Learning Chinese, Qingdao vs Dalian

[Jabri]

Hi everyone, I was nominated as a Chinese government scholarship candidate and longing to learn Chinese Mandarin in China for 2 years.

Initially, I had chosen Dalian university of foreign languages(DUFL) as my first choice but after I read bad reviews about their management, I decided to change to Ocean university of China(OUOC).

I already sent the pre-admission letter to the embassy to change my university option. Reflecting back I feel that I am at an disadvantage due to the location and regional accent. In my mind, learning Chinese is best when you studied in the northeast due to standard pronounciation. However, I am also aware that Qingdao is not that bad because of it's stimulating atmosphere and beautiful scenery. Does it really matter between learning Chinese in Qingdao over Dalian? I hope anyone could help explain the advantages and disadvantages of each cities. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[flray]

Hey,

 

It is my understanding that both the liaoning peninsula and shandong peninsula both speak the Jiao liao dialect of Mandarin.

 

from wikipedia "Very noticeable tonal changes, different in "flavour" from Ji–Lu Mandarin, but with more variance. There is moderate intelligibility with Beijing."

 

jiao liao  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaoliao_Mandarin

dalian dialect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalian_dialect

qingdao dialect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingdao_dialect

 

So this is what is spoken on the street but in school you will be taught standard Mandarin. I am sure that most students will also speak more standard speech.

I am seeing a girl from Weihai and she says weihai hua and even yantai hua are very different.

 

I am about to go to china to study and am going to be in Dongbei for that standard accent. From what I have read on the forums it is important to study standard chinese so that you know the difference between the local accent and putonghua. The advantage is that you learn the difference and there are different accents all over china dn ayou need to be able to listen and know differences and make yourself understood.

 

I worked in a chinese grocery with coworkers from primarily southeast china( Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Taiwan) but also some from Xian, Tianjin, inner mongolia etc.They all had different accents.  They had no problem understanding each other when speaking Mandarin.

 

Cheers Ray

[Jabri]

Ah I didn't expect that both Dalian and Qingdao dialects is actually under the same Chinese family dialects(Jiao-Liao) and thus, both are much less likely the same. It's a relief to know that it's not a big deal to change from DUFL to OUOC.

Also, although both Qingdao and Dalian dialects is not the standard, at least it is closer to putonghua, this is to say in anyway, it's still way much better to learn Chinese here than in my home country or southern part of China.

 

That's interesting @flray. When are you coming to China and which part of dongbei ? Did you get scholarship or self funded?

[flray]

I am going to be studying in Yanji, Changchun, or Harbin. I am planning on a manta in Yanji and self study or with a tutor in other cites. I am leaving soon and hope to be there for 3 months. When are you going to be in Dalian or Qingdao?

 

here is a map of the dialect areas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese#/media/File:Mandarin_subgroups_and_Jin_group.png

 

Cheers Ray

[Jabri]

I heard Harbin is a nice place to learn Chinese since it has the most standard accent and most of the broadcasters and news reader on TV is from Harbin. I have chosen Harbin over other cities if it wasn't because of the duration of the course. I believe it takes about 2 years to really get a good grip on the language. 

I'll be in Qingdao probably in September. Now I'm still waiting updates from the embassy.