@sofiya399 Honestly? O.o You’re the first person I met who thinks so. Maybe it’s the accents that we’re accustomed to then?
@christina_ Yeah, Cantonese is a totally different language. The only way I understand them is by reading the Chinese subtitles at the bottom. Same goes for the other Chinese dialects, which might be a point to note when watching some of the Taiwanese dramas. Some of the older characters have a tendency to talk in Taiwanese.
As for dramas that are action-inclined, watch all the Jin Yong wuxia adaptations! Like Legend of the Condor Heroes, The Return of the Condor Heroes, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, The Smiling Proud Wanderer! I grew up on these Sadly, most of these don’t seem available/aren’t subbed on Viki But given their popularity, you might be able to find them with English subs on other websites.
But there’s still the very first Chinese Paladin (it’s filled chock-full with hot actors and actresses ), the Journey of Flower (it’s tragic though), Prince of Lan Ling (also tragic). Oh no, I just realised that all these I’m recommending are all tragic, but they are all REALLY GOOD. Err… another one is the current Singing All Along. It’s looking really good, with cool fighting, and while there might be lots of angst along the way, I can definitely promise you a happy ending (because that’s what it was in the history books).
Oh yes, another series you can check out is the Taiwanese K.O. series (K.O. One, The X-Family, K.O.3an Guo, etc.) Actually, that one’s “semi-action”, more Power Ranger posing kind, but it’s really funny (and has way too many lame and retarded jokes), but yeah, I sometimes rewatch it when I’m stressed and need to have a good laugh.
I don’t mind tragic ends, they are better than obligatory happy ends.
I think that Taiwan and Hong Kong produce modern day action dramas and China specialises in period or mythical ones.
That’s true. But I personally don’t like tragic endings, they make me bawl my eyes out, but history is tragic
Actually in the 1990s and 2000s, Hong Kong had quite a few period dramas which were quite good too. And a number of them were quite cheerful too. One of my favourites was War of the In-Laws. War and Beauty was good too, but the cat-fighting was WOAH! But these days, I guess they’re being edged out by the Chinese big budget productions? But with Chinese big budget productions, you have to be quite selective, because there are some which just throw buckets of money into getting big name actors and actresses and fancy costumes and sets, but the plot is total rubbish and the costumes totally ridiculous.
I find the Taiwanese have a heavier accent as well. Once they speak, I would generally know that they are Taiwanese.
Also, when Taiwanese artists managed to break into the Chinese market, they tend to “tone down” their accents. Well, even mainland China artists would tone down their local accents and speak the more acceptable form of TV accent.
Edit: For Aaron Yan’s sake, I hope he can break into the mainland China market soon, else his career would stay stagnant in Taiwan. The mainland China market is where the money and popularity is…
Just like @dudie I also sometimes try to watch Korean drama’s with Korean subs or without to try learning. Sometimes I also watch other language drama’s with Korean subs (if they’re available) to learn to read fast enough.
As for Chinese, I’m learning it as well, but I don’t watch Chinese drama’s too often. You made this topic about Chinese listening and maybe you already can read Chinese very well, but if you want to improve your Chinese reading skills as well, there is this website www.chinesereadingpractice.com to improve your reading level. Hope this is helpful in any way.
Ahh, perhaps. I grew up with little exposure to Mainlanders, my main exposure of Mainland Chinese was through periodical dramas (My Fair Princess and all), which mostly use the less accented Chinese. It used to be that when I heard Mainlanders talk, I would need a few minutes to figure out if they are actually speaking Chinese or whether they’re talking in their regional dialect. It’s better now, because the Chinese are EVERYWHERE, so I’m more accustomed to hearing their accent now.
Nope. I know almost all Chinese dramas were dubbed. What I meant was in variety shows. Mainland China has a lot of variety shows now and they invited many China and Taiwanese guests. Generally, they speak very clearly on TV aka “the TV accent”. But when you switch to a Taiwanese TV channel, the accent is a distinct Taiwanese accent.
Basically (almost?) all Mainland periodicals are dubbed. The modern ones less so though. Although, if the actor is from Hong Kong, then modern or not, they’ll be dubbed. But some of the voice actors are really good, like one of my favourite Hong Kong actors, Dicky Cheung, he gets the same Chinese voice actor in all his dubbed dramas. So when I was young, I always thought that he spoke Chinese perfectly, and only realised that he was dubbed later.
Many countries substitute voices on TV and I really really dislike it.
I find that an actor’s voice quality and colour are an acting tool equal to the face and posture.
I feel cheated when I realize that the voice I’m listening belongs to someone who isn’t acting the part. I don’t care how good their voice is.
If the actor’s voice doesn’t match the role, the production should simply hire another actor!
I won’t comment on dubbing whole dramas in another language. I hate it with a passion, because I think it takes away 50% of the director’s concept, but I understand that some people don’t have access to subtitles (illiterate, blind etc)
Oi, I’m totally off topic!
I am like you. I hate dubbing with a passion. But it’s also that we were raised that way.
I should explain for the rest of the people reading this that In Greece films are never dubbed - except for those for young children and for voiceovers in documentaries.
Whereas in France and Italy dubbing is the norm. And, as the dubbing actors are not as many as the actual actors in the whole wide world, and they cannot be expected to earn a living while waiting for “their” actor to release a new film, it often happens that the same voice can be heard on two or three or more actors. Which - at least when it’s the main lead - is weird. I cannot imagine who had the guts to dub Marlon Brando or Orson Welles or Meryl Streep!
But, people in those countries are very used to it, and only a few cinemas (in Italy they are called with the French expression “D’art et d’essai”, which means artistic/experimental) show original language films.
That is also, in my opinion, the reason why French and Italians are so bad in learning other languages. They have basically no exposure to them. Of course nowadays the Internet is changing this, but still movies and TV have everything in the local language.
Now we shall have to bear Lee Jong Suck dubbed by “somebody” in the Chinese film “Jade Lover” and Jung Yonghwa (who has a lovely speaking voice) in “Cooking up a storm”.
With the popularity of Korean actors in China, this was to be expected. I hope that soon these actors will hurry to learn Chinese!
@keikin
Strange, I had the impression that variety shows are more “free” than other productions, that they are right behind reality tv.
A nice thing when reaching an advanced level in languages, is to be able to tell basic accents apart (e.g. British/ American, Canadian french etc). I rely on TV for standard accents, but in a realistic content. I mean, I expect to hear a standard language but not feel that I’m listening to the High School of Speech Training alumni!
Haha. I get it too. Cause I absolutely refuse to watch any of those dramas that dub into another language.
But for the period dramas, some of it can’t be helped, because like in big war scenes and such, where there’s a thousand things going on, it’s almost impossible to hear any dialogue. And if they do it outdoors, it’s quite hard to control for any external noises (the sound of wind, bird calling, etc.)
Also, from what I’ve read from online discussions is that some of the actors/actresses have really strong accents or their real voice simply just sound like shit. The other reason is that some of them cannot remember their lines? That seems downright unprofessional to me, but apparently some of them just mouth jibberish and let the voice actors do the job. And it’s cheaper that way too, instead of having to repeat the take over and over until they get their lines right. I guess you can excuse them in the sense that the Chinese actors’ filming schedule can be absolutely crazy. For Hollywood films and such, it’s kind of like a 9-5 job, in the sense that they have regular hours. But for the Chinese one, the hours are absolutely crazy, and they might be on set 20 hours per day, or even have to film for 2-3 days without any rest kind. So they don’t really have time to memorize the script?
Actually, as much as I’d like to hear their original voices, and as much as I hate dubbing, I really hope that the Korean actors will still be dubbed when they act in Chinese dramas. Otherwise, it’ll be hell for the Chinese subbers, especially if no Chinese captions are provided. It’s hard enough figuring out the various Chinese accents, but to have to figure out Korean-Chinese accents too? The horror!
Sadly, most of these don’t seem available/aren’t subbed on Viki 
But given their popularity, you might be able to find them with English subs on other websites.
), the Journey of Flower (it’s tragic though), Prince of Lan Ling (also tragic). Oh no, I just realised that all these I’m recommending are all tragic, but they are all REALLY GOOD. Err… another one is the current Singing All Along. It’s looking really good, with cool fighting, and while there might be lots of angst along the way, I can definitely promise you a happy ending (because that’s what it was in the history books).
