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China Daily E-paper
From the Readers
What is wrong with Shanghainese
(Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-05-12 10:33
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Comment on "Say it in Shanghai-Lesson Four" (Chinadaily.com.cn, May 10)
It's fundamental that all dialects are protected, not just in China but everywhere in the world. Our dialects are vital parts of history and cultural heritages. To suggest everyone stop speaking Shanghainese and only speak Putonghua is ignorant and racist. That's like suggesting everyone in Texas should be made to speak like the Queen of England.
Putonghua is "encouraged" in schools across China so that the nation's citizens would be brought under one language and therefore find it easier to communicate with each other, not so that it would replace languages that have, in some cases, been spoken for thousands of years. Dare I say, some are possibly older than English.
I also live in Shanghai and totally disagree with the statement that people there "refuse to acknowledge the official language of their own country." For many people, Shanghainese is their language. Putonghua is a second language. Who's to tell them they can't have both?
Grow up, people.
Craig on China Daily website
