Summary: Pronunciation is truly the product of multiple factors—habits from speaking one's native language, innate vocal qualities, and the influence of local dialects from where one grew up... The goal for most people practicing should be: "Fluent conversation" + "Sounding like a native speaker."
This article is a discussion on 3B: Pronunciation - Ye Junxiao's Article - Zhihu.
Pronunciation Class#
A poor student from the Japanese major at a foreign language university recalled the pronunciation class taken in the second year: it was only offered for one semester (not in the official curriculum, no credits, and I don't know if this class still exists), once a week, about one and a half hours each time (after school at noon), with only five students in class (yes, to correct the pronunciation of over 100 second-year students, our department's teachers were assigned this task). The class content was also very simple: each person read a passage, the teacher would listen to the pronunciation, point out mistakes and how to correct them (although very few students could correct themselves on the spot).
However, compared to this concentrated teaching format, I feel that the greater help for my Japanese pronunciation came from my intensive reading teacher: during the first and second years, and during winter and summer breaks, she required us to send her recordings of us reading our texts, about one minute long, and she would point out the areas where we were not pronouncing well (です、なら、long and short sounds, verb intonation), and we would re-record and send it back to her (often still not corrected, and the teacher would comfort us by saying that it's okay to just try our best). Unfortunately, every semester ended up being abandoned halfway, and now I've completely given up 233.
About Pronunciation#
Regarding practicing pronunciation, there are some interesting discussions in Chapter 9 and Chapter 10 of Professor Qianye Eiichi's [[“Foreign Language Progress Method”]]:
- Sometimes, the reading and writing level of a foreign language is completely unrelated to the pronunciation level... Generally speaking, when learning grammar and vocabulary, everyone starts on the same starting line. But the situation with learning pronunciation is different... If a person has very standard pronunciation when learning one foreign language, then their pronunciation will also be very standard when learning another foreign language. (The [[Reflod]] column seems not to mention this point; from my observations of classmates and teachers around me, students with standard pronunciation often have the following characteristics: they have been exposed to Japanese for a long time; they often shadow when watching Japanese dramas; they sing on pitch, quickly imitate dialects, and have standard Mandarin; they have hobbies in voice acting and experience working in broadcasting stations.)
- In terms of learning pronunciation, teachers not only need to have standard pronunciation but also need to have a clear understanding of the differences in pronunciation between Japanese and the foreign language being learned. (The sounds す and し are really not exactly the same as in Chinese; I couldn't hear it in my first year, but I'm better now.)
- When first learning pronunciation, the standard of pronunciation has almost nothing to do with the effort put in by the learner, and once non-standard pronunciation is formed, correcting it becomes nearly impossible. (Well, I'm just making excuses for myself 233.)
- To pronounce correctly and distinguish different pronunciations, one must master basic phonetics knowledge.
- Buying a phonetics book is no different from talking about it on paper, but it's still better than doing nothing. (This sentence and the one above are the author's original words 233.)
- For those lacking in phonetic talent, it is better to learn some phonetics knowledge before learning a foreign language. (I was wrong; I will go look at it now.)
- When learning pronunciation, the number of people should not be too many; around 10 people is more appropriate, as each person should pronounce one by one and distinguish the differences in pronunciation one by one. If there are people around who provide this kind of training, significant progress can be made in about 10 lessons. Foreign language teachers themselves should be people who have received this kind of training. (But how effective it is still depends on comprehension and persistence afterward.)
- All languages have intonation variations; a smooth and coherent sentence must have a certain intonation pattern. (The intonation of Japanese verbs changes after conjugation, but most dictionary software cannot check this, and many textbooks do not mention it. Students self-studying Japanese should pay attention to this. If you find that the tones in Hujiang and MOJi are inaccurate or too few, you can refer to: “Da Cilin” and “Shin Meikai” and “Nihon Koku Dai” (Da Jiyuan does not have tones), OJAD (intonation after verb conjugation), and the paper version of “Sanseido Shin Meikai Japanese-Chinese Dictionary” from Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (the appendix explains the rules of intonation changes after verb conjugation), “Comprehensive List of Japanese Numerals” (the combination of numerals and counters also changes).)
- Repeatedly listening to foreigners read not only helps grasp the pauses between sentences and the different tones between narrative and dialogue but also helps understand the intonation changes at the end of phrases, subordinate clauses, and main clauses. (There is no need to specifically memorize the changes in intonation; just understand it and practice repeatedly using the shadowing method. With enough practice, you will naturally realize that there are indeed patterns.)
- Not saying anything naturally avoids mistakes, but foreign language proficiency will not improve in silence. (Let's encourage each other; now listening to recordings of my awkward chats with classmates in my second year still gives me a sense of “I have improved” (mistakes) (awareness), even though my pronunciation is still terrible... )
- Conversation is about expressing what you want to convey to others and understanding what others express, rather than just saying a few sentences when you happen to encounter something you can say (a little advertisement: the Japanese corner at Sichuan International Studies University is held every Wednesday and Sunday evening at 7 PM in front of the cafeteria at the Shanshang campus, with no specific theme; the foreign teachers are very kind, and students who are self-studying Japanese in Chongqing are welcome to join anytime.)
The actual content of this book is not as utilitarian as the book title [[“Foreign Language Progress Method”]], and the overall style is more like a conversation between elders and juniors at home. I recommend students with free time to take a look; it's a thin little booklet. However, since it is a book from the 1980s, and it does not discuss detailed planning and practical methods, students who are focused on improving scores for exams need not waste time.
Finally, the reason for rambling so much under this article is that, before seeing this [[Reflod]] series column, I realized some points through exploration but lacked systematic organization. After seeing Brother Ye's column, I really felt a sense of regret for not having encountered it sooner!!!
Secondly, I feel that the small book “Foreign Language Progress Method” and the column translated by Brother Ye are consistent in many ways: they do not have the “language that shocks people to death” of various teaching materials in the country, and they have a feeling similar to Su Shi's “Broad observation and selective extraction, thick accumulation and thin release, I stop here” in “Jia Shuo Song Zhang Hu” :)
To be honest, even in foreign language majors, it is still “score-oriented.” Perhaps my level is not enough; maybe the two top foreign language universities, Beiwai and Shangwai, are a bit better.
Finally, here are some of my personal views: pronunciation is truly the product of multiple factors—habits from speaking one's native language, innate vocal qualities, and the influence of local dialects from where one grew up... But most people learn a foreign language not to become hosts/simultaneous interpreters/voice actors; what most people need is “fluent conversation” + “sounding like a native speaker,” so the goal of practice should not be to envy others or reach the level of professional broadcasters who can win awards.
But whether it's the gimmicks of training institutions or the first thoughts that most people have when they want to practice pronunciation, they are all aiming for this, right? But even in the foreign language university I attend, there are really not many who can reach this level.
I have read early in the library and playground for two years, and occasionally I would listen to the pronunciation of the classmates around me. My feeling is indeed that “it really sounds like English”—I am not belittling them (they are really much better than me), but if I were to post this on Zhihu, I would probably not escape being ridiculed by various big shots. But compared to my classmates in the science class in high school (this is probably the true level of most people, right?), the “average” level of these classmates I encountered during early reading is the target suitable for most people practicing pronunciation.
Every university has an English major; if everyone gets up early, it shouldn't be hard to find in the library and playground. You can stand a little farther away to listen to these classmates' pronunciation, and you can also try to get closer to them.
Finally, rather than stubbornly sticking to phonetic pronunciation like broadcasting students (of course, you still need to focus on it at the beginning; if after trying your best you still can't distinguish and imitate, then just let it go for now), I also suggest spending more time on the shadowing method. Deliberate practice of phonetics can be interspersed with a lot of shadowing practice. Additionally, recordings can be saved for a year, and after a year, there should be surprises when you look back at them :)