Shanghai pupils taught to speak like a local

The first Shanghai dialect textbook will enter classrooms in the autumn to revitalize the city's regional language .

The city's younger generation is reluctant to speak the dialect, prompting fears the language is being forgotten.

"At present it's hard to find a pupil that speaks standard Shanghai dialect in many downtown schools. Many pupils speak the dialect broken," the textbook's author Qian Nairong said. "Schools need a textbook to use as guidance to teach children how to correctly pronounce and speak."