I am not learning Chinese, but I do listen to Mandarin music. Is my understanding of pronunciations correct?
I know that ch and q, sh and x, and zh and j sound similar. But in speech it sounds like they are pronounced differently. Q, x, and j are pronounced with the tip of your tongue behind your bottom row of teeth. And ch, sh, and zh are pronounced with the tip of your tongue curled towards the row of your mouth. This is what it sounds like to me. Is this correct? Is this true even when singing? How is r pronounced?
Thanks for your help.