Menu
Start a Thread Start a Poll
Dialect Differences
Jul 22, 2005 14:05
  • KYLE
  • Points:
  • Join Date: Apr 7, 2005
  • Status: offline
From top to Bottom China is HUGE. I imagine that there are big differences in the langauge. Not only with Mandarin and Cantonese, but also between different provinces.
If I was to learn to speak in Yunnan, would I be understood in Beijing?
Jul 22, 2005 14:10
#1  
  • MERMAID
  • Points:
  • Join Date: Jan 7, 2005
  • Status: Offline
It would be difficult.
Jul 22, 2005 14:10
#2  
  • RITA
  • Points:
  • Join Date: May 10, 2005
  • Status: Offline
In south China, people from neighbour villages do not understand each other.

If you were to learn Chinese, and what you learnt was Mandarin, you would be understood without problem.
Jul 22, 2005 14:14
#3  
  • RITA
  • Points:
  • Join Date: May 10, 2005
  • Status: Offline
Mandarin is the language people (government?) invented to connect the country. Mandarin is not Beijing dialect, it's a combination of dialects of northern provinces.
Jul 22, 2005 14:33
#4  
  • CONNY129
  • Points:
  • Join Date: May 25, 2005
  • Status: Offline
I have a roommate who is from Dali ,although we study and live together for almost four years ,I still can't understand her when she talk dialect .So the best way is speaking mandarine :)
Jul 23, 2005 20:33
#5  
  • GAZ07
  • Points:
  • Join Date: Apr 27, 2005
  • Status: Offline
I noticed Xian had a distinctive accent.

Especially when pronouncing the "R" sound in Chinese. "2" (er) and "10" (shi)

Jul 24, 2005 01:45
#6  
  • MISHEN
  • Points:
  • Join Date: May 31, 2005
  • Status: Offline
In any part of China, if you learnt to speak "off the street" you'd probably be best understood in the place you picked up the dialect, although some places are closer to the standard than others. Standard Mandarin is Northern Chinese with all the diphthongs taken out - in other words, with clarified vowel sounds - and is taught everywhere in the country. No matter where you were, if you studied Mandarin in a school or from a private teacher, you'd be learning something that could be understood by most of the population of China... a lot of people!
Post a Reply to: Dialect Differences
Content: ( 3,000 characters at most, please )
You can add emoticons below to your post by clicking them.
characters left
Name:    Get a new code