Speaking in Shanghainese
“Hey Lilly, do you speak Shanghainese.”
“Un poco.” I reply.
The Shanghainese Dialect is very similar to Mandarin. As a linguist, we know that all languages are dialects and everyone speaks with an accent. It is not good but is part our reality that not everyone has the capacity to appreicate different accents. Some accents are deemed more high-class than the other. My Shanghainese accent is, unfortuantely, not authentic enough, according to those who are the native speakers.
I would speak Shanghainese, and people who reflexisively say, “you are not from here.”
And that would discourage me from speaking more.
Is that the way it should be?
Even the so called authentic speakers of SHanghainese are immigrants geenrations ago. I think it is essential for me to continue learning SHanghainese, and not be afraid of these small comments and setbacks.
Recently, a Shanghainese TV show called Blossom is wildly popular in China. In China, TV shows have enormous social impact. It is a center nod of communciation. Pop culture connects people. Poeple not only would talk about the TV show during their sparetimes, they would also go to the places mentioned in the Show. For example, a very important setting of the TV was the Peace Hotel built by Sir Victor Sassoon, “the Man who Changed the Face of Shanghai” (NYT) . People would spend their money quite serendipidously. The 168888 yuan hotel suite and the 1702 yuan date night dinner at the Peace Hotel are both sold out.
Language fluency is definitely important and useful, but what’s more important and useful is the ability to be courageous in trying, in engaging with different languages.
“嘿，Lilly，你会说上海话吗？”
“Un poco（一点点），” 我回答说。
上海话方言与普通话非常相似。作为一名语言学家，我们知道所有语言都是方言，每个人都有自己的口音。有些口音被认为比其他口音更高级。
遗憾的是，根据本地人的说法，我的上海口音不够地道。每当我说上海话时，总有人会反射性地说：“你不是这里的人。” 这会让我产生更多的沮丧情绪，使我不愿多说。
即使所谓的地道上海话使用者也是几代移民。我认为继续学习上海话对我来说至关重要，不要害怕这些微小的评论和挫折。
最近，一档名为《繁花》的上海话电视节目在中国非常受欢迎。在中国，电视节目具有巨大的社会影响力，是人们交流的中心。流行文化连接着人们。人们不仅在业余时间讨论电视节目，还会去节目中提到的地方。例如，这部电视剧中一个非常重要的场景是由维克多·萨翁爵士建造的和平饭店，这位被誉为“改变了上海面貌的人”（纽约时报）。人们会很潇洒地花钱，和平饭店的16.8888万元的套房和1702元的情侣晚餐都已经售罄。
语言流利无疑是重要且有用的，但更重要和有用的是勇于尝试，勇于与不同的语言互动的能力。
