User Comments - tanler

Posted on: Experiencing Agricultural Life

Speed of Spoken Chinese

I believe that (some) native Chinese speakers speak the language very fast for two basic reasons. Firstly, they are merely imitating other local speakers, and second, the speed of language is often influenced by rapid industrial and technological change in a society. It is most likely that one hundred years ago, the language was spoken more slowly. I will also add that as I have lived in different countries, the pace of my own English has slowed down, because I am consciously trying to communicate more clearly, whether the listener is a native English speaker or not.

Posted on: Buying a Book

My response to this is that contractions are very common in spoken Chinese. The "了" and the "一" often disappear. However, I think the missing syllable in this lesson was an oversight. At the same time, your Chinese teacher should make the student aware of the various contractions possible.