pronunciation

Why doesn't the Rocket course have pronunciation practice. What I mean is I would like a visual display of the sounds written out (if possible). Some of the sounds are difficult and not every recording is the same. It would be nice to work on perfect pronunciation. Other than that I am enjoying my studies in Rocket. Slowly but surely. Randy

I think you can get pretty close to what you want by playing the phrase or word, then record it, then play the tutor, then play yours to compare. Hearing your voice played back shows you what you really sound like. Comparing graphs does not help me very much but quick succession of playing the tutor, recording, playing the tutor again, and playing me helps me get better and better.

Yes I do that and yes it helps. But it would be great to have something like yang yang Cheng does in U-Tube. She uses a word in chinese and compares it to a similar sound in english, etc. I'll probably keep looking for extra help as I continue my Rocket courses. Nothing wrong with the rocket course. I'm enjoying the struggle (haha) in trying to memorize it.

Well, we have Pinyin and it does follow a specific set of rules. The tough part is learning those rules and in many cases, the Chinese sounds are not much like what the English would imply. But once you learn it, it makes sense. You also have to learn and pay attention to the tones and that is something English speakers are very likely to pay too little attention early on. I think if you try to explain Chinese pronunciation in terms of English words, you are probably not paying enough attention to the tones. One phenomenon I have experienced is tone lock. I hear them say it, but when I repeat it, I just can't get the tones right. In many cases it feels very unnatural. I leave you with this phrase for your pronunciation pleasure. 我们出去吃晚餐。 Wǒmen chūqù chī wǎncān.