I read this article on CNN.com that the local Shanghai dialect of Wu Chinese is disappearing and the government is trying to find native speakers in order to preserve the language, promote it and study it.
I thought what a wonderful thing the government is doing to preserve their culture. Then I read this line:
The city is now trying to preserve the language for research, preservation and promotion activities, a 180-degree change from a national push in the 1990s that tried to eliminate the local dialect, banning its use in the media and in school.
Well, if anything, it shows that the government did a fine job in beginning to eradicate the local language from popular use back in the 1990s.
According to the report, only two of 13 recruitment sites set up have found “pure” speakers — that’s out of an estimated 14 million people who speak the language.
Read more: Shanghai struggles to save disappearing language |
http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/life/you-think-youre-speaking-shanghainese-not-so-fast-666815?hpt=C2