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.
 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.
 said on
September 11, 2009
陕西话 next so I can speak to my Ayi, please!
 said on
September 11, 2009
@ckw4y,

嗨,欢迎你! Welcome to the site!

谢谢!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 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!
 said on
September 12, 2009
Great site magnus!

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

 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.
 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. :)
 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.
 said on
September 15, 2009
@lin,

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

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
September 15, 2009
@Echo, to me, I feel she has that 京腔? Correct me if i am wrong.
 said on
September 16, 2009
@lin,

哈哈,没问题!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 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.

2) Agree with the first commentor. I like when it's all Chinese. I would love to have even more like that.
 said on
September 24, 2009
@jeremybarwick,

我们的录音演员9527就是福建人,录音的时候我们可以试一下 :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
April 3, 2010
http://www.bonjourshanghai.com/2010/04/02/100-phrases-de-communication-en-dialecte-shanghaien/

上海话、普通话、法语、英语日常会话 100句。

100 phrases de communication en Shanghaien.
 said on
July 19, 2010
上海话有几个声调?有人可以简单的介绍一下上海话的声调吗?

I think a lesson on 福州话 will be good...I'm moving there in September.
 said on
July 22, 2010
@nicholas.cripps,

有没有san3hai1ning2 ?

没问题,我们这儿就有一位来自福建的录音演员!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
July 30, 2010
我覺得方言是超有意思的.

我在台灣,若你們做教閩南語(台語)的一課會對我有很大的幫助!

謝謝!

-呂凱
 said on
November 2, 2011
Props for adding a podcast about上海言话!

她说得像“来啥地方”却应该是“勒嗨啥地方” 或者“勒勒啥地方”。 个人说 “勒勒啊里耷”。
 said on
February 25, 2015
The bathroom "cze szi" is going to get some guffaws and laughs from policeman. It's like a ruder way of saying "小便" - imagine a Chinese guy going to a policeman in NY and saying "I need to dump some piss, where's the bathroom?" 不文明!But otherwise awesome episode.
 said on
April 28, 2016
One of my favourite lessons. It's a shame you guys never turned this into a series: Hakka, Taiwanese, Tibetan, Manchu, 文言文...