no challenges for someone who speaks English. What did you find difficult?

I don't remember. It was a while ago and I didn't save the pages.

quote:

Originally posted by zyklon-jay After a full day devoted to this language, all i can say is I now know why they are always kicking stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by zyklon-jay Lira, mystery meat can be awesome sometimes if you never find out what it was.

Someone I know accidentally ate monkey brain once for this exact reason

Being a vegetarian, I don't really have that problem. Except for this one time I went to Chinatown, and the girl couldn't tell me in English what the "vegetables" in the "vegetable soup" were. I ordered it right away

quote:

Originally posted by Lira But speaking a language with those clicks is tricky for some people. Actually, the only time in my life I met someone who could speak a language with clicks, he kept insisting no one he knew (here) could get it right. Although I suspect he was mainly bragging

Maybe. I'm sure there are nuances that people who grew up click-free simply can't hear.

Indeed, that's why it's just a suspicion

I also picked up a certain click sound from a friend years ago, different from the ones in the video. I believe it is a loud type of palatal click made by creating a lot of suction between the tongue and the palate.

lol, random mouth noise experiments.

You know what to do, Brian.

Go get a microphone for further inspection

quote:

Originally posted by Lira You know what to do, Brian. Go get a microphone for further inspection

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27221906/click1.mp3

Mega crappy quality, but the first three are attempting the "q" from the video, and the last three are the palatal thing I was just talking about.

i don't have a mic handy.

say this lira and upload please.

Nǐ w�n qǐl�i xi�ng gǒu shǐ

You got close enough. I guess this is your sound, Brian:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postalveolar_click

quote:

Originally posted by zyklon-jay Nǐ w�n qǐl�i xi�ng gǒu shǐ

All right, I'll give it a go soon. Just a moment

Oh, and read some English text in an Irish accent again, please.

Kay

Oh, is this one of those threads where we make Lira say random stuff? I like these.

Try me!

Say "That fucking skanger stole my wallet" in Irish

Nǐ w�n qǐl�i xi�ng gǒu shǐ

I kind of messed up the tones, but you can have an idea of how a native would pronounce that

Russell: I need to listen to an Irish person first... I'm browsing Youtube and I'll read your line next

xi� xi� lǘzi chi chao ni niang de zhu zong shi ba dai Lira.

i'm so using it as an accapella lol.

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