The Phonetic Errors of Korean students in Learning Chinese

Proper pronunciation is key in language learning. So, today, we focus on some common challenges faced by Korean learners of Mandarin and offer some solutions.

1．Consonants

A). The two sounds "p" and "f" are confusing, such as "eat" (chī fàn) read as (chī pàn), "fat" (fā pàng) read as (pā pàng) or (fā fàng) and so on.

B). "Z, c, s" "and zh ch sh" are easily confused, such as "sleep" (shuì jiào) read as (suì jiào), passport "(hù zhào) is read as (hù zào), and get up (qǐ chuáng) is read as (qǐ cuáng).

C). "R" and "l" are easy to confuse, such as "Japan" (rì běn), is read as (1ì běn).

D). "F" and "h" are also easily confused, as in "like" (xǐ huān) but read as (xǐ fuān).

E). "X" and "j" are easy to mispronounce, such as "school" (xué xiào), read as (xué jiào).

2. Vowel problems

A). When "j, q, x, y" and "u" are together, the "ü" tone is always followed a long tail of "i." such as: "post office," "board" (jú), read as (júii), "Chinese" "language" (yǔ) read as (yǔii).

B). "E" is often followed by "o," and read as "eo." Such as: "eat" (chīle) read as (chīleo), "who" (shuí de) read into (shuí deo).

C). Different from Chinese, Korean is a phonetic language. So sometimes the last syllable of a word sounds like it is connected with the first syllable of the following word so it cancels the first tone of the following word. such For example, "coupon" (pronounced: HUAN YIONG, meaning: welcome ) can be read as (HUANIONG). By this "negative transfer" effect many Korean students often make pronunciation errors. Other examples include "Chinese" (hàn yǔ, read as (hà nnǔii), and "very good" (hěn hǎo), read as (hěn nǎo) and so on.

3. Some words in Korean and Chinese sound similar

"Cinema" (Korean pronunciation: YIONG HUA GUAN) is often referred to as "diàn yǐng guǎn, " and "restaurant" (Korean pronunciation: XIGDAGN) often referred to as "shí tang."

4. Tone problems

Tones are the most troublesome aspect of learning Mandarin for Korean learners since Korean is a silent tone language. So no matter the tones, they will not affect the meaning of the word. The main problem is that the correct pitch of Chinese is not good, such as: the Chinese first tone is 55, most Korean students will read the value of 55 into 33 values, such as "(55) (33), the sound is not high enough; the second tone is 35, tone is in the tone, a lot of Korean students often read middle tone, such as "Han" (35) read into (33); the value of 214, tone type is down, the Korean students often read into 21 values, but down, not up to go; to sound 51 values, many Korean students often read into 31 values. dé guó(35) read into the dé guó (33) .In general, the impact of the Korean language "Negative transfer" affect Korean students in the study of Chinese pronunciation, the overall pronunciation is not the cadence of Chinese feeling, mostly tends to low-profile.

The contrast between Korean and Mandarin makes it difficult for Korean learners. So finding a good teacher is the best way to overcome learning challenges.