Basic Dialogue at Faster Speeds
cinnamonfern
April 21, 2011, 02:30 PM posted in General DiscussionHey does anyone have any recommendations for lessons that have more basic dialogue that are at higher speeds (like "where are you from?", "what are you studying?", "where do you work?" in intermediate or upper intermediate lessons). I know these are things you learn basic newbie/elementary dialogues, but I find most of the time no one really speaks at the speed used in those lessons. So even though I theoretically know the phrases, when people say them, it is just too fast for me to understand. Sometimes they have to say it three times before it sinks through my thick brain.
So yeah, any recommendations (if they are out there), would be appreciated! :D I guess I could always listen to the Newbie lessons on double-speed. Haha.
bodawei
April 22, 2011, 02:49 AMHi cinnamonfern
I think I know what you mean. Yesterday I watched 观音山 (Buddha Mountain) at home. A film that is still in the cinemas so I guess I have a 胶片版 (telesync version), quality is very good.
Recommended for natural colloquial speech at a remarkably fast speed; to make matters worse the kids mumble. And sometimes the music overlays the dialogue so you can't hear the words.
So this is a story about the 蚁族 ('ant' tribe) - there was a lesson about this part of Chinese society last year. Youngsters who have left school, in this story they did not get the marks to get into university, living in groups on the fringe in the big city, eking out a living. Some great scenes when they jump on the top of freight trains, riding through the mountains (maybe in Sichuan, I'm not sure.)
cinnamonfern
April 22, 2011, 12:11 PMPretzellogic - Thanks for the recommendation on the lesson and the program. I'll have to take a look at them.
Bodawei - Hm...sounds worth checking out when I can access it online. Mumbling is so hard to understand! It sounds like this movie would be good practice!
pretzellogic
April 22, 2011, 02:30 AMTo answer your question:
"upper intermediate - when the taxi takes the long way"
i've only listened to about 20 or so upper intermediates, so i'm not the expert. I think you're right; the upper-intermediate lessons i've heard don't really focus on "hi, how are you" and simply said phrases. I'm suggesting the taxi lesson above because it separates the "fast" to "oh, that WAS fast!" I tried shadowing that lesson, and even when I know what's being said, its still said way too fast for me to shadow.
By the way, if you think the problem is that you need to listen to newbies at double speed, then that's probably a good idea. Transcribe is a great program to use to listen to lessons faster without changing the tones of voice when you play a lesson faster.