Many people are surprised to learn that I learned to speak Standard Mandarin in high school. They are even more surprised when they find out that my Standard Mandarin teacher is Italian-American! Ms. Zanicchi is my favorite teacher of all time because of her enthusiasm, grace, and warmth. It was because she loved Standard Mandarin that I slowly developed a love for it too.
It was Ms. Zanicchi who taught me Pinyin, the official romanization system for teaching Standard Mandarin Chinese in China that uses four diacritics to denote tones. She put heavy emphasis on the four tones. An example:
- first tone: mā 妈 (mother)
- second tone: má 蟆 (toad)
- third tone: mǎ 马 (horse)
- fourth tone: mà 骂 (scold)
The four tones are important because, in addition to making it easier to differentiate between words, it also allows for more melodious sentences. Shanghainese is spoken in pretty much all fourth tones which makes it sound harsh and often mistaken for anger. Many friends often asked me if I’m fighting with my parents when they hear me speaking in Shanghainese with them. I would look at them in surprise and explain that’s how Shanghainese sounds.
Ms. Zanicchi also highly emphasized the retroflex (pronounced with the tip of the tongue curled up toward the hard palate) sounds in Standard Mandarin Chinese. Usually, pinyin that starts with “ch”, “sh”, and “zh.”
The retroflex is important because it allows a new speaker to learn how to clearly pronounce Chinese characters with a retroflex and Chinese characters without. In Shanghainese where there is no retroflex, sān 三 (three) and shān 山 (mountain) sound exactly the same which sometimes leads to puzzlement and confusion.
Growing up, I often hear my maternal family who primarily spoke Shanghainese, pausing to explain which Chinese character they are referring to by writing out the character.
It was Ms. Zanicchi who planted the seed of my love for Standard Mandarin, and it was watching Chinese Fantasy Dramas/Historical Dramas in my mid-30s featuring my favorite voice actor Bian Jiang that caused the seed to sprout and bloom. Bian Jian’s natural voice is incredibly elegant, melodious, and gentle in a way that I’ve never encountered before. I would often watch mediocre dramas to hear Bian Jiang speak!
It’s because of Bian Jiang that I practiced speaking Standard Mandarin daily from 2017 onwards to today. Currently, I think I speak Standard Mandarin quite well as Standard Mandarin speakers cannot guess which part of China, my family is from. However, my Standard Mandarin does not yet sound elegant or melodious.
I think I also love Standard Mandarin because I don’t recall either Ms. Zanicchi or Bian Jiang ever yelling or getting antagonistic when they spoke Standard Mandarin. That is likely why I don’t recall ever yelling or getting antagonistic when I speak Standard Mandarin. For me, speaking Standard Mandarin is filled with happy memories.
I practice Standard Mandarin daily because I get great joy out of perfecting sentences that I previously had trouble with. I wouldn’t gain anything financial from speaking Standard Mandarin better nor is it practical as I speak English most of the time.
Maybe it’s precise because I love speaking Standard Mandarin for my personal enjoyment that I love it deeply.
P.S. I hope to start learning Spanish when I feel proficient in my Standard Mandarin speaking ability. I also have fond memories of my elementary school Spanish teacher Ms. Rodriguez. 😃
