Tips for pronouncing "r"

[889 1,751]

Listen to a true Beijinger say 机械人. Or 星期日.

[SunnySideUp 26]

On 10/14/2020 at 8:12 AM, vellocet said:

On 10/10/2020 at 12:56 PM, SunnySideUp said:

A Chinese teacher once told me the "r" position would be closest to the French "j"... So I'd try to form the start of "Je m'appelle" and then take it from there. Can't say I've mastered it though!

What should you do if you don't speak French?

Then I'm afraid this won't work for you. Not sure if you aren't just trolling... but if you're genuinely interested, maybe have a look at what Demonic_Duck wrote. That might be more helpful than that French reference.

[vellocet 282]

On 10/15/2020 at 3:17 PM, SunnySideUp said:

Then I'm afraid this won't work for you. Not sure if you aren't just trolling... but if you're genuinely interested, maybe have a look at what Demonic_Duck wrote. That might be more helpful than that French reference.

Trolling?  Huh?  John Padsen of Sinosplice made the same observation a decade ago. How is someone who doesn't speak French supposed to know how French is pronounced?  The intersection of the sets of people who speak English, speak French, and are learning Chinese is tiny.  

 

 

https://www.sinosplice.com/learn-chinese/pronunciation-of-mandarin-chinese/3

Furthermore, it’s not the best form to provide a pronunciation model based on a third language. A third language reference is best kept to supplemental information only.

 

These kinds of sites provide strange, creative, wrong instructions on how to pronounce Mandarin’s sounds.

Examples of bad pronunciation instruction:

From Brooklyn College’s
Chinese Cultural Studies:

j – j as in “jeep”
q – ch as in “cheek”

x – sh as in “she” – thinly sounded

r – approx like the “j” in French “je”