Why can't westerners master Chinese tones well?

Shuimo   Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:49 pm GMT
Now there are increasingly more westerners working or living in China!
Here in Beijing I encounter many many westerners who can speak Mandarin Chinese up to various degrees! Which is a good development!

But unfortunately few, or none, of them can speak my Mandarin Chinese with proper,native tones of Chinese characters!Why?

Why can't westerners master Chinese tones well?
Little Tadpole   Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:28 pm GMT
It's not just the Westerners. Vietnamese has as many tones as Chinese, but Vietnamese usually have some problems with Chinese tones, and vice-versa.

For instance, Vietnamese does not have high-falling tone (Mandarin's 4th tone.) So, they often pronounce 算 as 酸。Vice versa, because Mandarin has tone sandhi for the falling-rising tone (Mandarin's 3rd tone), Mandarin speakers would automatically apply the same rule to Vietnamese and make it into rising-only tone, which is wrong, because Vietnamese does not have tone sandhi. The situation is often more complex than this, because the learner does not remember the correct tone category of a new word, they tend to use a flat tone because they are not sure.
noneuian   Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:49 pm GMT
<<Why can't westerners master Chinese tones well? >>

Can you speak English with no hint of an accent?

For example, could you go to Oklahoma City, and pass for a lifelong native English speaker?
Shuimo   Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:00 pm GMT
Little Tadpole Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:28 pm GMT
It's not just the Westerners. Vietnamese has as many tones as Chinese, but Vietnamese usually have some problems with Chinese tones, and vice-versa.

For instance, Vietnamese does not have high-falling tone (Mandarin's 4th tone.) So, they often pronounce 算 as 酸。Vice versa, because Mandarin has tone sandhi for the falling-rising tone (Mandarin's 3rd tone), Mandarin speakers would automatically apply the same rule to Vietnamese and make it into rising-only tone, which is wrong, because Vietnamese does not have tone sandhi. The situation is often more complex than this, because the learner does not remember the correct tone category of a new word, they tend to use a flat tone because they are not sure.
============

Good point!
Shuimo   Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:05 pm GMT
noneuian Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:49 pm GMT
<<Why can't westerners master Chinese tones well? >>

Can you speak English with no hint of an accent?

For example, could you go to Oklahoma City, and pass for a lifelong native English speaker?
=================

Oh, Shuimo is a good speaker of international English, with a unique accent of Shuimo, I assure you!~

But then you need to remember that Chinese tones serve an essential role to distinguish meanings of characters!

Poor mastery of Chinese tones always leads to misunderstanding or confusion! That is the most severe prob facing all poor learners of Chinese tones!
korporate   Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:10 pm GMT
<<Why can't westerners master Chinese tones well?>>


Because they can't be arsed, that's why! They have no reason to be arsed either, so all's good.
Mo Pigu   Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:16 am GMT
Q1: Why can't westerners master Chinese tones well?
A: Because they are too stupid.

Q2: Why can't the Chinese master English accent well?
A: Because they are too stupid.
Franco   Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:29 am GMT
Shuimo looks every inch a silly corpse!
Guest   Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:24 pm GMT
What tones are? Could somebody explain? Aren't tones those sounds telephones make while conversation isn't established?.
Little Tadpole   Thu Oct 22, 2009 4:20 pm GMT
Guest: "What tones are? Could somebody explain? Aren't tones those sounds telephones make while conversation isn't established?"

Pretty much. If you listen to Cher's "Believe" maybe you'll understand what tone means:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5xsiKBJGW4

Some of the words were replaced by pure music tones like those ones in telephones, using a technology known as Auto-Tune.