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ShanghaiTEFLer comments on Teaching English in Shanghai - Less Wrong
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What is so bad about Shanghai in this respect? Assuming someone really wants to learn Mandarin and put effort into it aren't there lots of possibilities for learning, including talking with local people?
Most people who speak good to great English, really. Most shops, barss and restaurants with staff who speak good English. The pressure to learn Chinese is substantially lower than elsewhere. You will not have the benefit of anything resembling total immersion.
Moreover, the local dialect differs from standard Mandarin, in case that interferes with your language goals.
True. Shanghainese/Wu is at least as different from Mandarin as French is from Spanish. But the majority of Shanghai residents are first or second generation immigrants. More or less everyone under the age of 40 speaks Mandarin to one extent or another.
Yep, and the state has been pushing pretty heavily for linguistic uniformization (though there are still TV stations in regional dialects).
Shanghaiese will still speak dialect between themselves, so I can't eavesdrop on what they're saying nearly as easily as I can on people in Beijing (or two Chinese from different provinces talking together), and you won't pick up the language as easily by hearing what people around you are saying.
I went to Beijing for a week on a business trip & I really appreciated this aspect. Shanghainese can be beautiful, but the majority of the people I hear speaking it are nasty old women yelling at eachother on the streets.
Doesn't that depend on you? I've known about people who only stick to English and get around fine but I suspect there are always opportunities to practice if one wants, no?