How to Speak Shanghainese

You may have been surprised on arrival in Shanghai to learn that no-one actually speaks mandarin there. Sure, the locals may call their language Chinese, but it's a bit of a national in-joke at this point. After a few thousand years of frustrated attempts to get directions out of the Pudong New District, no-one else in the country believes them anymore. Which is why it's a good idea to pick up a little Shanghainese if you're planning to be in town. And that's where this podcast comes in.

Most of our advanced shows are entirely in standard mandarin. In this one we use the standard dialect to teach some of the basics of the Shanghai dialect. Join us and in addition to showing the difference between standard mandarin and Shanghai-accented mandarin very clearly, we'll teach you some of the basic phrases you'll need know to lubricate your way through the Pearl of the Orient in the language she prefers to speak.

ckw4y

said on

September 11, 2009

谢谢. 我喜欢这个课

I like this style of podcast where everything is in Mandarin. I'm nowhere near an Advanced level, but I was still able to follow about 90% of what was going on and it was a really useful listening exercise.

barrister

said on

September 11, 2009

陕西话 next so I can speak to my Ayi, please!

Echo

said on

September 11, 2009

@ckw4y,

嗨，欢迎你！ Welcome to the site!

谢谢！

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com

magnus

said on

September 11, 2009

COOL! We love Shanghainese. She speaks pretty well. Very clear. If you want to learn more Shanghainese you can always come to our site! http://www.mandmx.com we have Shanghainese podcasts!

trevelyan

said on

September 12, 2009

Great site magnus!

one-click link for the rest of us: http://www.mandmx.com

paglino9

said on

September 15, 2009

I want to throw out a link to a really interesting series on the Chinese Economy, by one of my favorite China watchers and journalist, James Fallows. Fallows spent the last 3 years (2 in Beijing) covering all facets of Chinese life and writing great articles.

China first came on my radar a few years ago when I was doing an Economics undergraduate degree. I had a habit of reading the newspaper at my valet job to pass by the hours, and I would constantly see articles in the business section about Chinese manufacturing this, or environmental concerns that. This was before the infectious Chinese language bug hit, and I was still relatively ignorant to what was happening in the mainland.

I first started following Fallow's blog at www.TheAtlantic.com last year, and he is one of my regular daily blog intake stops. He currently has out a DVD series on the Chinese economy, Doing Business in China.

I encourage everyone to check this out. I won't be buying the DVD set (lack of money) but you can check out clips on his blog site, and also the website: http://www.chinadoingbusiness.com/doing_business_china_JFallows.htm

Enjoy!

Anthony

lin_will

said on

September 15, 2009

Yes, your Shanghainese guest speaks Chinese very much like a jinger. Curious as to where she picked that up from.

trevelyan

said on

September 15, 2009

@lin - welcome to Popup Chinese and thanks for listening. Our Shanghainese speaker in here is actually a native Shanghainese, born and bred. We wouldn't try to pull one over you. :)

lin_will

said on

September 15, 2009

@trevelyan - hehe oh I didn't mean that anything like that, but for a Shanghainese person to speak Mandarin not only so well but also so much like a Beijinger is pretty good. So I am curious as to what external forces moulded her accent.

Echo

said on

September 15, 2009

@lin,

I am a bit curious why you think her accent sounds like Beijingnese too :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com

lin_will

said on

September 15, 2009

@Echo, to me, I feel she has that 京腔? Correct me if i am wrong.

Echo

said on

September 16, 2009

@lin,

哈哈，没问题！

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com

jeremybarwick

said on

September 24, 2009

2 things.

1) This espisode was both awesome and hilarious. Loved it. If you ever have a Fuzhounese friend in the studio, could you do one on 福州话？ haha. I know that probably won't ever happen but I figured I would throw it out there.