in his quote he says "shine through" not "shine too". saying something will "shine through in the end" is a common expression that conveys the image of what lies underneath comes to the surface no matter how hard you try to hold it back. "even in the face of dishonesty, the truth shines through".
Hi Jim, thank you so much for pointing this out! I didn't know this expression when editing, I apologize for the mistake, and thank you again for teaching me something new!
Jessie. There's something that struck me from some of your remarks, which is: " there's no standard English" I completely disagree and i will tell you why. From my standpoint of view, ACCENT is what distinguishes between American and British English. But do you think that the usage of language skill is the same? No. British English will always be the best
@@franciscoarmando2237 there's also indian english, irish english, scottish english, welsh english, south african english, australian english, canadian english... as an irish, i don't like american english but how can you say british english is the best w a straight face? si eres español, no me sorprende mucho, pero si eres latino, es como decir q el español de españa es mejor q el de latinoamerica o guinea ecuatorial. imagina
@@mpforeverunlimited people directly translate words from their own language and it often sounds overly formal and stilted. Or like the OP said, child like.
I once went to an authentic Chinese restaurant with one Chinese girl, one other white guy, and Korean-Americans. The staff there had a really hard time understanding that none of the Koreans spoke any Mandarin, but seemed freaked out by the fact that the other white guy there spoke Mandarin better than the Chinese girl who was a native speaker. (She was fluent but had moved to America as a child and not spoken much Mandarin in years, while he was majoring in Chinese and had just return from his second semester in a study abroad program in mainland China.)
I listened to him speak and I’m not even fluent in Mandarin and just knew he speak amazingly well. He hit it spot on that conversations will sky rocket pronunciation and vocabulary, especially the ability to retain all that you’ve learnt. Need to find myself a tutor
I know this is kinda off topic but I've really adored watching you lately! It makes me want to actively learn Chinese. I remember as a kid there was a cartoon called Ni Hao Kai-Lan (你好 / Nǐ Nǎo // 凱蘭 / Kǎi-lán / Kelland?) and I'd love your input on it! Like if it was actually helpful for English speaking children and just your input. It was like Dora the Explorer in a way of you know it. Thank you if you just read this! ☺️ Ofc only do videos you want!
Same I would also watch ni hao Kai lan as a child but my dad would always shut it off saying that it was too easy for me and I should we doing extra studying in stead.
@@ChinesewithJessie yes when I was a kid I watched ni hao kai lan as well! I really liked it and that's why the only things I know how to say are ni hao and ni hao ma. When I was a kid I did the tones too but I don't know how to do them right anymore lol (maybe I do but I dont think so)... but that show also made me really want to learn mandarin (and all languages, I speak some French but French is super easy compared to Mandarin.)
I’m Chinese American and I studied abroad in Taiwan for a year. I thought I would be able to make friends with Taiwanese people. Like he said you are surround by other international students. You don’t really have a chance to meet with other Taiwanese people because they are usually more busy with studying them hanging out. As an exchange student you have more freedom to venture out. My Chinese is decent I just didn’t know how to approach people as well.
Same here, I had to make an effort to get out of my English bubble in Taiwan. Always surrounded by foreigners. I had to go to a church and hang out with old folks who didn’t speak English and had no interest in Learning English and excepted me to not speak like a native. They were very critical, but best way to learn.
this is so helpful! im going to try to find a tutor or talk only in mandarin with my mandarin speaking friends; he mentioned such good points about how chinese grammar isnt hard but its the vocab and pronounciation/tones that u really have to work on
Well, when i switch between languages i change my manner of speaking too. It's not about knowing language good or not, it's more about your perception of this language. For example when i speak Polish i talk with higher voice and generally talk more, in English i talk faster though English is my worst language. So i don't think it's correct to compare his english and chinese speech but it was interesting fact to notice.
I'm a native English speaker and have lived and worked in Germany for 36 years. When I speak German, my voice pitch automatically deepens for some reason. When I switch to English, it goes up again. I don't really notice it myself, but others comment on it so often that it must be true.
English uses less words than Spanish on average, and requires less mouth movements. Spanish therefore requires literally more energy and passion, making Spanish more like Cantonese, and English more like Mandarin. But Spanish is like Mandarin when compared to Portuguese which is drunk Spanish. Someone once said that the stereotypical British accent is as if one were to speak with a potato in the mouth.
I'm not even learning Chinese but your videos where you analyse people's Chinese skills are interesting to watch. I'm learning Japanese and I wish more Japanese language teachers on TH-cam did this!
I plan to learn Chinese and Japanese at the same time to see which of the three is harder for a western European to learn. Plus more at the same time. The endeavour I give myself is daunting but I intend to put my life into it. Not an overnight thing.
French grammar. Honestly even as a native french it confuses me. Lot of French ppl can't conjugate without making spelling mistakes (I can't either). Chinese grammar is really fun !
Same in English. The use of the subjunctive is fading in English, and it makes for a subtle point of confusion, when you know how it should be used. E.g. "Would that I had more time!" or "If she were here, then..." not "If she was here..." when she wasn't. Yes, unreal conditions/wishes et al. take the subjunctive. C.f. "Je veux que tu fasses tes devoir."
@@argonwheatbelly637 That’s because the subjunctive form expressing the mood is redundant when there is already the conjunctive ‘if’ that conveys the meaning. English has been slowly losing most of its synthetic language characteristics and becoming more of an analytic language. Your subjunctive mood example is a continuation of this trend. Btw, Chinese is an analytic language.
@@argonwheatbelly637, la grammaire n'est pas dans les livres, elle est dans nos têtes. En parlant tous les jours, on est confronté à des changements légers. Certains persistent, d'autres pas. Le politique joue aussi. Le problème avec le français, c'est l'académie.
It is very common to have different "personalities" or characteristics in your way of expressing when switching between languages, which you rarely notice until someone makes you see it. When I speak in Spanish (my native language) I tend to be more neutral (neither formal or informal), but in English when I speak I use constant slangs or I become extremely serious (to cover the gaps), in Portuguese they have told me that I am extremely cheerful when talk... So it is likely that his way of expressing himself in English is fast and in Chinese slower and more deliberate.
i am the same way because of my lack of fluency in mandarin! i become so demure, polite, and lady-like (because i speak more formally, deliberately, and don't use much slang, idioms, or colloquialisms). i'm hoping when i improve my fluency i can show more of my personality while speaking mandarin!
Pro tip. The more you mumble or talk lower the more authentic your Chinese gets. I've been told my Chinese was best when I was drunk or extremely tired. Men mumble and speak low. Women speak high and loud. Also great point about actually using what you are learning. My Chinese skyrocketed when I only learned/memorized stuff I would immediately use. I tell that to everyone who asks me how to improve their speaking. Use what you'll do immediately. Example, my city had motorbike taxis. I had no idea how to say directions except for pointing. One night I spent 30 minutes looking up turn left/right, go straight, stop, etc.. The next day going to work I used them. Took me a day + some extra remembering to get it down. Now I can recall it instantly. Do that for EVERYTHING. You're hungry? Go look up food and restaurant vocabulary and then go eat. This is something language learners don't do. They learn, learn, learn but may never need to use it for days or weeks or however long afterwards. It sits without being used and is "useless". Use it. Also valid point about living the language. The mind is amazingly powerful. You want to seriously learn a language. Change EVERYTHING to that language. Your phone, your computer, only get your news from that language, tv/movies, etc.. You need to basically "pretend" that you no longer live in your native country. If you see something in your native language, mentally block it out or look up the translation if you don't already know it to keep your mind away from it. If you see it and know it, always remind yourself mentally or say it out loud.
Would love to see your reaction to Laoma then. Cao Cao has a great Beijing accent, but I think Laoma's Beijing delivery is naturally fast like a native.
I've found that it's not just about pronunciation and grammar.. but the inflections, the flow, the natural pauses is what makes up the rest of speaking a language natively perfect. If you took someone with an odd cadence, or flow to how they space their words and pauses and when they talk in long run on sentences... can be jarring... people like Christopher Walken speaking english for example.. or William Shatner when he was speaking as Captain Kirk.
13:09 What he said is totally correct I had been studying Mandarin inconsistently for 14 months and I was not able to hold a 4 minute conversation without sounding like a two-year-old. Two of my Mandarin tutors mocked me for not reaching HSK 4 level in 14 months. They had each reverted to HSK 1 level, something I had mastered in 2 months. (Writing, reading speaking and listening.) "This means hello. Can you count to ten?" And so I did not study for 8 months nor did I attempt to converse with anyone because that had hurt my feelings. That was about 6 months to 10 months ago. Now I study HSK7-9 level with Chinese Zero to Hero on TH-cam in order to develop an advanced vocabulary while simultaneously working through most of HSK 3 content on youtube. (Learning writing and basic grammar) ❤So far, so good.
Hi Nicole, what those two Mandarin tutors did was totally inappropriate, they should 扪心自问 if they 因材施教, maybe you can teach them a lesson with these two Chinese idioms. Confidence is essential when learning a new language especially for speaking, what you have achieved by self-teaching is remarkable, I wish you all the best and hope my videos will be of some help along the way.
Hey there sorry to butt in but I’ve been studying mandarin for 6 months I try to stay consistent but I started a new job and I’ve been traveling for training so my studying fell through a little in 6 months I’ve only reached hsk 2 😅 basic vocabulary is a huge issue plus just in general regression from lack of practice, I was wondering if you had any tips to stay in practice and retain vocab I would be very interested
@@kenxd585 There's a saying about practicing 1 kick 1000 times versus having 1000 kicks, use this method. 😁 Mastery is key. Phrases from movies and such, which HSK 2 words are phrased differently, so writ them down and time stamp them. 1- phrase 2. Time of occurrence 44:22 3. Title of show 4. Outlet- TH-cam, Viki, ASIANCRUSH
@@kenxd585 Annnnnnd, don't overwork yourself. One to 2 lessons a week can be managed What's the rush? Who's dying? Create a study plan and stick to it. Rotate material. My schedule: 14 day intensive A) 1. Lichao 2. Chinese Zero to Hero 3. Writing Switch next 14 days B 1 Peking University 2 Mandarin Corner street talk 3 Writing Switch next 14 days 1. Lonely Planet Phrasebook 2. Phrases for Chinese learners on TH-cam 3. Writing (master writing every character of every level). Back to A B C Switch- New plan. And repeat Plan 1, plan 2- switch new plan- repeat Plan 1 2 and 3. Then focus on regular shit probably. Idk. 😂 I'm learning another language because I haven't dealt with emotionally traumatic events yet, so I put more time into that than with Chinese but I still created a plan to stick to. I just check off the box ☑️ one by one. You are learning this language for you, not please native speakers.☺️(What I tell myself to stay late motivated).
His Chinese is great. I don't agree with him about "easy grammar" though. What's probably valid is to note Mandarin doesn't have as much grammatical *structure* as Indo-European languages (in Chinese, verbs and nearly all nouns don't change form depending on how they're used). On the other hand, Chinese requires an English speaker to master a number of grammatical elements that are very counterintuitive (various particles, mostly). Also sentence patterns in general and word order - save for very simple sentences- are often radically different in Chinese compared to English. Then there are tones: English is vastly more "forgiving" than Chinese in that non-native speakers can mangle English quite badly and still (often) be understood. Not so with Mandarin. Even a slightly inaccurate use of tone will have Chinese people looking at you with blank stares. Finally, Chinese characters are a huge hurdle in my view. Someone learning English need only learn 26 "characters" to establish a foundation for reading. But with Chinese that number is more like 3,000. Which means learning to read in Chinese is massively challenging. And the thing is, the written word is a HUGE source of vocabulary acquisition for language learners. If an American or Brit decides to live for a while in (say) Paris, incessantly viewing signage, advertisements and notices in French acts as a constant vocabulary lesson, because the person will, on a regular basis, learn new words from context (that is, when you see a certain word in print often enough, there's a good chance you'll at some point grasp its meaning even without looking it up). This source of vocabulary expansion is almost entirely absent for those learning Chinese, at least in the early going (before they've learned many characters). Mandarin is an incredibly valuable skill. But studying it is not for the faint of heart. In theory, learning Chinese for native-English speakers should be no more difficult than learning English is for native Chinese speakers. But I agree with my Chinese friends that learning Chinese is more difficult, for the reasons I've stated.
Tones are not grammar. He even said tones were hard (and grammar is easy compared to other languages). I think the vast majority of learners agree with him.
@@erseshe I meant counterintuitive TO NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS. A word/word translation of Mandarin sentences into English looks VERY different from how the equivalent would be expressed in actual, standard English as spoken by a native or fluent speaker (at least beyond very simple sentences like "I eat noodles."). It's clear if you've studied, say French-along with Mandarin-that English has a >>genetic
Within British English there is an accent called 'Received Pronunciation' which I guess is equivalent to standard Mandarin. It's the 'proper' way of saying things, though can seem posh to many. It's only recently that regional accents have been allowed into upper level things and those with strong regional accents in position of power tend not to be regarded as well. Especially if the accent is from some regions. But yeah, we do have something similar in the UK.
Thanks for your post - very thought-provoking! I was going to say that RP is neither taught nor expected, but I suspect I’m wrong, in that certain regional accents and higher intelligence are still connected in many people’s minds. I’ve certainly met people who consider their accent to be “standard “, or even “neutral “, while being unable to hear their own voices, thereby missing the beauty of difference. Just wondering!
It’s a totally different thing to standard Chinese though. An accent is one thing but totally different dialects with different grammar rules that can be unintelligible are another.
@@johneyreguitar in pretty much all ways if you're talking about the "standard". Though there's arguably more than one standard since there are different regulating bodies: National Language Regulating Committee [zh] (People's Republic of China)[6] National Languages Committee (Republic of China) Promote Mandarin Council (Singapore) Chinese Language Standardisation Council (Malaysia)
Haha he makes a good point that many Spanish words are cognates whilst there are barely any in Chinese, but I feel like that might not be fair because Spanish has at least twice as many tenses to learn. Spanish is probably the easier language overall, though
As someone who speaks many languages on a fluent level I can say that I speak at different speeds. Personally I think it depends largely on the emotional bond you have with the language, as some languages you could see as ¨melodic and slow¨ or ¨atomic and fast¨. So to dismiss fluency based on relative slow speech isnt a good criterium.
Immersion works obviously, since it's how people learn their own mother tongue. It's a fact hardly worth mentioning. Unfortunately that method is practically impossible for most people. I really like the tutor idea though.... gotta be the next best thing!
What he's saying makes a lot of sense. How do most 3 or 4 years olds speak? You have to speak like that for a little while until you learn, the same way you did with your native language.
Where? In the U.S., almost everybody speaks-basically-the same way. We have a few different accents, a certain demographic group loves to speak a lot of gibberish, and that's about it. Here in the U.S., people...like...constantly say, "I was...like...really...like...happy about...like...like...like...like...like...like...like..." 🙄🙄
It's interesting what you said.. It works both ways.. Usually... not always.. but usually if a Chinese person learns perfect english.. and you aren't looking at that prrson when they speak you can usually still tell they are Chinese. It was interesting to know that it works the other way around..
Yes, it does. Slightly off topic, but-- I don't even speak any Dutch, and I can tell that the little girl in [the original] Miracle on 34th Street who Kris Kringle speaks to in Dutch is NOT a native speaker, but has an American (Midwestern?) accent. I also have heard examples of an Italian accent in French, and a Texas accent in Mandarin.
That’s not true. A lot of Filipinos who have never left Philippines already sound like natives. There’s already teenagers in China who have studied English since they learn how to speak, and already sound like an American teenager; sometimes even better. Not a lot but certainly enough.
Great idea to perfect my Chinese. Do my daily journal in Chinese - let my Chinese tutor correct/help me. Thanks Jessie - good info from Cao Cao or Jonathan.
OMG!!! His speaking is just like native Beijing accent. If I closed my eyes, I couldn't realize he was a foreigner or a Chinese from other parts of China at all. though he is a foreiger, I guess maybe he grew up in Beijing.
Northern chinese on average speak better mandarin than southern Chinese. I would say northern Chinese dialects are closer to standard mandarin. Closest to standard mandarin is probably from chengde(in hebei), beijing and probably dongbei especially Heilongjiang.
@@ametkemalidinov738 dongbei depends on the province. As you go further north in dongbei which is around Heilongjiang, people speak better mandarin. Those from Heilongjiang and Jilin has slightly better mandarin accent than Liaoning.
@@germaineho8612 hmm, thanks, I didn't know that. Every time I've met people from Dongbei I felt kind of confused, maybe it's because I learned the language around Sihuan mostly.
@@ametkemalidinov738 Liaoning people have stronger regional accent but those from Heilongjiang has better standard mandarin accent, super close to the one that you can find in news broadcaster.
His Chinese name is interesting, is Cao Cao a common name in modern use? The Three Kingdoms period is what started my interest in Chinese culture, so that stood out to me.
He paid a tutor so no not everyone can do that.. xD i had sooo many thoughts on language learning and language parenting and i always thought it would be really cool to be able to travel the world and just pay a language parent who would help me learn a language without using any other language just like you learn as a kid..
There are some platforms when you can interact with someone who speak your target language and want to speak yours. It could be close to have a tutor but not as good, native speakers sometimes are unaware about the confusing things in their language, like merging words o arbitrary grammar rules.
As an American,born and raised, with 4 generations of American born family members, I would like to add to your content. There is definitely an standard American Accent...😂 It lies somewhere between clear diction and friendly without a twang.
It comes from Saint Louis I think. LOL. There is a number of people that study the english in the middle of the country to have as neutral of an accent as possible. Get too close to the great lakes and the accent gets all wonky.
I call it CNN English. In Spanish global news they use a weird fake dialect to try to appease all of the nations they are targetting for audience membership. So the Mexican doesn't use a Mexican accent, but something "neutral." People compete to have their dialect considered the most "neutral." None are, but mainstream Cuban is the worst.
Just as a random fact because you mentioned Cao Cao speaking slower in Mandarin, I do speak Spanish that is my mother language slower than English that is my second language lmao, people say that I speak fast (not unintelligible, just faster than regular), so it is not a that reliable way to judge hahaha
I speak English faster than my native Spanish because my Spanish relatively stinks even though I have a licenciatura en este idioma de la Universidad internacional de la Florida.
Listening to the podcast portion, I guess the lesson he's telling is the same as "you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with" If you go to a class, meet other foreigners and hang around with them, then your language skill will only be the average of those people. Whereas if you spend more time with native speakers, then your average skill in that language jumps right up to match those native speakers.
There's a little error in the transcription of your favorite quote. "Personality shines too" should read "personality shines through." This phrase "shine through" is an idiom. In my mind, at least, it refers to the sun shining through clouds.
First time I went to Beijing I lived with a family in a Hutong. The old father was trying to tell me what time to get back to the house, and I just remember him shouting "十儿点儿" at the clock😆Safe to say I didn't understand
Hey Jessie. Well, although you are correct that there is no "standard English" (at least in the USA which has many different regional dialects) there is a de facto standard form of American English that broadcasters learn. If you tune into a TV station in a southern state (Texas or Georgia, for example) you will notice that that the newscasters have "no accent". (That's actually impossible, as even "no accent" is in itself an "accent".) So this practice by the newscasters actually creates a "standard (American) accent", although, oddly enough, no area of the country actually speaks that way.
The current "American Standard" accent is essentially a Nebraskan accent. From the 1930's until shortly after World War II the trans-atlantic accent was the Hollywood/Broadcast English accent. It was that odd mish mash of British RP and American accent that only seemed natural from a few people (FDR comes to mind), whereas actors absolutely put it on. It is rare, but you can find BTS clips from that era where an actor will do a take with the accent, screw up and drop to a normal speaking voice to apologize before going back to the accent. Essentially with the fall of the empire for Britain the anglophile tendency that inspired the trans Atlantic accent disappeared. it was the 40s and 50s when those old accents were supplanted by actual common American accents, Cary Grant faded a bit and Clark Gable was on the rise. Not really those actors specifically, as both were active at the same time but accents like Grant's became less and less common and natural sounds more so. It was in the 1960s and 70s when the new American Standard accent sprang up and it is no accident that the trusted voices of news and entertainment, Johnny Carson, Walter Cronkite, and Tom Brokaw (among others, but these were the guys emulated by many) came from Nebraska and used the accent they grew up with, and generations of broadcasters have followed suit. It has altered a bit, so you may be right, it may not actually exist anymore, but Nebraska is the likely source of the current sound. Previous generations (post trans Atlantic supremacy, but prior to the current accent, so late 40s to early 60s) took their cue from Indiana which was the source of many nation wide broadcasts (pre satellite it provided a simple central location to relay a signal either by wire or repeater stations), and a very similar bland non accent.
@@darkamora5123 : Yes, nailed it! Thank you!!! People do not realize that the "non-regional" accent has shifted over the years, and the paradigms change. You invoked FDR. Such an iconic voice! And Walter Cronkite. I miss hearing the news with him narrating.
@@argonwheatbelly637 @Darkamora I really agree with both of you. You touched on the way "standard accents" can change over time. One thing I like to do is listen to old news reels from the 20's and 30's. Granted, much of the tonal differences come from the simple improvement of the recording technology (old recording devices had no "bass"). But having said that, it's obvious that the dialects (especially the tone) has changed a lot since that time. Try to find some interviews with people like Amelia Earhart, for example. Find some others of "normal people speaking" too. One trait that really jumps out is how nasally people spoke back then. (That trait never went away in the Midwest but even now, peoples' tones are flatter.) It's clear that language (in many aspects) really does change over time.
"...at least in the USA which has many different regional dialects..." OH, PLEAAASE! 🙄🙄In the U.S., we have a few different accents, a certain demographic group that loves to speak a lot of gibberish, and that's pretty much it. Stop exaggerating! 😠😠
The US does have a standard English. It sticks close to and obeys many English grammatical rules and pronunciation. Many dialects deviate from that and English teachers will lecture you on why your accent sucks and you should instead speak this one standard. Compare written English to AAVE or Appalachian or Chicano English.
Yes, it's a pluricentric language. That is, there is a standard American, standard British, standard Australian, standard New Zealand, etc. People who speak non-standard dialects in all English-speaking societies get pressured or shamed or made fun of.
Yeah i was checking the comments to see if anyone brought this up there is definately a standard English for schools and TV, Movies etc. Historically only time they use non standard terminology is to enphasize where a character is from (Urban, Rural, Southern, Coastal) or social class
I think there is a conflation of "fluent" with "native speaker accent" going on here that is misleading to say the least. I am a native English speaker, born in the US of US parents, resident in UK for over half a century, educated in both UK and USA. Just to add to the mix I have a degree in French and Spanish and can figure out Italian and Portuguese with a little help. I consider myself to be fluent in English, and have been so all my teenage and adult life. I won prizes in English at school, scored 800 on my SAT, top scores on my British English exams, etc etc etc. I like words, love punning and making them up and all kinds of word jokes, especially thsoe that might cross "official" language demarcation lines. I would also say I have a soft American accent. I can't tell you where its positioned exactly but it's more east coast than west and more north than south. Many Brits think I am Canadian and many Americans assume I'm British. I like words, love punning, making new words up, all kinds of word jokes, especially those that might cross "official" language demarcation lines. My accent, whatever it may be, does not affect my fluency. If I follow the logic through that says otherwise, NONE of the UK English speakers that I know born and brought up in UK or USA you would deem to be fluent, which is clearly a nonsense. A person who is fluent but who has a Scottish accent, or indeed Indian or Nigerian or American accent, to my mind is still fluent. All the talk about RP, or BBC English (of what era? Today's BBC English is not the same as we heard in the 1950s or 1960s), standard American etc to my mind is a total red herring. It is interesting, it has all sorts of good and bad connotations around class, social strata, "education" (a minefield of connotations all by itself), how "acceptable" where one is "from" might be and more, but it is not about fluency. Accent is accent. Fluency is fluency. They are not the same. You can be fluent and you will always have an accent of one type or another if you are speaking. If you are writing only and non-vocal, does that make you non-fluent? I don't believe it does. Jessie makes occasional grammatical mistakes, and certainly has an accent. Lots of native English speakers are the same. I would still call her, and them, fluent English speakers. They just have a XXXX accent (substitute a location for XXXX). It's like an aural handwriting. Some very pointless rabbit holes are being dug here, it seems to me. Perhaps some tighter definitions to start with might avoid that in the future?
So basically in Beijing they throw extra R's into everything... it's like the opposite of modern standard British English where final R's fall away for some reason.
I know you posted this awhile ago but do you think reproducing american accents is hard? Like if you had to try to sound native speaker level English how difficult would that be? My question gives me a view on how difficult it would be to speak Chinese native level :) great video very informative!
As far as I know, Pekinese doesn't really have 2nd person singular pronoun in its spoken form, you hear 'tong'zh' 'shi'v' 'gem'er' all the time when the addressee is addressed, but rarely hear 'ni' being used in this sense. 'Ni' is actually used as a conjugation clitic or article in questions, 'Zuijin guod zemyang'a-ni?' 'Gan shmen-ni?' '(Gen) Nar na-ni?' 'Qu nar'a-ni?'... In some certain aspects, it's just a diffrent language from the MSC, despite sharing the same Early Modern Mandarin vocabulary stock with it. But typologically, the two could be as far from each other as Vietanmese and German. I was wondering whether this is a difference at the level of a dichotomy between spoken and written language. But maybe not, some syntatic textures are very different even in written langauge. Compare the Pekinese 'Mei verb-guo' vs MSC 'Wo cong-lai bu-verb', and a native speaker whose first language is not MSC could produce a MSC sentence like ‘Wo cong-lai meiyou verb-guo’, which is clearly an example of bilingual users trying to fit two grammars together into one sentence...
Thank you! The interview was super interesting and useful. I personally don't like Beijing accent, I'm trying to adquiere a Zhejiang accent which is my favourite one 😊
There is a standard American accent in the UK. It's called Received Pronunciation. If you study British English this is the accent you're usually taught. It's also called "BBC English" because it's the accent traditionally associated to BBC anchors.
I think you might want to remove the word "American" from your comment, as it might irk people from the UK! RP lost cachet within the BBC a long time ago. You won't hear anyone using it outside of parodying broadcasters from decades ago. The kind of English phonology you learn these days if you're learning the language is more of an approximate Home Counties accent that's been levelled off and made less distinct, not RP. RP itself was only ever an informal "standard" outside the BBC, however.
@@talideon Mid-Atlantic was the American version of RP. You'll see it in movies from the "golden" age of hollywood. There was a strong effort to create an accent that sort of split the difference between American English and UK English.
Lot of foreigners who claim to speak fluent Chinese, but none of them are fluent. How do I know ? Because I lived in china for several years. This guy right there is the real deal
English started in the UK way back when, so I would say that's Standard, and other English has evolved over time and turned into regional dialects etc, just like German and other languages ;)
actually, the english used in the UK is WAY different from the original english used back when it started. the closest thing to original english in present day is the southern US accent. so who knows what the standard dialect would be considered, because all english has changed and sounds different from what it used to be.
Hi Christine, he said 扎堆儿(zhā duī er) which means "gather together", it's more like northern Chinese slang though, I'm from the south and I've never said this lol.
Jonathan doesn't realise that the ability to hear foreign words and repeat them back precisely is actually very rare for adults. This ability is more prevalent amongst actors (and linguists!) than the general population but we probably all know someone who can apparently effortlessly mimic someone else's speech.
English from America is the most popular and widely spoken. It’s actually becoming a requirement for foreign English teachers. All the rest of the English speaking countries are very small and don’t have a large global presence like America. Yes they are all correct but clearly anyone not from America has an accent. They would all argue that but it’s true.
Strongly disagree with his comment on his pronunciation being a genetic trait. While difficult, you can break it down pronunciation scientifically. A better metaphor would be learning to dance. Controlling your body is akin to controlling your mouth and tongue, both are learnt though practise and knowledge.
Muscle memory. To articulate in Spanish, I have trouble because my anatomy is in English mode where I move my tongue and lips and jaw less. Only with effort can I speak Spanish fluently until I am found wanting of a word. Language learning is anatomy-refining.
I was born in Taiwan, people say that Taiwanese people speak Mandarin differently, but their elementary school text books teach standard Mandarin, it's just that they don't speak like that in their everyday life.
I live in Cambodia, and I know a Taiwanese school for Chinese where their Chinese doesn't sound as good as the mainland China standard one I was more familiar with (not that I know Chinese; I don't yet). I think the main difference is that the X like in xiexie is prouunounced with an "s" instead, or something different like that.
I also find it strange to hear someone say British English. I am English, and to my way of thinking English is the language of England. All others are variants. I am currently learning Chinese and have just discovered your channel :)
@@thegoodgeneral Exactly, English is the language of the people of England and as such all other versions are variants as I originally stated. Come on give your head a shake...
@@Uniquecapture it’s also the language of several other countries in the world. If you’re going to claim they’re variants, then your English is just a variation of the original language which was an amalgamation of several European languages. Keep shaking that head, it seems like it really, really needs it.
What you said about English is not quite correct. In the UK there are lots of regional accents and some are so extreme they are difficult to understand, particularly for non-native speakers. I have a soft middle class non-regional accent. I have an accent that non-native speakers find easy to understand. Whether or not this is the “correct” English accent is open to debate, but I have been told by Americans that my accent is what they expect English people to sound like.
There is something like standard English, but the standard doesn't include the vocabulary just the pronounciation. They call it "received pronounciation" or just RP. Also apparently "Oxford English" speakers are more right than speakers of other variants of English. Wich is weird, as visiting this institution seems to make you lose the ability to speak words "exac ly" the way they are written.... "exac ly" Why??? WHY???
in his quote he says "shine through" not "shine too". saying something will "shine through in the end" is a common expression that conveys the image of what lies underneath comes to the surface no matter how hard you try to hold it back. "even in the face of dishonesty, the truth shines through".
Hi Jim, thank you so much for pointing this out! I didn't know this expression when editing, I apologize for the mistake, and thank you again for teaching me something new!
But the real secret is to squint one's eyes when speaking....especially at the "shine through" part.
Jessie. There's something that struck me from some of your remarks, which is: " there's no standard English"
I completely disagree and i will tell you why.
From my standpoint of view, ACCENT is what distinguishes between American and British English. But do you think that the usage of language skill is the same?
No.
British English will always be the best
@@franciscoarmando2237 Wheh is muh crompet, mum! VS Where is my biscuit, mom? British English is just American English with an accent.
@@franciscoarmando2237 there's also indian english, irish english, scottish english, welsh english, south african english, australian english, canadian english... as an irish, i don't like american english but how can you say british english is the best w a straight face? si eres español, no me sorprende mucho, pero si eres latino, es como decir q el español de españa es mejor q el de latinoamerica o guinea ecuatorial. imagina
Not only does he speak fluent Mandarin (Beijing accent), he is speaking like someone his age. He doesn't sound like a kid or a 100 year old man.
Beijing accent is flawed mandarin~
That's not surprising? Usually you hang out with people around your age, don't you?
@Roderik C. I think most people would learn the normal way of speaking though. When people learn english they don't study Shakespeare
@@mpforeverunlimited people directly translate words from their own language and it often sounds overly formal and stilted. Or like the OP said, child like.
How does a 100 year old man speak lol
I once went to an authentic Chinese restaurant with one Chinese girl, one other white guy, and Korean-Americans. The staff there had a really hard time understanding that none of the Koreans spoke any Mandarin, but seemed freaked out by the fact that the other white guy there spoke Mandarin better than the Chinese girl who was a native speaker. (She was fluent but had moved to America as a child and not spoken much Mandarin in years, while he was majoring in Chinese and had just return from his second semester in a study abroad program in mainland China.)
Just because someone is a native, it doesn’t mean they have to speak well. Imagine a farmer vs. a diplomat speaking the same language
Thank you for pointing out a reaction of ONE person on a planet of 8 billion people lol
I find it hard to belive that she was fluent then
I listened to him speak and I’m not even fluent in Mandarin and just knew he speak amazingly well. He hit it spot on that conversations will sky rocket pronunciation and vocabulary, especially the ability to retain all that you’ve learnt. Need to find myself a tutor
This guy, really got a point. Only immersion will teach how to swim! No matter where.
Lava seems a bit of a challenge though
I know this is kinda off topic but I've really adored watching you lately! It makes me want to actively learn Chinese. I remember as a kid there was a cartoon called Ni Hao Kai-Lan (你好 / Nǐ Nǎo // 凱蘭 / Kǎi-lán / Kelland?) and I'd love your input on it! Like if it was actually helpful for English speaking children and just your input. It was like Dora the Explorer in a way of you know it. Thank you if you just read this! ☺️ Ofc only do videos you want!
Thank you, I'll look into it!
@@ChinesewithJessie Happy to hear!!!
I used to looove Ni Hao Kai-Lan
Same I would also watch ni hao Kai lan as a child but my dad would always shut it off saying that it was too easy for me and I should we doing extra studying in stead.
@@ChinesewithJessie yes when I was a kid I watched ni hao kai lan as well! I really liked it and that's why the only things I know how to say are ni hao and ni hao ma. When I was a kid I did the tones too but I don't know how to do them right anymore lol (maybe I do but I dont think so)... but that show also made me really want to learn mandarin (and all languages, I speak some French but French is super easy compared to Mandarin.)
If you ever doubt his level of Chinese, this man even quotes Confucius in casual conversation.
Underrated comment 😂
I’m Chinese American and I studied abroad in Taiwan for a year. I thought I would be able to make friends with Taiwanese people. Like he said you are surround by other international students. You don’t really have a chance to meet with other Taiwanese people because they are usually more busy with studying them hanging out. As an exchange student you have more freedom to venture out. My Chinese is decent I just didn’t know how to approach people as well.
Same here, I had to make an effort to get out of my English bubble in Taiwan. Always surrounded by foreigners. I had to go to a church and hang out with old folks who didn’t speak English and had no interest in Learning English and excepted me to not speak like a native. They were very critical, but best way to learn.
Смотря видео Джесси, у меня появляется больше мотивации улучшать свой китайский! Спасибо 老师!
this is so helpful! im going to try to find a tutor or talk only in mandarin with my mandarin speaking friends; he mentioned such good points about how chinese grammar isnt hard but its the vocab and pronounciation/tones that u really have to work on
Well, when i switch between languages i change my manner of speaking too. It's not about knowing language good or not, it's more about your perception of this language. For example when i speak Polish i talk with higher voice and generally talk more, in English i talk faster though English is my worst language. So i don't think it's correct to compare his english and chinese speech but it was interesting fact to notice.
I'm a native English speaker and have lived and worked in Germany for 36 years. When I speak German, my voice pitch automatically deepens for some reason. When I switch to English, it goes up again. I don't really notice it myself, but others comment on it so often that it must be true.
English uses less words than Spanish on average, and requires less mouth movements.
Spanish therefore requires literally more energy and passion, making Spanish more like Cantonese, and English more like Mandarin. But Spanish is like Mandarin when compared to Portuguese which is drunk Spanish.
Someone once said that the stereotypical British accent is as if one were to speak with a potato in the mouth.
I'm not even learning Chinese but your videos where you analyse people's Chinese skills are interesting to watch. I'm learning Japanese and I wish more Japanese language teachers on TH-cam did this!
I plan to learn Chinese and Japanese at the same time to see which of the three is harder for a western European to learn.
Plus more at the same time.
The endeavour I give myself is daunting but I intend to put my life into it. Not an overnight thing.
French grammar. Honestly even as a native french it confuses me. Lot of French ppl can't conjugate without making spelling mistakes (I can't either).
Chinese grammar is really fun !
Same in English. The use of the subjunctive is fading in English, and it makes for a subtle point of confusion, when you know how it should be used. E.g. "Would that I had more time!" or "If she were here, then..." not "If she was here..." when she wasn't. Yes, unreal conditions/wishes et al. take the subjunctive. C.f. "Je veux que tu fasses tes devoir."
@@argonwheatbelly637 That’s because the subjunctive form expressing the mood is redundant when there is already the conjunctive ‘if’ that conveys the meaning. English has been slowly losing most of its synthetic language characteristics and becoming more of an analytic language. Your subjunctive mood example is a continuation of this trend. Btw, Chinese is an analytic language.
Si tu penses encore que la grammaire française se limite à sa flexion verbale, c'est triste.
@@klemmichard8916 : C'est en train de changer. C'est toujours en train de changer. Mais de quelle manière ? Tu sais?
@@argonwheatbelly637, la grammaire n'est pas dans les livres, elle est dans nos têtes. En parlant tous les jours, on est confronté à des changements légers. Certains persistent, d'autres pas. Le politique joue aussi.
Le problème avec le français, c'est l'académie.
It is very common to have different "personalities" or characteristics in your way of expressing when switching between languages, which you rarely notice until someone makes you see it. When I speak in Spanish (my native language) I tend to be more neutral (neither formal or informal), but in English when I speak I use constant slangs or I become extremely serious (to cover the gaps), in Portuguese they have told me that I am extremely cheerful when talk... So it is likely that his way of expressing himself in English is fast and in Chinese slower and more deliberate.
i am a god damn different person when i speak mandarin
Thats only because you are not fluent enough.
i am the same way because of my lack of fluency in mandarin! i become so demure, polite, and lady-like (because i speak more formally, deliberately, and don't use much slang, idioms, or colloquialisms). i'm hoping when i improve my fluency i can show more of my personality while speaking mandarin!
Pro tip. The more you mumble or talk lower the more authentic your Chinese gets. I've been told my Chinese was best when I was drunk or extremely tired. Men mumble and speak low. Women speak high and loud. Also great point about actually using what you are learning. My Chinese skyrocketed when I only learned/memorized stuff I would immediately use. I tell that to everyone who asks me how to improve their speaking. Use what you'll do immediately. Example, my city had motorbike taxis. I had no idea how to say directions except for pointing. One night I spent 30 minutes looking up turn left/right, go straight, stop, etc.. The next day going to work I used them. Took me a day + some extra remembering to get it down. Now I can recall it instantly. Do that for EVERYTHING. You're hungry? Go look up food and restaurant vocabulary and then go eat. This is something language learners don't do. They learn, learn, learn but may never need to use it for days or weeks or however long afterwards. It sits without being used and is "useless". Use it.
Also valid point about living the language. The mind is amazingly powerful. You want to seriously learn a language. Change EVERYTHING to that language. Your phone, your computer, only get your news from that language, tv/movies, etc.. You need to basically "pretend" that you no longer live in your native country. If you see something in your native language, mentally block it out or look up the translation if you don't already know it to keep your mind away from it. If you see it and know it, always remind yourself mentally or say it out loud.
Would love to see your reaction to Laoma then. Cao Cao has a great Beijing accent, but I think Laoma's Beijing delivery is naturally fast like a native.
His advice is so real. A real eye opener.
I've found that it's not just about pronunciation and grammar.. but the inflections, the flow, the natural pauses is what makes up the rest of speaking a language natively perfect. If you took someone with an odd cadence, or flow to how they space their words and pauses and when they talk in long run on sentences... can be jarring... people like Christopher Walken speaking english for example.. or William Shatner when he was speaking as Captain Kirk.
13:09
What he said is totally correct
I had been studying Mandarin inconsistently for 14 months and I was not able to hold a 4 minute conversation without sounding like a two-year-old.
Two of my Mandarin tutors mocked me for not reaching HSK 4 level in 14 months. They had each reverted to HSK 1 level, something I had mastered in 2 months. (Writing, reading speaking and listening.)
"This means hello. Can you count to ten?"
And so I did not study for 8 months nor did I attempt to converse with anyone because that had hurt my feelings.
That was about 6 months to 10 months ago.
Now I study HSK7-9 level with Chinese Zero to Hero on TH-cam in order to develop an advanced vocabulary while simultaneously working through most of HSK 3 content on youtube. (Learning writing and basic grammar)
❤So far, so good.
Hi Nicole, what those two Mandarin tutors did was totally inappropriate, they should 扪心自问 if they 因材施教, maybe you can teach them a lesson with these two Chinese idioms.
Confidence is essential when learning a new language especially for speaking, what you have achieved by self-teaching is remarkable, I wish you all the best and hope my videos will be of some help along the way.
Hey there sorry to butt in but I’ve been studying mandarin for 6 months I try to stay consistent but I started a new job and I’ve been traveling for training so my studying fell through a little in 6 months I’ve only reached hsk 2 😅 basic vocabulary is a huge issue plus just in general regression from lack of practice, I was wondering if you had any tips to stay in practice and retain vocab I would be very interested
@@kenxd585 Even learning 10 words a week is more than 0.
A little progression is better than none at all.
好好学习天天向上
❤️🩹加油
@@kenxd585 There's a saying about practicing 1 kick 1000 times versus having 1000 kicks, use this method. 😁
Mastery is key.
Phrases from movies and such, which HSK 2 words are phrased differently, so writ them down and time stamp them.
1- phrase
2. Time of occurrence 44:22
3. Title of show
4. Outlet- TH-cam, Viki, ASIANCRUSH
@@kenxd585
Annnnnnd, don't overwork yourself.
One to 2 lessons a week can be managed
What's the rush?
Who's dying?
Create a study plan and stick to it.
Rotate material.
My schedule:
14 day intensive
A)
1. Lichao
2. Chinese Zero to Hero
3. Writing
Switch next 14 days
B
1 Peking University
2 Mandarin Corner street talk
3 Writing
Switch next 14 days
1. Lonely Planet Phrasebook
2. Phrases for Chinese learners on TH-cam
3. Writing (master writing every character of every level).
Back to A B C
Switch- New plan.
And repeat Plan 1, plan 2- switch new plan- repeat
Plan 1 2 and 3.
Then focus on regular shit probably. Idk. 😂
I'm learning another language because I haven't dealt with emotionally traumatic events yet, so I put more time into that than with Chinese but I still created a plan to stick to. I just check off the box ☑️ one by one.
You are learning this language for you, not please native speakers.☺️(What I tell myself to stay late motivated).
OMG... This is the most perfect accent I've ever heard from foreigners!
His Chinese is great. I don't agree with him about "easy grammar" though. What's probably valid is to note Mandarin doesn't have as much grammatical *structure* as Indo-European languages (in Chinese, verbs and nearly all nouns don't change form depending on how they're used). On the other hand, Chinese requires an English speaker to master a number of grammatical elements that are very counterintuitive (various particles, mostly). Also sentence patterns in general and word order - save for very simple sentences- are often radically different in Chinese compared to English. Then there are tones: English is vastly more "forgiving" than Chinese in that non-native speakers can mangle English quite badly and still (often) be understood. Not so with Mandarin. Even a slightly inaccurate use of tone will have Chinese people looking at you with blank stares. Finally, Chinese characters are a huge hurdle in my view. Someone learning English need only learn 26 "characters" to establish a foundation for reading. But with Chinese that number is more like 3,000. Which means learning to read in Chinese is massively challenging. And the thing is, the written word is a HUGE source of vocabulary acquisition for language learners. If an American or Brit decides to live for a while in (say) Paris, incessantly viewing signage, advertisements and notices in French acts as a constant vocabulary lesson, because the person will, on a regular basis, learn new words from context (that is, when you see a certain word in print often enough, there's a good chance you'll at some point grasp its meaning even without looking it up). This source of vocabulary expansion is almost entirely absent for those learning Chinese, at least in the early going (before they've learned many characters).
Mandarin is an incredibly valuable skill. But studying it is not for the faint of heart. In theory, learning Chinese for native-English speakers should be no more difficult than learning English is for native Chinese speakers. But I agree with my Chinese friends that learning Chinese is more difficult, for the reasons I've stated.
@Misiu Maja Yes, Slavic languages are widely agreed to be quite challenging for native English speakers, for the reasons you state.
Tones are not grammar. He even said tones were hard (and grammar is easy compared to other languages). I think the vast majority of learners agree with him.
@@erseshe I meant counterintuitive TO NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS. A word/word translation of Mandarin sentences into English looks VERY different from how the equivalent would be expressed in actual, standard English as spoken by a native or fluent speaker (at least beyond very simple sentences like "I eat noodles."). It's clear if you've studied, say French-along with Mandarin-that English has a >>genetic
Within British English there is an accent called 'Received Pronunciation' which I guess is equivalent to standard Mandarin. It's the 'proper' way of saying things, though can seem posh to many. It's only recently that regional accents have been allowed into upper level things and those with strong regional accents in position of power tend not to be regarded as well. Especially if the accent is from some regions. But yeah, we do have something similar in the UK.
Thanks for your post - very thought-provoking! I was going to say that RP is neither taught nor expected, but I suspect I’m wrong, in that certain regional accents and higher intelligence are still connected in many people’s minds. I’ve certainly met people who consider their accent to be “standard “, or even “neutral “, while being unable to hear their own voices, thereby missing the beauty of difference. Just wondering!
It’s a totally different thing to standard Chinese though. An accent is one thing but totally different dialects with different grammar rules that can be unintelligible are another.
Wrong. R.P is not standardised or regulated.
@@NK-vd8xi Right. In what ways is Mandarin regulated?
@@johneyreguitar in pretty much all ways if you're talking about the "standard". Though there's arguably more than one standard since there are different regulating bodies:
National Language Regulating Committee [zh] (People's Republic of China)[6]
National Languages Committee (Republic of China)
Promote Mandarin Council (Singapore)
Chinese Language Standardisation Council (Malaysia)
Haha he makes a good point that many Spanish words are cognates whilst there are barely any in Chinese, but I feel like that might not be fair because Spanish has at least twice as many tenses to learn. Spanish is probably the easier language overall, though
It depends what your native language is.
Obviously if you’re a native English speaker another European language is going to be much easier.
I really want to listen to that podcast but it is no longer available
As someone who speaks many languages on a fluent level I can say that I speak at different speeds. Personally I think it depends largely on the emotional bond you have with the language, as some languages you could see as ¨melodic and slow¨ or ¨atomic and fast¨. So to dismiss fluency based on relative slow speech isnt a good criterium.
I absolutely love your videos Jessi! Thanks for sharing them with us. 🤗❤️
Immersion works obviously, since it's how people learn their own mother tongue. It's a fact hardly worth mentioning. Unfortunately that method is practically impossible for most people. I really like the tutor idea though.... gotta be the next best thing!
Dead languages: "Can't touch this!"
What he's saying makes a lot of sense. How do most 3 or 4 years olds speak? You have to speak like that for a little while until you learn, the same way you did with your native language.
They actually do say “standard English” because there are hundreds of dialects and creoles
Rap is crap.
Where? In the U.S., almost everybody speaks-basically-the same way. We have a few different accents, a certain demographic group loves to speak a lot of gibberish, and that's about it.
Here in the U.S., people...like...constantly say, "I was...like...really...like...happy about...like...like...like...like...like...like...like..." 🙄🙄
It's interesting what you said..
It works both ways..
Usually... not always.. but usually if a Chinese person learns perfect english.. and you aren't looking at that prrson when they speak you can usually still tell they are Chinese.
It was interesting to know that it works the other way around..
Yes, it does. Slightly off topic, but-- I don't even speak any Dutch, and I can tell that the little girl in [the original] Miracle on 34th Street who Kris Kringle speaks to in Dutch is NOT a native speaker, but has an American (Midwestern?) accent. I also have heard examples of an Italian accent in French, and a Texas accent in Mandarin.
That’s not true. A lot of Filipinos who have never left Philippines already sound like natives.
There’s already teenagers in China who have studied English since they learn how to speak, and already sound like an American teenager; sometimes even better. Not a lot but certainly enough.
Great idea to perfect my Chinese. Do my daily journal in Chinese - let my Chinese tutor correct/help me. Thanks Jessie - good info from Cao Cao or Jonathan.
OMG!!! His speaking is just like native Beijing accent. If I closed my eyes, I couldn't realize he was a foreigner or a Chinese from other parts of China at all. though he is a foreiger, I guess maybe he grew up in Beijing.
It'd be great if you linked the original vids / sources
Northern chinese on average speak better mandarin than southern Chinese. I would say northern Chinese dialects are closer to standard mandarin. Closest to standard mandarin is probably from chengde(in hebei), beijing and probably dongbei especially Heilongjiang.
Not Dongbei, for sure, huh. But I'll agree on Chengde
@@ametkemalidinov738 dongbei depends on the province. As you go further north in dongbei which is around Heilongjiang, people speak better mandarin. Those from Heilongjiang and Jilin has slightly better mandarin accent than Liaoning.
Imagine being named Germaine Ho. I can't relate.
@@germaineho8612 hmm, thanks, I didn't know that. Every time I've met people from Dongbei I felt kind of confused, maybe it's because I learned the language around Sihuan mostly.
@@ametkemalidinov738 Liaoning people have stronger regional accent but those from Heilongjiang has better standard mandarin accent, super close to the one that you can find in news broadcaster.
His Chinese name is interesting, is Cao Cao a common name in modern use? The Three Kingdoms period is what started my interest in Chinese culture, so that stood out to me.
Not at all haha, someone even publicly criticized him for using that name, I think it's fine though.
He paid a tutor so no not everyone can do that.. xD i had sooo many thoughts on language learning and language parenting and i always thought it would be really cool to be able to travel the world and just pay a language parent who would help me learn a language without using any other language just like you learn as a kid..
There are some platforms when you can interact with someone who speak your target language and want to speak yours. It could be close to have a tutor but not as good, native speakers sometimes are unaware about the confusing things in their language, like merging words o arbitrary grammar rules.
As an American,born and raised, with 4 generations of American born family members, I would like to add to your content.
There is definitely an standard American Accent...😂
It lies somewhere between clear diction and friendly without a twang.
It comes from Saint Louis I think. LOL. There is a number of people that study the english in the middle of the country to have as neutral of an accent as possible. Get too close to the great lakes and the accent gets all wonky.
I call it CNN English. In Spanish global news they use a weird fake dialect to try to appease all of the nations they are targetting for audience membership. So the Mexican doesn't use a Mexican accent, but something "neutral." People compete to have their dialect considered the most "neutral." None are, but mainstream Cuban is the worst.
@@SlavicCelery I grew up in Miami. It's funny when people talk about the South when it was always north of me.
Thank you for sharing
Just as a random fact because you mentioned Cao Cao speaking slower in Mandarin, I do speak Spanish that is my mother language slower than English that is my second language lmao, people say that I speak fast (not unintelligible, just faster than regular), so it is not a that reliable way to judge hahaha
I speak English faster than my native Spanish because my Spanish relatively stinks even though I have a licenciatura en este idioma de la Universidad internacional de la Florida.
Listening to the podcast portion, I guess the lesson he's telling is the same as "you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with"
If you go to a class, meet other foreigners and hang around with them, then your language skill will only be the average of those people. Whereas if you spend more time with native speakers, then your average skill in that language jumps right up to match those native speakers.
There's a little error in the transcription of your favorite quote. "Personality shines too" should read "personality shines through." This phrase "shine through" is an idiom. In my mind, at least, it refers to the sun shining through clouds.
First time I went to Beijing I lived with a family in a Hutong. The old father was trying to tell me what time to get back to the house, and I just remember him shouting "十儿点儿" at the clock😆Safe to say I didn't understand
Wow, great information, thanks
At the 3:30 mark I believe you said "some peoples speaks". It should be "some people speak". Cheers!
What he says about Chinese grammar is spot on. Thanks you, Jessie.
Hey Jessie. Well, although you are correct that there is no "standard English" (at least in the USA which has many different regional dialects) there is a de facto standard form of American English that broadcasters learn. If you tune into a TV station in a southern state (Texas or Georgia, for example) you will notice that that the newscasters have "no accent". (That's actually impossible, as even "no accent" is in itself an "accent".)
So this practice by the newscasters actually creates a "standard (American) accent", although, oddly enough, no area of the country actually speaks that way.
The current "American Standard" accent is essentially a Nebraskan accent. From the 1930's until shortly after World War II the trans-atlantic accent was the Hollywood/Broadcast English accent. It was that odd mish mash of British RP and American accent that only seemed natural from a few people (FDR comes to mind), whereas actors absolutely put it on. It is rare, but you can find BTS clips from that era where an actor will do a take with the accent, screw up and drop to a normal speaking voice to apologize before going back to the accent.
Essentially with the fall of the empire for Britain the anglophile tendency that inspired the trans Atlantic accent disappeared. it was the 40s and 50s when those old accents were supplanted by actual common American accents, Cary Grant faded a bit and Clark Gable was on the rise. Not really those actors specifically, as both were active at the same time but accents like Grant's became less and less common and natural sounds more so. It was in the 1960s and 70s when the new American Standard accent sprang up and it is no accident that the trusted voices of news and entertainment, Johnny Carson, Walter Cronkite, and Tom Brokaw (among others, but these were the guys emulated by many) came from Nebraska and used the accent they grew up with, and generations of broadcasters have followed suit.
It has altered a bit, so you may be right, it may not actually exist anymore, but Nebraska is the likely source of the current sound. Previous generations (post trans Atlantic supremacy, but prior to the current accent, so late 40s to early 60s) took their cue from Indiana which was the source of many nation wide broadcasts (pre satellite it provided a simple central location to relay a signal either by wire or repeater stations), and a very similar bland non accent.
@@darkamora5123 : Yes, nailed it! Thank you!!! People do not realize that the "non-regional" accent has shifted over the years, and the paradigms change. You invoked FDR. Such an iconic voice! And Walter Cronkite. I miss hearing the news with him narrating.
@@argonwheatbelly637 @Darkamora I really agree with both of you. You touched on the way "standard accents" can change over time. One thing I like to do is listen to old news reels from the 20's and 30's. Granted, much of the tonal differences come from the simple improvement of the recording technology (old recording devices had no "bass"). But having said that, it's obvious that the dialects (especially the tone) has changed a lot since that time. Try to find some interviews with people like Amelia Earhart, for example. Find some others of "normal people speaking" too. One trait that really jumps out is how nasally people spoke back then. (That trait never went away in the Midwest but even now, peoples' tones are flatter.) It's clear that language (in many aspects) really does change over time.
"...at least in the USA which has many different regional dialects..."
OH, PLEAAASE! 🙄🙄In the U.S., we have a few different accents, a certain demographic group that loves to speak a lot of gibberish, and that's pretty much it. Stop exaggerating! 😠😠
Amazing video, I really want to learn a new language but I feel like immersion is almost necessary. Am I wrong in thinking that?
The US does have a standard English. It sticks close to and obeys many English grammatical rules and pronunciation. Many dialects deviate from that and English teachers will lecture you on why your accent sucks and you should instead speak this one standard. Compare written English to AAVE or Appalachian or Chicano English.
Good old newscaster English
Yes, it's a pluricentric language. That is, there is a standard American, standard British, standard Australian, standard New Zealand, etc. People who speak non-standard dialects in all English-speaking societies get pressured or shamed or made fun of.
Yeah i was checking the comments to see if anyone brought this up there is definately a standard English for schools and TV, Movies etc. Historically only time they use non standard terminology is to enphasize where a character is from (Urban, Rural, Southern, Coastal) or social class
British english does, too, I think. I've head it called "BBC" english.
@@Danileith123 formally it is called “Received Pronunciation”.
I think there is a conflation of "fluent" with "native speaker accent" going on here that is misleading to say the least.
I am a native English speaker, born in the US of US parents, resident in UK for over half a century, educated in both UK and USA.
Just to add to the mix I have a degree in French and Spanish and can figure out Italian and Portuguese with a little help.
I consider myself to be fluent in English, and have been so all my teenage and adult life. I won prizes in English at school, scored 800 on my SAT, top scores on my British English exams, etc etc etc. I like words, love punning and making them up and all kinds of word jokes, especially thsoe that might cross "official" language demarcation lines.
I would also say I have a soft American accent. I can't tell you where its positioned exactly but it's more east coast than west and more north than south. Many Brits think I am Canadian and many Americans assume I'm British. I like words, love punning, making new words up, all kinds of word jokes, especially those that might cross "official" language demarcation lines.
My accent, whatever it may be, does not affect my fluency. If I follow the logic through that says otherwise, NONE of the UK English speakers that I know born and brought up in UK or USA you would deem to be fluent, which is clearly a nonsense. A person who is fluent but who has a Scottish accent, or indeed Indian or Nigerian or American accent, to my mind is still fluent. All the talk about RP, or BBC English (of what era? Today's BBC English is not the same as we heard in the 1950s or 1960s), standard American etc to my mind is a total red herring. It is interesting, it has all sorts of good and bad connotations around class, social strata, "education" (a minefield of connotations all by itself), how "acceptable" where one is "from" might be and more, but it is not about fluency. Accent is accent. Fluency is fluency. They are not the same. You can be fluent and you will always have an accent of one type or another if you are speaking. If you are writing only and non-vocal, does that make you non-fluent? I don't believe it does.
Jessie makes occasional grammatical mistakes, and certainly has an accent. Lots of native English speakers are the same. I would still call her, and them, fluent English speakers. They just have a XXXX accent (substitute a location for XXXX). It's like an aural handwriting.
Some very pointless rabbit holes are being dug here, it seems to me. Perhaps some tighter definitions to start with might avoid that in the future?
So basically in Beijing they throw extra R's into everything... it's like the opposite of modern standard British English where final R's fall away for some reason.
Good observation.
I love the rolled R of Spanish and others. The US "R" is like a frog's "rrrribbit" sound.
Wow, this guy's Mandarin is really good. And here I am unable to say or understand basic stuff. Wish I had half his talent.
it's not talent my dude
Practice and consistency, that’s what it takes.
I know you posted this awhile ago but do you think reproducing american accents is hard? Like if you had to try to sound native speaker level English how difficult would that be? My question gives me a view on how difficult it would be to speak Chinese native level :) great video very informative!
I don’t even speak perfect English and have spoken it for almost 70 years.How can anyone speak any language perfectly?
People like these I assume do this through mimickry. Think of it as someone that can do spot on impressions of famous people. It is a talent.
As far as I know, Pekinese doesn't really have 2nd person singular pronoun in its spoken form, you hear 'tong'zh' 'shi'v' 'gem'er' all the time when the addressee is addressed, but rarely hear 'ni' being used in this sense. 'Ni' is actually used as a conjugation clitic or article in questions, 'Zuijin guod zemyang'a-ni?' 'Gan shmen-ni?' '(Gen) Nar na-ni?' 'Qu nar'a-ni?'... In some certain aspects, it's just a diffrent language from the MSC, despite sharing the same Early Modern Mandarin vocabulary stock with it. But typologically, the two could be as far from each other as Vietanmese and German.
I was wondering whether this is a difference at the level of a dichotomy between spoken and written language. But maybe not, some syntatic textures are very different even in written langauge. Compare the Pekinese 'Mei verb-guo' vs MSC 'Wo cong-lai bu-verb', and a native speaker whose first language is not MSC could produce a MSC sentence like ‘Wo cong-lai meiyou verb-guo’, which is clearly an example of bilingual users trying to fit two grammars together into one sentence...
I got you. So do you know that the term is for the "curled tongue"?
捲舌
React to Steve Kaufman's Chinese. Some say he is one of best on TH-cam.
nah
He makes some really interesting points.
Have you reacted to Laoma Chris? He’s got equal if not better Chinese and is a foreigner.
Suddenly I want to play Romance of the Three Kingdoms again. Cao Cao OP!
Thank you! The interview was super interesting and useful. I personally don't like Beijing accent, I'm trying to adquiere a Zhejiang accent which is my favourite one 😊
Do u have a reference video for Zhejiang accent? I would like to hear how it sounds.
Why is it your favourite?
The words of a fluent speaker flows, as water flows in a river.
I had to laugh at 2:14 lol
.
Not fair not fair!
I mean can I have one too? Is free delivery included?
Sophia Robot.
🤩
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Bruh not only does he not have a western accent, he got the perfect Beijing accent
I actually like your accent.
There is a standard American accent in the UK. It's called Received Pronunciation. If you study British English this is the accent you're usually taught. It's also called "BBC English" because it's the accent traditionally associated to BBC anchors.
I think you might want to remove the word "American" from your comment, as it might irk people from the UK!
RP lost cachet within the BBC a long time ago. You won't hear anyone using it outside of parodying broadcasters from decades ago. The kind of English phonology you learn these days if you're learning the language is more of an approximate Home Counties accent that's been levelled off and made less distinct, not RP.
RP itself was only ever an informal "standard" outside the BBC, however.
@@talideon Mid-Atlantic was the American version of RP. You'll see it in movies from the "golden" age of hollywood. There was a strong effort to create an accent that sort of split the difference between American English and UK English.
I didn't think Asians would actually say or appreciate someone by saying they can speak "perfect" Chinese but nice. I changed my mind~
Haha my Beijing-er hua after comparing to his accent is same decent 😁
2:23 excuse me there is standard English and it is generally the English spoken by the English in the south east region of England
Can you look into a singer, Dimash, singing in Chinese? He is from Kazakhstan and was in a ChineseTV singing show. Thank you
Lot of foreigners who claim to speak fluent Chinese, but none of them are fluent. How do I know ? Because I lived in china for several years. This guy right there is the real deal
0:47 SO CLOSE WHY MUST YOU HAUNT ME LIKE THAT????
English started in the UK way back when, so I would say that's Standard, and other English has evolved over time and turned into regional dialects etc, just like German and other languages ;)
Well by that logic we’re all wrong, no more arguments. Time to freshen up on my Old English 🤣
actually, the english used in the UK is WAY different from the original english used back when it started. the closest thing to original english in present day is the southern US accent. so who knows what the standard dialect would be considered, because all english has changed and sounds different from what it used to be.
@@koo-core7274 Thank you. You said what I wanted to say about the UKly English (main one) being quite changed since Shakespeare's days.
There used to be a "standard English" but nobody actually spoke it. It was called "trans Atlantic English" and it was only used in movies.
I've got a video Idea suggestion! You could maybe teach us chinese thru Link•Click and other donghwas ?? I'd love to see a video like that❤👄❤
What is the phrase they are saying around 16:45? Tried searching jiadui and jiaduo and find nothing in dictionary
Hi Christine, he said 扎堆儿(zhā duī er) which means "gather together", it's more like northern Chinese slang though, I'm from the south and I've never said this lol.
New subscriber here. I really like this thanks
Although I suggest to get a better microphone 🎤 as it doesn’t sound too great
Thanksss, I'll work on it!
2:10 Rururururururu 😂
Jonathan doesn't realise that the ability to hear foreign words and repeat them back precisely is actually very rare for adults. This ability is more prevalent amongst actors (and linguists!) than the general population but we probably all know someone who can apparently effortlessly mimic someone else's speech.
English from America is the most popular and widely spoken. It’s actually becoming a requirement for foreign English teachers. All the rest of the English speaking countries are very small and don’t have a large global presence like America. Yes they are all correct but clearly anyone not from America has an accent. They would all argue that but it’s true.
shines through (not too)
Ohh thank you! And I'm sorry about that.
我听了下他其他视频 确实很好，不过跑调的地方还是有 😁 马斯瑞 Chris 我倒是听不到任何声调不准确的地方 你知道他吗？
马思瑞吗？我看过他点评别人英语的视频，没太注意他的中文发音哈哈
Chinese, Mandarin, Cantonese Hong Kong, or Chung King?
9:29 I was watching because I'm studying Chinese, why'd he have to go that path and attack me like that 😭😭
Strongly disagree with his comment on his pronunciation being a genetic trait.
While difficult, you can break it down pronunciation scientifically. A better metaphor would be learning to dance. Controlling your body is akin to controlling your mouth and tongue, both are learnt though practise and knowledge.
I don’t think he said it was a genetic trait? Just that some people are really good at it, others aren’t.
Muscle memory.
To articulate in Spanish, I have trouble because my anatomy is in English mode where I move my tongue and lips and jaw less.
Only with effort can I speak Spanish fluently until I am found wanting of a word.
Language learning is anatomy-refining.
of course, there's Dashan (大山), a non-Chinese guy originally from Canada: th-cam.com/video/tK51dlpqpSE/w-d-xo.html
I was born in Taiwan, people say that Taiwanese people speak Mandarin differently, but their elementary school text books teach standard Mandarin, it's just that they don't speak like that in their everyday life.
I live in Cambodia, and I know a Taiwanese school for Chinese where their Chinese doesn't sound as good as the mainland China standard one I was more familiar with (not that I know Chinese; I don't yet). I think the main difference is that the X like in xiexie is prouunounced with an "s" instead, or something different like that.
I also find it strange to hear someone say British English. I am English, and to my way of thinking English is the language of England. All others are variants.
I am currently learning Chinese and have just discovered your channel :)
You’re right, English was created in the vacuum of a tiny island with no influence at all from the numerous conquerors of said small island. 🙄
@@thegoodgeneral so why is it called English?
@@Uniquecapture in English, it’s called English because the English named it as such. Come on, man. Give your head a shake….
@@thegoodgeneral Exactly, English is the language of the people of England and as such all other versions are variants as I originally stated. Come on give your head a shake...
@@Uniquecapture it’s also the language of several other countries in the world. If you’re going to claim they’re variants, then your English is just a variation of the original language which was an amalgamation of several European languages.
Keep shaking that head, it seems like it really, really needs it.
Why don't you interview him?
On English you forgot southern American English lol I like your videos
his acent is sooo attractive
❤️from England
What you said about English is not quite correct. In the UK there are lots of regional accents and some are so extreme they are difficult to understand, particularly for non-native speakers. I have a soft middle class non-regional accent. I have an accent that non-native speakers find easy to understand. Whether or not this is the “correct” English accent is open to debate, but I have been told by Americans that my accent is what they expect English people to sound like.
He actually isn’t speaking English quickly. The clip you used for his podcast is actually somewhat slow in my opinion.
There is something like standard English, but the standard doesn't include the vocabulary just the pronounciation. They call it "received pronounciation" or just RP. Also apparently "Oxford English" speakers are more right than speakers of other variants of English. Wich is weird, as visiting this institution seems to make you lose the ability to speak words "exac ly" the way they are written....
"exac ly" Why??? WHY???
This was the way Peace Corps taught Chinese.
I cannot wait for her to discover the late great Laoshu. Those titles are going to "destroy her world with tongue".
standard english exists... in sweden
So Beijingers speak Mandarin the way Holly Hunter speaks English?