Mandarin???

Question

I recently got a program that helped learn mandarin but they never explain how to spell words they say. How do you spell (and pronounce) speak, as in I can speak. I say: Wa hui Shwaa right or does speak satrt witha D sound???

Answer 1

Its spelt: Wo hui shuo, pronounced 'war hway shwar' (British pronunciation of 'r') , furthermore, because Mandarin is a tonal language, Wo has a 'v' looking symbol above the 'o' therefore its tone should start normal, go low and then back to normal, (pronunciation by tone is quite hard to explain!). hui is spoken normally and shuo has a horizontal line above the 'o' and should therefore be pronounced in a kind of long, dull kind of tone (if that makes any sense!)
And if you want to know the charcters, they are: 我会说
Hope that helps!

[added later: ignore the one thumb down, this is an accurate explanation]

Answer 2

wo hui shuo...pronounce like whoa whey shoe o....I assume you mean "I can speak" ...next word putonghua...pronounce like poot ong wha....common peoples language=standard chinese.
withoutme above..is using the rr sound at the end of words which is common in beijing area.
If you want a good little book about chinese language...it does not teach you chinese but rather teaches you what the language is..It has a good section on pronunciation in it..."The Chinese Language"--Its history and current usage...by Daniel Kane....It explains how most chinese sounds are not the same as in english and actually shows you how to make the chinese vowel sounds and initials by (for example) holding your throat to feel you larynx working.

Answer 3

wo3 hui4 shuo1 我會說 (Traditional); 我会说 (Simplified) The numbers here indicate the tones.

Below is my description of the pronunciation:

The "o" sound is kind of like the "au" in the English word "caught", but it is a little rounder, almost like the British way to pronounce "au".

The "i" sound in "hui" is nothing like the English "i." Instead, it is pronounced like the "ay" in the English word "hay," but it's a little shorter.

When saying the "sh" sound, remember to curl up your tongue a little bit.

As for the rest of the letters, they are pronounced the same as in English.

Answer 4

hmmmm. i've taken chinese for 4 years. what are you trying to say? what are you using to translate wayde jiles (sorry, i don't know how to spell it) i looks to me like your trying to say "wo he shui" or i drink water?