Chinese with listening for non-native speakers; the whole poem made out of shi

Test Preparation SAT Subject Test Preparation
1

Posted partially as a humorous distraction, but mainly out of amazement at phonetic complexity of the language:
(Link‎ - [“Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vExjnn_3ep4‎)‎.)
Transliteration.
« Shī Shì shí shī shǐ »
Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì.
Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì.
Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.
Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
Shì shì shì shì.

Edit: corrected link

2

@gcf101 that’s mostly because of the tones of Chinese (and that there are many words with the same sound/tones that mean different things).

For example 我要睡觉 (wo3 yao4 shui4jiao4) and 我要水饺 (wo3 yao4 shui3jiao3 except shui3 becomes shui2, a rising tone) mean completely different things (“I want to sleep” and “I want steamed dumplings”). So get those right before going to a Chinese restaurant!

3

@MITer94 It’s probably not the worst faux pas a tone deaf speaker may commit at the Chinese restaurant.

4

@gcf101 there are worse errors you can make…(for example, 大飞机 vs. 打飞机). They are pronounced da4fei1ji1 and da3fei1ji1.

I am not a native Chinese speaker but others can chime in with other interesting things.

5

@MITer94 Asked somebody today to translate your examples. What can I say - am I glad it was not a girl! :open_mouth: Should’ve suspected something with a higher rating that PG-13. :smiley:
Maybe it would be prudent to close this thread…

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@gcf101 Okay then, perhaps I should probably stick to PG stuff :slight_smile:

Here’s another cute tongue twister I just learned:
红凤凰，黄凤凰，粉红凤凰，粉凤凰飞。
hong2 feng4huang2, huang2 feng4huang2, fen3hong2 feng4huang2, fen3 feng4huang2 fei1
Red phoenix, yellow phoenix, pink phoenix, pink phoenix flies

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Now, getting a bit more serious: since colleges have no way of determining whether an SAT Subject Test Language US-based test taker is a native speaker or not, does it make sense for a non-native speaker to take the Chinese Language test?
According to [The College Board 2014 Total Group Profile Report](https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/sat/TotalGroup-2014.pdf), 76% score in 750-800 range.
Only the Korean/Listening test takers have a higher percent (81%) in that score range, followed by Italian (46%), Japanese/Listening (43%), and Spanish/Listening (31%).

8

Native speakers average 779 on the SAT Chinese, while non-native speakers average less than 700.

Fairly or not, if you have a Chinese last name and take the SAT Chinese, you will be assumed to be a native speaker.

9

There is no way to determine language fluency based on the last name of a test taker - it can swing both ways: a student with an “american” last name could have lived in China for many years, and a Chinese last name bearer might be a third generation Chinese-American without much (or any) exposure to the Chinese language.

The question remains: what is the point of competing against native speakers, who are the majority among foreign language test takers, if high scores are 1. hard to achieve , and 2. may not have much weight anyways.