Beijing or Shanghai?

dagah
 July 31, 2008, 11:27 AM posted in General Discussion

Hey everyone, I have some question I'd like to ask.. I want to go to china next year and stay there for like 1-2 year or something to learn mandarin. I've heard that Beijing is better if you want to learn mandarin, but is there really that big difference?

I've just been to shanghai for a month, and really liked it there. But Beijing kinda sucks because it's so polluted. And if I go to Shanghai I get to stay with the host family I lived with that month, which is great.

What do you guys think? Do you learn mandarin alot quicker in Beijing than in Shanghai? Is it a bit more waste of time to go to Shanghai instead of Beijing to learn mandarin?

Thanks for any advice/tips in advance!

Dag

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matthiask
 July 31, 2008, 11:32 AM

If you can stay with a host family, you should choose for this option (although there are lots of people with bad experiences, and if you get the same problem, you should immediately inform your organization team, as they can help you into a new family). From what I know, the difference between "shanghainese" and "beijingnese" is more like an minor accent. (they dont distinguish very well between 'ng' and 'n' sounds)

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dagah
 July 31, 2008, 12:05 PM

Hey,
Thanks for the reply!

Actually I think the shanghai mandarin dialect sounds better(more clean) than the beijing mandarin because they dont put all the r's after the words.. but my concern is the shanghai language(not mandarin) which everyone uses like on subways, to eachother and stuff. It's like totally different from mandarin. I think it was a bit confusing and dont know how much this will hold back the mandarin learning.. When you talk mandarin to people, they allways respond to you in mandarin, but.. I dont know.

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maxiewawa
 July 31, 2008, 01:26 PM

If you listen to the ChinesePod staff's accent you can get an idea of the general accent that is spoken by most young people in Shanghai. Quite neutral; they stick to how the pinyin is spelt.

In Beijing the accent is quite outrageous, picture the Chinese equivalent of the ship's captain in the Simpsons. You don't want to end up talking like that!