Is pinyin `sh` of 什 the same as SHampoo Alright, I'm pretty sure it is not.

sh in pinyin is a [ʂ] in IPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_retroflex_sibilant), while sh in shampoo in English, is a [ʃ] in IPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_palato-alveolar_sibilant).

Although it sounds pretty close and as a near-native speaker of Mandarin Chinese I use the SH in shampoo to pronounce [sh] in pinyin. Still I don't think the listed entries in the wikipedia is correct on this one. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Transcription_into_Chinese)

So what do you think? I'm near-native in Mandarin Chinese but no professional linguist.
The problem is than pinyin x also sounds "like" an English sh. I'm pre-embryonic at Chinese but I've been an armchair linguist for years and I'm in China trying to pick up Mandarin right now.

Both Pinyin sh and x are different from English sh.

In English sh your tongue is at the ridge just behind your upper teeth.

In Pinyin sh your tongue bends backwards at the tip toward your palate. It curls upward.

In Pinyin x the middle of your tongue is at your palate and the tip of the tongue is at or near your bottom teeth.

But even knowing this and usually being good at mimicking speech sounds I must get it wrong constantly because people don't understand most of my efforts at Chinese. Also as I move from place to place I'm sure people don't all pronounce these Chinese sounds alike.



So what you might find is that maybe many Chinese hear your "English sh" as a "Pinyin sh" but perhaps some others might find that to them they hear a "Pinyin x", or hear a strange sound they don't immediately associate with either Chinese sound.