Ok, Lesson on a bus from Chinatown, where I shop constantly, as always accompanied by Buddy the Wonder Dog.
“Mm ho pa. Ho tseng.”
Ignoring the 5*5! permutations of incorrect tones I could produce (I think that’s right, 5 tones 5 places to fuck up), does that sound right?
Also, it’s Cantonese, right?
ETA: or is it 25! ?
If its Chinatown, its probably Cantonese. Remember that when you hit the tones wrong, you are not only mispronouncing the “word”, you are likely saying something else. This is very confusing, especially for older Chinese people.
When a Chinese person teaches you a Cantonese sentence and you say it back to them, it may seem to you that you are pronouncing it somewhat correctly, but the reality is that you are likely way off. It takes a long time and lots of practice to really “hear” Cantonese and even longer to pronounce it correctly.
I know your goal is to just casually learn a sentence or two for your visits to Chinatown, but, with all due respect, I wouldn’t even try unless you had a Chinese girlfriend or boyfriend that you were going to spend a lot of time with.
I’d just stick to perfecting “mm goy” (thank you). Remember to “swallow” the “mm”. Make the sound “mm” and then force it down into your throat. “Goy” is somewhat easier. Just say it in an even manner and you’ll likely hit the right tone.