International students get chatty ... in Shanghainese
Print Edition
A COMPETITION designed to test foreign students’ ability to converse in the Shanghai dialect got under way yesterday.
This second annual Shanghai Dialect Showdown will see six contestants — one each from the United States, Denmark, Iran, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Venezuela — vying for the coveted title.
Over the next month their language skills will be put to the test in a variety of settings, including teaching at a kindergarten, working as a pastry chef for a Dragon Boat Festival event, and training as an opera apprentice.
Just three of the contestants attended an opening event yesterday at the Oriental Riverside Hotel.
One of them was 25-year-old American Paul Cooper, who has lived in the city for more than five years and is already fluent in Mandarin.
“I wanted to learn Shanghainese so I could communicate better with my local friends,” said the undergraduate at Shanghai International Studies University.
“It’s fun because it feels like speaking another language,” he said, adding that he hopes it might one day help him to get a job in the city.
The Dialect Showdown is organized by radio station FM93.4 news and foreign-language cable channel International Channel Shanghai.
The winner will be announced at a special event on June 18.
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