shanghainese
Shanghainese
Shanghainese
Upcoming: Chinesepod is preparing to launch a 10 lesson newbie podcast series covering the Shanghainese dialect.
Essays
- A very interesting article on the future of Shanghainese.
- Lots of linguistic information, a list of common words & phrases and a section about language policy. Also has an article on Wu.
Sinosplice: Shanghainese Study Materials
- A review of commercial materials available for studying Shanghainese.
- Some information on the language, its pronunciation and links.
Courses
上海語研修テキスト(Shanghai Chinese Language Training Textbook) by J. Fang, 1995 (no. A242-244)
- Some complimentary copies are available for researchers and students. Only available in Japanese.
Go Go Shanghai Only available in Cantonese
- An interactive flash course for learning the basics with phonology guide, phrasebook, audio and more.
Websites
- A useful introduction to Shanghainese from the perspective of a foreigner living in Shanghai.
- A searchable dictionary with Mandarin & English, vocabulary arranged by category and a pronunciation guide.
Sinosplice Shanghainese Sound Board
- A comparison between Shanghainese and Mandarin with audio and common words and phrases.
- A nice collection of websites for learning Shanghainese, but a lot of the links seem to be broken.
- Useful words and phrases with audio, arranged in 7 short lessons. Only available in Japanese and Japanese katakana transcription.
ワンポイント上海語講義 Only available in Japanese
- A few words with audio and a short intro.
Wu Chinese Association Only available in Chinese
- Aimed at modernization of Wu Chinese, including basics of Wu, romanization scheme, pronunciation dictionaries, Wu input method development, orthography, a discussion forum etc.
- An English/Mandarin/Wu dictionary with traditional and simplified characters.
- Audio stories in seven Chinese languages, including Shanghai Wu. There are 33 different versions to listen to, with Chinese character transcripts. Useful for listening to authentic speakers.
上海話三月通 Only available in Mandarin
- 14 short videos, using skits with dual language subtitles and grammar explanations. Note: Slight poor video quality.
学说上海话 Only available in Mandarin
- 10 episodes with a host explaining Shanghainese phrases with Mandarin translation.
- Lots of phrases with audio, unfortunately no transcription for Shanghainese and audio quality is sometimes bad.
- Many phrasebooks with audio, some specific to the military. Great resource, can be viewed online or downloaded.
Learn Wu by Glossika
- 15 videos about tones, pronunciation, culture, conversations, place names and grammar in Wu.
E-books
Remembering the Hanzi by James W. Heisig
- Heisig's controversial method for learning Chinese characters available as a PDF extract of either the traditional or simplified version.
Distinguishing Characteristics of the Hangzhou Dialect by R. V. N. Simmons
- A linguistic analysis of Hangzhou (a Wu dialect).
Shanghai Texts by L. Eccles, 1997
- 20 texts of spontaneous speech with vocabulary and grammatical notes. Designed to be used by someone already familiar with a China language.
Podcasts
- Husband and wife team teach basic phrases in Shanghainese, using both English and Mandarin Chinese.
Forums
- A small forum for discussing Wu Chinese.
- The huge Chinese Forums has a section devoted to Non-Mandarin Chinese. Try searching to find Shanghai relevant threads.
Authentic Material
- Wu Wikipedia with more than 2,000 articles.