Mandarin
As a native speaker of Mandarin, there are several aspects of American English accent learning that you may find troublesome. In sessions with English Accent Tutor, your coach will complete an assessment to design an individualized treatment plan. You will focus first and foremost on targeting sounds and aspects of natural speech, such as intonation, which will have the biggest impact on how clearly people understand you. Provided below are some examples of goals you are likely to work on in your sessions with English Accent Tutor. The targets mentioned are common for native Mandarin speakers due to the nature of the differences between English and Mandarin. However, it is important to remember that your sessions will be based on your individual needs and may differ slightly from the information provided below.
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Common Sound Goals
Vowel Sounds |
You have likely already noticed that English contains many sounds that are not present in Mandarin. General American English (GAE) contains 16 vowel sounds and only a few overlap with Mandarin vowel sounds. Research has suggested that a speaker's production of vowel sounds impacts a listener's understanding and perception of accent and consequently, should be a primary goal in accent reduction training. 1
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Consonant Sounds |
Single Consonant Sounds:
Some consonant sounds are common in English, but do not exist in many Mandarin dialects. Examples are:
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You may find that you can pronounce these sounds when they are in the beginning of words, but have more trouble when they are in the middle. Or you may find that it's difficult to even discriminate these sounds as distinct from others.
Consonant Clusters:
When two or more consonants are paired together without a vowel sound in between, it is called a "consonant cluster." Examples include:
Consonant clusters are common in English, but uncommon in Mandarin and many other languages. Thus, targeting consonant clusters is a frequent goal in coaching sessions. Some sounds in English are distinguished by voicing. When we pronounce /b/ in "bin" and /p/ in "pin", we produce the two sounds in the exact same are of our mouths. The only difference is the vibration in our throats. But in English, that voicing indicates that we are saying two distinct words. Therefore, proper voicing is required to be correctly understood. The three pairs of sounds listed below are voiced and voiceless minimal pairs. At English Accent Tutor, we will help you distinguish between the voiced and voiceless sounds (such as those listed below) and produce them correctly.
It is is important to remember that the sounds listed above are common goals for native Mandarin speakers. Your accent reduction program will be individualized based on your needs. Accent reduction sessions will include auditory discrimination, tactile and visual cues, and minimal pairs to target your particular speech sound objectives. |
Intonation and Natural Speech
Rhythm |
One significant difference between Mandarin and English is the use of tones (or changes in pitch). Mandarin speakers use tones to differentiate between words. Two words can be produced using the same articulation, but the tone will indicate the meaning.
Take the following names: Min, Yan, Xia and Xiaowei. In Mandarin, they are pronounced with different tones:
English does not have this feature. Instead, English speakers use changes in pitch across several words or a whole sentence to indicate meaning. This is why your English-speaking friends and co-workers may have a hard time pronouncing your name correctly. They are not used to hearing differences in pitch within a word, but rather, over multiple words. For native English speakers, pitch changes across a sentence convey important meaning. Even if your articulation is not perfect, having correct intonation can help deliver your overall message. There are a few common rhythm patterns in English. In coaching sessions, we can practice your auditory discrimination of these patterns using repeating syllables. Once you are comfortable hearing differences between the patterns, you can work on incorporating the patterns into your everyday speech, so that they will become natural for you.2 |
Syllable Length |
Research has shown that the length of syllables serves a very important role in a listener’s ability to understand a non-native English speaker’s speech.3 In English, many syllables are reduced in length depending on their placement in a word. This is much less common in Mandarin. With English Accent Tutor, you will practice recognizing and producing reduced syllables. You will also learn rules for when it is appropriate to reduce syllables and when it is not.
These are some of the common difficulties Mandarin speakers may encounter when working on English pronunciation. While there are many differences between Mandarin and English, don’t be discouraged! Some features you will be able to pick up quickly. In our sessions, we can focus on certain sounds and elements of natural speech that will have the greatest impact on your overall speech intelligibility. We look forward to working with you!
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References:
1Franklin, A.D, & Stoel-Gammon, C. (2014) Using multiple measures to document change in English vowels produced by Japanese, Korean, and Spanish speakers: The case for goodness and intelligibility. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 23, 625-640
2Chela-Flores, B. (2003). Optimizing the Teaching of English Suprasegmentals. Bells: Barcelona English Language and Literature Studies. http://www.raco.cat/index.php/bells/article/viewFile/82919/108654
3Adams, C., & Munro, R. (1978) In search of the acoustic correlates of stress: fundamental frequency, amplitude and duration in the connected utterance of some native and non-native speakers of English. Phonetica, 35, 125-156.
Chang, J. (2001). Chinese speakers. In M. Swan & B. Smith (Eds.), Learner English: A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems (2nd ed.) (310-321). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Quam, C., & Creel, S. (2017) Tone Attrition in Mandarin Speakers of Varying English Proficiency. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60, 293-305.
1Franklin, A.D, & Stoel-Gammon, C. (2014) Using multiple measures to document change in English vowels produced by Japanese, Korean, and Spanish speakers: The case for goodness and intelligibility. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 23, 625-640
2Chela-Flores, B. (2003). Optimizing the Teaching of English Suprasegmentals. Bells: Barcelona English Language and Literature Studies. http://www.raco.cat/index.php/bells/article/viewFile/82919/108654
3Adams, C., & Munro, R. (1978) In search of the acoustic correlates of stress: fundamental frequency, amplitude and duration in the connected utterance of some native and non-native speakers of English. Phonetica, 35, 125-156.
Chang, J. (2001). Chinese speakers. In M. Swan & B. Smith (Eds.), Learner English: A teacher’s guide to interference and other problems (2nd ed.) (310-321). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Quam, C., & Creel, S. (2017) Tone Attrition in Mandarin Speakers of Varying English Proficiency. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60, 293-305.