<p>I'm a southerner from Shanghai-Jiangsu region. One thing you can do is to use the English version of sh and ch to pronounce the Pinyin sh and ch. I only learned that my Mandarin sh and ch were not the real 翘舌音 when I got in to university. My northern classmates in University pointed out that my zh chi shi were wrong and I have a southerner accent when speaking Mandarin. I didn't believe it at the beginning but then I realized that yes, my tongue is not curling upward when I pronounce zh ch sh, in fact my ch and sh are very much like the English one. Later I found out most of my friends at home are like this. So not a learning material but a quick easy one you can try.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-15T15:10:51.200Z
2024-11-15T15:10:51.200Z
Archeosudoerus
<p>Mandarin is a <strong>standardized</strong> dialect based on <strong>northern dialect</strong>, and &quot;southern accent&quot; is often viewed as an <strong>inaccurate accent</strong> of the dialect. Usually, southern accent is formed because people in southern China are accustomed to their native dialect, and <strong>fail to pronounce accurately</strong>. If you really want to (though I would never recommend to) speak like a southern Chinese (like Shanghai, Sichuan, Guangdong, etc.), I'd say it's important to <strong>imitate their dialects</strong>, and you will find out how they sound differently when speaking Mandarin.</p>
<p>Take my math teacher as an example. She was born and bred in Shanghai, and speaks Shanghainese more than Mandarin. When she has to speak Mandarin in the courses, she struggles when pronouncing the 'r' sound (pronouncing the 'l' or 'z' sound instead). Such accent is formed because 'r' sound is never spoken in Wu dialect (including Shanghainese).</p>
<p>Pronouncing non-standard Mandarin is unfriendly to the speaker, nor to the listener. <strong>This is nothing cool, but something confusing.</strong> If you insist, please learn southern dialect first.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-30T11:26:17.607Z
2024-12-30T11:26:17.607Z
Zhi Zhou
<p>I'm interested in learning Mandarin Chinese, but I'd like to learn from someone who uses more of a southern than northern accent. I've been having difficulties with this, as some of the southern resources I've found involve learning Mandarin from a Taiwanese person, and given that I'd like to learn the simplified characters rather than the traditional ones, this is not ideal for me.</p>
<p>Any thoughts? Thanks!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-14T21:33:21.347Z
There are a lot of people from Shanghai! I'm personally partial to the accent of people in that general region (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang), and of course they would be using simplified characters.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-15T02:48:16.603Z
I'm quite curious about the resources in learning sourthern accent. Is there any way you can provide some samples? My recognition of **systematic** language studying only refers to language tests, such as [HSK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanyu_Shuiping_Kaoshi), [PSC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putonghua_Proficiency_Test) and [TOCFL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_of_Chinese_as_a_Foreign_Language).
zrsammy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-15T07:52:22.633Z
Taiwanese person *CAN* understand simplified characters too. What are you worry about ?
James
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-16T01:20:40.053Z
As someone with family from the _far_ south - you might want to be more specific! But then, I grew up perceiving mediatic 江浙沪-accented Mandarin to be "standard Southern Mainland Mandarin Chinese", even if that wasn't _their_ perception.
Michaelyus
<simplified-characters><learning><traditional-vs-simplified><accent>
Learning Mandarin Chinese: Southern accent
# Learning Mandarin Chinese: Southern accent

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-11-14)

I'm interested in learning Mandarin Chinese, but I'd like to learn from someone who uses more of a southern than northern accent. I've been having difficulties with this, as some of the southern resources I've found involve learning Mandarin from a Taiwanese person, and given that I'd like to learn the simplified characters rather than the traditional ones, this is not ideal for me.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

**Tags:** simplified-characters, learning, traditional-vs-simplified, accent

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There are a lot of people from Shanghai! I'm personally partial to the accent of people in that general region (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang), and of course they would be using simplified characters.  
> **username_2**: I'm quite curious about the resources in learning sourthern accent. Is there any way you can provide some samples? My recognition of **systematic** language studying only refers to language tests, such as [HSK](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanyu_Shuiping_Kaoshi), [PSC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putonghua_Proficiency_Test) and [TOCFL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_of_Chinese_as_a_Foreign_Language).  
> **username_3**: Taiwanese person *CAN* understand simplified characters too. What are you worry about ?  
> **username_4**: As someone with family from the _far_ south - you might want to be more specific! But then, I grew up perceiving mediatic 江浙沪-accented Mandarin to be "standard Southern Mainland Mandarin Chinese", even if that wasn't _their_ perception.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-11-15. Score: 0

I'm a southerner from Shanghai-Jiangsu region. One thing you can do is to use the English version of sh and ch to pronounce the Pinyin sh and ch. I only learned that my Mandarin sh and ch were not the real 翘舌音 when I got in to university. My northern classmates in University pointed out that my zh chi shi were wrong and I have a southerner accent when speaking Mandarin. I didn't believe it at the beginning but then I realized that yes, my tongue is not curling upward when I pronounce zh ch sh, in fact my ch and sh are very much like the English one. Later I found out most of my friends at home are like this. So not a learning material but a quick easy one you can try.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2024-12-30. Score: 0

Mandarin is a **standardized** dialect based on **northern dialect**, and "southern accent" is often viewed as an **inaccurate accent** of the dialect. Usually, southern accent is formed because people in southern China are accustomed to their native dialect, and **fail to pronounce accurately**. If you really want to (though I would never recommend to) speak like a southern Chinese (like Shanghai, Sichuan, Guangdong, etc.), I'd say it's important to **imitate their dialects**, and you will find out how they sound differently when speaking Mandarin.

Take my math teacher as an example. She was born and bred in Shanghai, and speaks Shanghainese more than Mandarin. When she has to speak Mandarin in the courses, she struggles when pronouncing the 'r' sound (pronouncing the 'l' or 'z' sound instead). Such accent is formed because 'r' sound is never spoken in Wu dialect (including Shanghainese).

Pronouncing non-standard Mandarin is unfriendly to the speaker, nor to the listener. **This is nothing cool, but something confusing.** If you insist, please learn southern dialect first.


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