Answer Question
Tones...
I've a question about tones. I notice much of the time that the native speakers, talking at "normal speed" sound to me at first hearing like they have 2nd and 4th tomes reversed. But I think what I'm hearing might be that they emphasize the _start_ of the syllable more than the end of it. So, for a fourth tone, I'm hearing the relatively high start, more than the relatively low ending. For a second tone, I'm hearing the relatively low start more than the relatively high ending. By contrast when Sonia says things really slowly, one hears the entire progress of the tone throughout the syllable, and one's brain is left remembering the end of it more than the beginning, creating a kind of opposite impression. Does this seem reasonable, or am I just totally messed up!?