PIRF 02

"Do you know what this is all about? Do you know why we’re here? To be out. This is “out.” And “out” is one of the single most enjoyable experiences of life." J. Seinfeld Thank you, @Alex Trubnikov and @Gulya Karimova , for the great walk across the city we had today! It was wonderful being out together, enjoying the day, having some laughs, and creating great memories. This is what it’s all about! ❤️

这份笔记送给同样“耳朵被中文惯坏”的你 事情是这样的： 几个月前，Coach Lan 在一次 AMA 上直接点出我的 /ʒ/ sound 有问题。我当时一脸懵——因为我根本听不出来自己错在哪，也听不出正确发音和我的发音有什么区别。 后来 Coach Shane 也跟我说，我需要继续练习 /ʒ/。 两位教练都说了同一个问题，但我耳朵就是分辨不了。那种感觉真的很沮丧——你知道自己错了，但你不知道错在哪里，因为听起来都差不多。 于是我开始死磕这个音。练了很久，今天终于又参加了 Coach Lan 的课程。课堂上我特别注意听其他同学的发音，结果发现——原来有好多中国学生都卡在同一个地方！ 不只是我，是“我们”。 我意识到，这不是我的问题，而是中文母语者共通的盲区（因为中文里根本没有 /ʒ/ 这个音）。所以我把这段时间的踩坑经历和练习方法复盘整理了出来，专门针对 /ʒ/、/dʒ/、/j/ 这三个最容易混淆的音。 我不是权威，也不是老师，我只是一个亲身试验过这些方法的小白鼠。 希望对和我一样卡在这个音上的你有一点点帮助。 也欢迎 Coach Lan 和 Coach Shane 看到后指教和纠正——你们的批评是我进步的最大动力 🙏 A few months ago, Coach Lan called out my /ʒ/ sound during an AMA session. I was completely lost – because I literally couldn't hear what I was doing wrong, nor could I tell the difference between my pronunciation and the correct one. Then later, Coach Shane told me I needed to keep practicing my /ʒ/ as well. Two coaches pointed out the SAME issue, but my ears just couldn't distinguish it. It's such a frustrating feeling – you know you're wrong, but you don't know WHERE you're wrong, because they all sound the same to you. So I went all in on this sound. After months of practice, I joined Coach Lan's class again today. This time, I paid extra attention to other students' pronunciation – and guess what? SO MANY Chinese learners are stuck on the EXACT same spot! It's not just me – it's "us." That's when I realized: this isn't my personal problem, it's a common blind spot for Mandarin native speakers (because /ʒ/ simply doesn't exist in Chinese). So I compiled my struggles and practice methods into this cheat sheet, specifically for the three most confusing sounds: /ʒ/, /dʒ/, and /j/. I'm not an authority, nor a teacher – I'm just a guinea pig who tested these methods on myself. I hope this helps even a little bit for those of you stuck on the same sound. And Coach Lan and Coach Shane, if you're seeing this – please feel free to correct me! Your feedback is what pushes me to improve 🫶 @Shane Peterson @Coach Lan

On my second day in Hong Kong, the hostel receptionist yesterday was a middle-aged woman—the only staff member on duty. She was a mainland Chinese woman with a strong Northeastern accent who spoke very quickly, and she was likely the first person in Hong Kong who could converse with me in fluent Mandarin. She had a bold and straightforward personality. It was nearly impossible to reach the hostel's management directly. I had added their WeChat account from an advertisement posted at the Leedon Building, and only after quite some time did I manage to get in touch with the person in charge. I booked a room and transferred 380 HKD directly to him. What puzzled me a bit was that his WeChat account was not real-name verified, so I couldn't transfer money directly to him; instead, I had to scan another person's QR code. I speculated this might have been to avoid transaction fees when converting mainland WeChat funds to Hong Kong dollars, or perhaps he wasn't the actual owner. I only sent the money after inspecting the room. It was tiny, fitting only a single bed and a small bathroom, but it met my needs for a shower and a place to sleep—good enough! After taking a shower and sleeping, I felt very comfortable. Coupled with being exhausted from walking all day, I slept quite well. The rooms are often fully booked, and prices go up on weekends. According to another auntie working there, couples often rent the rooms for just two hours without staying overnight. I woke up early, charged my phone and power bank, and used the free Wi-Fi to download several apps that are unavailable on the mainland. After having breakfast at McDonald's, I returned to the room planning to check out around 9:00 AM. However, no staff members were in sight. Coming from mainland China, I was used to finding a front desk clerk to check out, but I later learned that people in Hong Kong generally don't start work until after 10:00 AM. I called the auntie from the previous night, and she told me to just pull the door shut when leaving, adding that their guests rarely engage in bad behavior. After a brief chat, I left, intending to explore the financial district, which also opened at 10:00 AM. I looked into local banks and securities firms; Hong Kong is indeed highly developed in finance, with banks everywhere and queues packed early in the morning.

the recording of PIRF 22～