I've started taking Chinese classes at a community college and I believe that I may have over estimated my ability of speaking in Mandirne prior to that class. We focused most of our time on the four tones.
{When speking in Manderine, four tones are usually used. The first tone, represented by one horizontal line above the pinyin (romanization of chances characters), is a medium length flat tone. It is in the higher pitch range of one's voice (which brings me to point two, but I can save that for later.)
Tone two, the rising tone, starts from a lower end of the vocal range and ends at a higher pitch
Tone three, the"U", Starts high thane lowers and ends back at a high pitch.
Tone four, "the commander", Its short and starts high and ends low.( Like when a commander shouts an order.
Change in your voice.
When speaking english I've noticed my voice remains within a short range of pitches. When I speak in french my voice gets deeper. I think my deeper voice helps me make that nasally sound that comes with speaking french. When I need to do a lot of vocal manipulation, like in Chinese or Japanese, I start off higher so I won't have to over compensate. That being said, I hear a lot of complaints about how annoying an "otaku/weeaboo/squirrel voice can be.Once you begin to learn different languages you will notice that your voice changes naturally. This will help, but I feel my self stumbling over tones and I find my self getting embarrassed. Even if no one is around, I still feel embarrassed.
Feeling embarrassed.
Learning can only be done with the accompaniment of mistakes. I know that the uncomfortable feeling means I'm growing, but I wish the feeling wasn't so strong.
One Day At A Time! 加油！
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