Speed or accent?

[Flickserve]

Anybody who has been reading my posts recently knows my recent fad is to improve listening skills.

 

I just purchased a few episodes of transcript of 歡樂頌

 

I have been through the part of the first episode and in it, the father speaks this sentence.

 

"跟鸽子笼似的，这是人住的地方吗"

 

https://youtu.be/4wGpu56WQGQ?t=8m46s

 

I am using WorkAudio Book to listen to the speech but when he says 跟鸽子笼似的, he sounds nothing like those words. No matter how many times I have listened to it, it sounds nothing like the characters.

 

For "这是人住的地方吗", I can match the words even though he is saying it very quickly.

 

There are some other instances of speech which sound like a garbled mash or words missed out. I asked a native speaker who had seen this and she said sometimes even she would have to read the subtitles. However, my question is, is the distortion so severe from a regional accent that I cannot get, or is he really speaking so fast to make it unintelligable?

 

 

 

[Publius]

His pronunciation of 似的 (sìde) is wrong, if you ask me. The correct pronunciation is the same as 是的 (shìde)

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_692ce53e0100r371.html

http://xh.5156edu.com/html3/2789.html

Other than that, I see nothing unusual.

[Flickserve]

Thank you, That helps.

 

The pinyin is Gēn gēzi lóng shì de

 

I cannot hear the lóng. Does he pronounce the l- clearly?

[Publius]

Yeah I can hear the l. But, we can hear things if we know they're there, if you know what I mean

[Flickserve]

4 minutes ago, Publius said:

we can hear things if we know they're there, if you know what I mean

 

 

I conclude it is a silent l- after listening to it a few hundred times.

[roddy]

I *think* I'd have been able to make sense of that, but it's hard to say without going in blind. If you find any more, maybe stick up an audio clip without the video or explanation and see how we do...

[stapler]

So i could "hear" it knowing what the subtitles were. But imo it's said both quickly and "sloppily". This kind of northern accent always kills me too.

 

I have a Chinese friend from Shanghai right next to me as I played this. I told him "im gunna play you these sentences. Don't look at the screen and tell me what he says". He got the 这是人住的地方吗 fine (which I did too) but couldn't get the 跟鸽子笼似的 until the 3rd attempt. So "objectively" speaking, yes, the "跟鸽子笼似的" is very difficult for some native speakers too without context/subtitles. Awesome

[roddy]

I'd hasten to add this isn't just a Chinese thing - a rapidly spoken and unclear utterance taken out of context could be hard for any native speaker of any language.

[mlescano]

4 hours ago, Flickserve said:

I am using WorkAudio Book to listen to the speech

 

Just wanted to thank you for the heads up on this app.

 

BTW, the "this sounds nothing like the subtitles" phenomenon is even present in 快乐汉语, which, ironically, is supposed to be for language students.  

I guess this just happens when you're really laser-focused on listening.

[imron]

3 hours ago, stapler said:

But imo it's said both quickly and "sloppily".

But watcha gonna do 'bout it?

Everyone does it

 

3 hours ago, stapler said:

im gunna

 

[Mati1]

15 minutes ago, imron said:

3 hours ago, stapler said:

But imo it's said both quickly and "sloppily".

But watcha gonna do 'bout it?

Everyone does it

 

3 hours ago, stapler said:

im gunna

 

That reminds me of the forum rule to avoid strange language constructions, abbreviations everywhere etc. because many readers are non-native speakers.

 

EDIT: Hahaha @imron Just read in the other thread about your 11111th post, and now I noticed I posted my 111th post

[roddy]

How about the forum rule about not quoting everything from 2cm up the page...

[imron]

49 minutes ago, Mati1 said:

That reminds me of the forum rule

I prefer the term friendly guideline

[Mati1]

@roddy Sorry, I can't remember reading that. Was it introduced with the new quoting system?

 

Edit:

Anyway, the old quote button quoted everything. In my post above I also quoted everything. I agree that in this case it was completely useless. My fault.

However, the new quote system is very useful when used sensibly.

[imron]

34 minutes ago, Mati1 said:

the old quote button quoted everything

That's why it was removed

[Mati1]

Look who broke the 2 cm rule.

(Sorry for the OT posts. They will most likely not be missed if removed by the next responsible moderator coming along.)

[Publius]

Just downloaded the first episode and watched it trying not to look at the subtitle. No major problems for understanding except proper nouns. There are however some places where I can't catch the words on first hearing, the first one being 这让咱们甜甜圈____! (Granted, it's not a phrase I use except online.)

曲筱绡's accent is most troublesome. She has this Beijingers' habit of lazy pronunciation, of slurring things over.

安迪 has a slight Jiangzhe accent (ng->n).

 

[Flickserve]

7 hours ago, roddy said:

If you find any more, maybe stick up an audio clip without the video or explanation and see how we do...

 

 

OK. Here is another attached.

 

 

3 hours ago, mlescano said:

BTW, the "this sounds nothing like the subtitles" phenomenon is even present in 快乐汉语, which, ironically, is supposed to be for language students.

 

Agree with you.

欢乐颂 Example 01.mp3

[roddy]

After three listens: she wants someone to sit down and stop complaining on and on? It'd take quite a few more listens to accurately transcribe it. 

[realmayo]

23 minutes ago, Publius said:

watched it trying not to look at the subtitles. No major problems for understanding except proper nouns

 

Does this only happen when you're watching shows with accents? I remember a friend telling me she sometimes wondered if she'd understand the news without subtitles.