CRI听力:Saving Shanghai Dialect

10-year-old Zhang Fengxi, the runner-up of the first "China's Got Talent" TV show in 2010, is known for her lively imitations of China's famous stand-up comedian, Zhou Libo.

The girl's dark sense of humor expressed in authentic Shanghai dialect impressed a lot of audience members.
 
However, not every Shanghai child can speak the dialect as good as Zhang, given that young children are required to speak mandarin in schools.

Zhang Fengxi is teaching her friends to say a tongue-twister in the Shanghai dialect. It's challenging for the two children, who are also Shanghai locals.
 
Huang Kaixuan is a member of Shanghai's well-known Little Star Arts Troupe. Having a good command of language skills, he often performs sketches on the stage. But how good is his Shanghai dialect?

Huang found it hard to read a small story in the Shanghai dialect. The little boy says he learns The Shanghai dialect from his grandparents, but he speaks with his parents in mandarin.

Huang's grandfather says his grandson is speaking "pidgin Shanghai dialect".

"They all speak mandarin at school, so he speaks pidgin Shanghai dialect at home. Sometimes, we even respond to him the same way."

The recent report on Shanghai residents' language abilities indicates that respondents between 13 and 20 scored 3.9 out of 5 in a Shanghai dialect listening test, 0.4 lower than the average score of all age groups.

Comedian Chen Guoqing is a household name in Shanghai, known mainly for his performances in the Shanghai dialect. Chen says the educational authorities should teach the Shanghai dialect in schools.

"Popularizing mandarin is very important because it's easier for people to communicate. But we should also preserve the Shanghai dialect. I don't mean that teachers should instruct classes in the dialect, but after normal classes, they can teach them Shanghai operas. If they need professionals to teach students, I am willing to do that, along with my colleagues."

Shanghai has been taking several measures to expand the use of the Shanghai dialect in the city, like introducing textbooks written in the language to primary schools, teaching games and songs at kindergarten level incorporating Shanghai dialect, broadcasting TV and radio programs and adding announcements in the dialect on some buses and in hospitals.

For Studio Plus, this is Zhang Ru.