MANDARIN AND SOUND
Language is sound. Arrgh! … Oops! … Wow! … Oh noooo! … Various combinations of sound communicate our meaning. As you approach Mandarin as your new language, get acquainted with its sounds. The better you hear, the easier it will be to understand natives. The better you sound when you speak, the easier your communication will be.
Falling in love
My advice is always to learn a language that you are attracted to. It is much easier to spend time with something you enjoy. If you need to learn for an external reason ( work, family matters), you should at least feel neutral toward the new language. Aversion is never a good place to start. Strange, unusual even alien are OK.
Get into that crib
Remember when you were living in your crib and you spoke no English? You spent hours listening to Mom and Dad talking and making faces at you. It worked, didn’t it? Remember! It’s never too late to have a happy childhood in Mandarin.
Input: make it so.
So you’ve decided to learn Mandarin. Do you know what it sounds like? To many, Chinese sounds like ping tong ping. Well it’s time to get on your computer and take a little tour. Where do you go? Anywhere Mandarin is spoken. YouTube is a good place to start. Movies are another. Internet radio and television are everywhere. Cartoons or songs in Chinese are fantastic. Listen! Without judging or rejecting. Stay relaxed, breathe and move around. Some speakers will have voices you enjoy. Others may not. Explore! For a few days.
Next time we will talk about specific Mandarin sounds and how to approach them. But today, go out and listen to your new language. This is not a mental exercise. Go and land your ship on planet Zhongguo and find out what you can about its inhabitants: directly. What do you actually hear? How does its vibration feel inside your body? Find good-looking actors or actresses being interviewed. They tend to have good voices and they are fun to look at.
The only assignment is to expose yourself to as much enjoyable Mandarin as possible.