shanghainese word of the day

Okay, now that you've mastered five Mandarin Chinese words, it's time to learn some Shanghainese!

Here's a fun, interactive primer with audio. Click on the blue character to hear Mandarin, the red character 上 for 上海 -- Shang Hai ("up, on, or above" and "sea").

http://www.sinosplice.com/chinese/dialects/

Since Mandarin is the official language of China, over 90% of Chinese you encounter in Shanghai are Mandarin conversant, albeit many with their own regional twangs. For those who viewed "Nostalgia," the very elderly Shanghainese are the predominant, native group who either don't/ or prefer not to speak Mandarin.

For a bit of background on Shanghainese vis a vis Mandarin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghainese_dialect