anyone interested in SHANGHAIHUA? 要不要学上海话？

magnus1977
 December 22, 2008, 08:42 PM posted in General Discussion

if you are interested in learning Shanghaihua for fun... contact me at magnus@mandmx.com

for the rest of you go here in 2009... there will be some surprises for you!

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magnus1977
 December 27, 2008, 01:38 AM

nobody is interested in studying Shanghainese???  I can't quite believe that.... NOBODY???

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RJ
 December 31, 2008, 06:43 PM

Hey nice job Magnus. I enjoyed the show. Keep em coming.

Happy New Year! I cant drink my champagne for many hours, but in China its 2009 and everybody is already drunk.

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Joachim
 December 27, 2008, 10:57 AM

不要学上海话。学习普通话已经难了。

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magnus1977
 December 29, 2008, 03:05 AM

good there are some people out there who are interested in studying Shanghaihua.  That's good to hear...

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changye
 December 29, 2008, 03:38 AM

I hear that Shanghainese dialect is rapidly changing (simplifing) phonetically, especially among young generation, probably partly because Putonghua has been gradually becoming dominant in the region.

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sebastian
 December 29, 2008, 05:34 AM

I am curious why anyone would want to learn Shanghainese (unless they are originally from Shanghai and still have relatives there). I have been in Shanghai only once, but it seemed to me that most people there are able to speak Mandarin quite well (accented of course, but usually quite fluent). Unlike Hong Kong where a significant part of the population are basically Cantonese monolinguals with some minimal Mandarin and/or English.

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chillosk
 December 27, 2008, 01:41 AM

I'm interested!!!!

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andrew_c
 December 29, 2008, 12:02 PM

Hi guys, I posted this Shanghainese lesson  a while back.  I think it got buried quickly without anyone noticing it.

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sebastian
 December 31, 2008, 03:01 AM

user42006, I understand that some people just learn languages for curiosity or fun (myself included), but I am more interested in practical benefits of learning Shanghainese nowadays, especially for expats.

Is Shanghainese still going strong enough that there is any advantage for expats to know it? As I said, I never lived in Shanghai or stayed there for a longer period, but I heard Shanghainese is disappearing quickly and used by the latest generation only to communicate with their elderly parents/grandparents and other old people whose Mandarin is not so good.

Is this true? Does anyone know what the actual situation is like?

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sebastian
 December 31, 2008, 03:04 AM

I just know that Cantonese is still going strong in Hong Kong. So far Beijing's propaganda did not succeed here and it seems the status of Cantonese in Hong Kong won't change within the next few generations. It is a totally different story in Guangzhou though where many young people (of Cantonese parents) have started talking Mandarin to each other and use Cantonese at home only.

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JasonSch
 December 31, 2008, 07:54 AM

@ Sebastian

Shanghainese is still strong as ever in the sense that it's a huge city and the large majority of its inhabitants speak Shanghainese in the home and amongst eachother. For that reason you hear it everyday. Of course if you want to communicate with someone you don't need it. Everyone can speak 普通话 but being able to understand what's being said around you is an advantage in itself I think.

Also, I'm no businessman myself, but I'd imagine, like mose places in China, it puts you more on the 'inside' doing business there.

As for the younger generation speaking it less, I bet that has happned a little due to more and more people from outside the city moving in, but I doubt it's substantially less.

 

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magnus1977
 December 31, 2008, 04:16 PM

Hey everyone.  happy 2009.

Here is the moment we've all been waiting for.  The very first Shanghaihua program.

click on the link and you'll get right to it.

 

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Budzul
 December 29, 2008, 10:55 AM

Rapidly changing?  Very unlikely!  Imagine English 'rapidly changing'!  It just doesn't happen.  Languages do change, of course, but I find it hard to believe that they change that quickly.  Why learn Shanghanese?  Because it's a valid language just like any other... and if you live in Shanghai you'll inevitably come across people that would rather speak in their native tongue rather than something imposed from Peking!