In everyday English, “Mandarin” refers to Standard Mandarin.

(The official language of Mainland China and Taiwan)

But Mandarin is also a group of related dialects, spoken mostly in northern China.

Mandarin Dialects — a.k.a. “The Northern dialects” 北方话; běifānghuà

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese

Now, as you may know…

Standard Mandarin is based on the Beijing Mandarin Dialect.

And this leads some learners to expect that the average Beijinger — or native speaker of a related dialect — speaks Standard Mandarin without an accent!

So, does reality meet expectation..? (Press play)

BONUS: DOWNLOAD A SUMMARY (MP3 + PDF) BELOW THIS VIDEO

Features of "Northern Accented" Chinese (from the video)

Extensive use of Erhua (儿化)

Erhua is the addition of an "-r" sound at the end of a syllable. (e.g. hua > huar)

This occurs in Standard Mandarin, but it's much more extensively used in casual northern-accented Mandarin.

Examples:

Without Erhua	With Erhua
dòng huà piān 动画片 Cartoon	dòng huà piānr 动画片儿 Cartoon
dǒng shì de 懂事的 Sensible	dǒng shìr de 懂事儿的 Sensible
zán zhè méi dì tiě. 咱这没地铁。 We don't have subway here.	zán zhèr méi dì tiě. 咱这儿没地铁。 We don't have subway here.
chī wán fàn, qù shàng bān. 吃完饭，去上班。 Finish eating and go to work.	chī wán fàn, qù shàng bānr. 吃完饭，去上班儿。 Finish eating and go to work.

In fast speech... /zh/, /ch/, /sh/ and /z/, /c/, /s/ can change to /r/

Examples:

Standard Mandarin Chinese	Fast Northern Chinese Accent
sì shí duō suì. 四十多岁。 40+ years old. tā sì shí duō suì. 她四十多岁。 She's 40+ years old.	sì rí duō suì. 四十多岁。 40+ years old. tā sì rí duō suì. 她四十多岁。 She's 40+ years old.
bù zhī dào. 不知道。 (I) don't know. wǒ bù zhī dào tā shì nǎr rén 我不知道她是哪儿人。 I don't know where she comes from.	bù rī dào. 不知道。 (I) don't know. wǒ bù rī dào tā shì nǎr rén 我不知道她是哪儿人。 I don't know where she comes from.
duō shǎo qián？多少钱？ How much? zhèr duō shǎo qián？这儿多少钱？ How much is this?	duō rǎo qián？多少钱？ How much? zhèr duō rǎo qián？这儿多少钱？ How much is this?
mǎ shàng jiù dào. 马上就到。 (I) will be there any minute. wǒ mǎ shàng jiù dào. 我马上就到。 I will be there any minute.	mǎ ràng jiù dào. 马上就到。 (I) will be there any minute. wǒ mǎ ràng jiù dào. 我马上就到。 I will be there any minute.
wǒ gào sù nǐ. 我告诉你。 I'm telling you. wǒ gào sù nǐ， zhèr diàn yǐngr lǎo hǎo kàn le. 我告诉你，这儿电影儿老好看了。 I'm telling you that this movie is amazing.	wǒ gào rù nǐ. 我告诉你。 I'm telling you. wǒ gào rù nǐ， zhèr diàn yǐngr lǎo hǎo kàn le. 我告诉你，这儿电影儿老好看了。 I'm telling you that this movie is amazing.

BONUS: DOWNLOAD A SUMMARY (MP3 + PDF) BELOW THIS VIDEO

In fast speech… /j/, /q/, /x/ can change to /y/

Examples:

Standard Mandarin Chinese	Fast Northern Chinese Accent
xī hóng shì chǎo jī dàn. 西红柿炒鸡蛋。 A dish of tomato fried eggs. lǎo bǎn， lái yī fènr xī hóng shì chǎo jī dàn. 老板，来一份儿西红柿炒鸡蛋。 Boss, get me a dish of tomato fried eggs.	xī hóng shì chǎo yī dàn. 西红柿炒鸡蛋。 A dish of tomato fried eggs. lǎo bǎn， lái yī fènr xī hóng shì chǎo yī dàn. 老板，来一份儿西红柿炒鸡蛋。 Boss, get me a dish of tomato fried eggs.
gǎn jǐn qù. 赶紧去。 Hurry up! / Go quickly!	gǎn yǐn qù. 赶紧去。 Hurry up! / Go quickly!

/w/ pronounced similar to an English /v/

Examples:

Standard Mandarin Chinese	Northern Chinese Accent
wèn 问 To ask	vèn 问 To ask
wén 闻 To smell	vén 闻 To smell
nǐ xǐ huān mǎi dōng xī ma？ wèi shén me？你喜欢买东西吗？为什么？ Do you like shopping? Why?	nǐ xǐ huān mǎi dōng xī ma？ vèi shén me？你喜欢买东西吗？为什么？ Do you like shopping? Why?
fā wēi xìn. 发微信。 Send messages on Wechat.	fā vēi xìn. 发微信。 Send messages on Wechat.
tōng cháng hé péng yǒu chū qù wánr. 通常和朋友出去玩儿。 I usually go out and have fun with my friends.	tōng cháng hé péng yǒu chū qù vánr. 通常和朋友出去玩儿。 I usually go out and have fun with my friends.

BONUS: DOWNLOAD A SUMMARY (MP3 + PDF) BELOW THIS VIDEO

/o/ pronounced similar to /e/

Examples:

Standard Mandarin Chinese	Northern Chinese Accent
bó shì 博士 doctor / Ph.D.	bé shì 博士 doctor / Ph.D.
nǐ men zhōu mò dǎ suàn zuò shén me？你们周末打算做什么？ What are you going to do this weekend?	nǐ men zhōu mè dǎ suàn zuò shén me？你们周末打算做什么？ What are you going to do this weekend?

Strong nasal pronunciation of /ing/ (and other syllables that end with "ng")

Example:

yìng

硬

Hard / firm

Extensive use of the "Neutral tone"

The second syllable in many two-syllable words changes to a "neutral tone" (e.g. wǎn shàng > wǎn shang).

Examples:

Without Neutral Tone	With Neutral Tone
wǎn shàng 晚上 evening nǐ zuó tiān wǎn shàng zuò le shén me？你昨天晚上做了什么？ What did you do last night?	wǎn shang 晚上 evening nǐ zuó tiān wǎn shang zuò le shén me？你昨天晚上做了什么？ What did you do last night?

BONUS: DOWNLOAD A SUMMARY (MP3 + PDF) BELOW THIS VIDEO

Tones change for emphasis

Examples:

Standard Mandarin Chinese	Northern Chinese Accent
hái 还 still hái shuō huà！ ān jìng！还说话！安静！ (You're) still talking. Be quiet!	hài 还 still hài shuō huà！ ān jíng！还说话！安静！ (You're) still talking. Be quiet!
bié 别 Don't bié shuō le！别说了！ Don't talk! / Stop talking! bié gēn wǒ tán liàn ài， zán men jié hūn ba! 别跟我谈恋爱，咱们结婚吧！ Don't just date me, let's get married!	biè 别 Don't biè shuō le！别说了！ Don't talk! / Stop talking! biè gēn wǒ tán liàn ài， zán men jié hūn ba! 别跟我谈恋爱，咱们结婚吧！ Don't just date me, let's get married!
dé dào 得到 to get dé dào xìng fú. 得到幸福。 To get happiness.	dě dào 得到 to get dě dào xìng fú. 得到幸福。 To get happiness.
hǎo xiē 好些 A lot hǎo xiē gè dú yīn dōu bù yī yàng. 好些个读音都不一样。 A lot of words are pronounced differently.	háo xiē 好些 A lot háo xiē gè dú yīn dōu bù yī yàng. 好些个读音都不一样。 A lot of words are pronounced differently.
gěi wǒ chū qù！给我出去！ Get out!	gěi wǒ chù qu！给我出去！ Get out! or gěi wǒ chǔ qu！给我出去！ Get out!
xí fur 媳妇儿 Wife wǒ xí fur shì běi jīng rén. 我媳妇儿是北京人。 My wife is Beijingnese.	xǐ fur 媳妇儿 Wife wǒ xǐ fur shì běi jīng rén. 我媳妇儿是北京人。 My wife is Beijingnese.