Summer in China!

[Polymath257]

You have a girlfriend and a wife?

Yes. And they know about each other.

 

[ChristineM]

Yes. And they know about each other.

You know how hard this is to explain??? ;-)

 

[Polymath257]

You know how hard this is to explain??? ;-)

I thought I just did!

 

[ChristineM]

I thought I just did!

Nah! you confirmed

 

[Wu Wei]

Okay, but avoid 'Mandarin.' because it is an archaic colonial word. There are many distinctive regional dialects in China, but Chongqing is one of the areas that pride themselves in speaking standard Chinese

There is no standard Chinese.

There are regional dialects and there is the national language which is Mandarin (Pǔtōnghuà). If you are afraid of offending them just refer to it as Pǔtōnghuà. The only other language spoken with regularitly in Chongqing is Sichuanese (Sìchuānhuà) and Southwestern Mandarin (Xīnán Guānhuà)

 

[shunyadragon]

There is no standard Chinese.

There are regional dialects and there is the national language which is Mandarin (Pǔtōnghuà). If you are afraid of offending them just refer to it as Pǔtōnghuà. The only other language spoken with regularity in Chongqing is Sichuanese (Sìchuānhuà) and Southwestern Mandarin (Xīnán Guānhuà)

I believe as a policy of the Chinese government there is only one standard Chinese dialect (Pǔtōnghuà) standardized in the Chinese education system and all media outlets.

I found it easier to communicate in Chinese in Chongqing than in regions like Yunnan Province, Guangdong Province, and far Western China.

 

[Wu Wei]

I believe as a policy of the Chinese government there is only one standard Chinese dialect (Pǔtōnghuà) standardized in the Chinese education system and all media outlets.

I found it easier to communicate in Chinese in Chongqing than in regions like Yunnan Province, Guangdong Province, and far Western China.

Guangdong is Cantonese and speaks mandarin with an accent. There literally are words that can be spoken in Beijing, in Mandarin, that a Cantonese speaker cannot say properly. A couple friends of mine, one a native Cantonese speaker, who speaks Mandarin, Shanghai dialect and English. The other a native Shanghai dialect speaker who speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Cannot pronounce a lot of words my wife can, she is Beijingren. However she does not speak any other Chinese dialect, but she does speak Japanese and English. As you probably know better than I, the further you get from Beijing and Hebei the Mandarin begins to pick up local accents and understanding becomes more difficult. Heck I have a friend from Harbin my wife always says he speaks some strange Harbin Mandarin, but she can understand him

 

[shunyadragon]

Guangdong is Cantonese and speaks mandarin with an accent. There literally are words that can be spoken in Beijing, in Mandarin, that a Cantonese speaker cannot say properly. A couple friends of mine, one a native Cantonese speaker, who speaks Mandarin, Shanghai dialect and English. The other a native Shanghai dialect speaker who speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Cannot pronounce a lot of words my wife can, she is Beijingren. However she does not speak any other Chinese dialect, but she does speak Japanese and English. As you probably know better than I, the further you get from Beijing and Hebei the Mandarin begins to pick up local accents and understanding becomes more difficult. Heck I have a friend from Harbin my wife always says he speaks some strange Harbin Mandarin, but she can understand him

I lived in Shenyang and visited Harbin frequently and found their Chinese very standard Pǔtōnghuà with only some minor pronunciation differences. and some more but minor variation in the countryside.

 

[Wu Wei]

I lived in Shenyang and visited Harbin frequently and found their Chinese very standard Pǔtōnghuà with only some minor pronunciation differences. and some more but minor variation in the countryside.

She's a Beijingren, to her, it is strange Harbin Mandarin . She can understand it easily, she just thinks they talk funny