I've done it - my first Mandarin podcast, and undoubtedly the strangest podcast I've ever recorded. It's very strange to be talking to myself, and to be asking if my pronunciation is correct and not getting any reply! I decided to change the pitch of the second voice in the conversations to make it clear it is a conversation, but I'm not sure if there's too much distortion and therefore if it's worthwhile doing that.
Anyway, I've read out two conversations from previous entries on my blog. They are as follows:
Conversation 1
A :: 你好 nĩ hão
B :: 你好吗？ nǐ hǎo ma?
A :: 很好。 你好吗？Hěn hǎo. Nǐ hǎo ma?
B :: 很好。你是中国人吗？Hěn hǎo. Nǐ shì zhōng guó rén?
A :: 不是。我是美国人。 Bú shì. Wǒ shì měi guó rén.
Translation
A :: Hello
B :: How are you?
A :: I'm well. How are you?
B :: Very well. Are you Chinese?
A :: No (I'm not). I'm American.
Conversation 2
A: 你好吗？
B: 我很好，谢谢。你好吗？你忙吗？
A: 对。我很忙。我很类。
A: nǐ hǎo ma?
B: wǒ hěn hǎo, xiè xie. nǐ hǎo ma? nǐ máng ma?
A: duì. wǒ hěn mang. wǒ hěn lèi.
A: How are you?
B: I'm fine, thanks. How are you? Are you busy?
A: Yes. I'm very busy. I'm very tired.
By the way, the music is original - I've been experimenting with the World Music Garageband jam pack and I'm quite pleased with how it sounds!
So, an appeal to any native speakers or teachers out there - how am I doing?!
Downloads:
Virtual Mandarin Podcast - 01
Subscribe to the podcast
Virtual Mandarin at the iTMS
Downloaded to listen to on the train on my way to the MFLE meeting, so looking forward to greeting you in Mandarin before S of M!
Posted by: Lynne | Thursday, May 11, 2006 at 10:05 PM