Chat attack

dialect/ 方言/ (fānɡyán)

A: Where are you from? Do you speak the local dialect?

你来自哪里？会说当地的方言吗？

(nǐ láizì nǎlǐ？huìshuō dānɡdìde fānɡyán ma?)

B: I'm from Sichuan and can speak Sichuanese, but the dialects throughout the various places in Sichuan are also a bit different. 

我来自四川, 我会说四川话,但是四川各地的方言也会稍微有些不同。

(wǒ láizì sìchuān, wǒ huìshuō sìchuānhuà, dànshì sìchuān ɡèdì de fānɡyán yěhuì shāowēi yǒuxiē bùtónɡ.)

A: Really? Have you seen the trending topic on Sina Weibo about the Suzhou dialect? 

是吗？ 你看最近微博上关于苏州方言的热搜了吗？

(shìma? nǐkàn zuìjìn wēibó shànɡ ɡuānyú sūzhōu fānɡyán de rèsōu lema?)

B: Nope. How about you tell me about it. 

没有,你给我说说吧。

(méiyǒu, nǐ ɡěiwǒ shuōshuō bā.)

A: A girl in Suzhou spent three years creating a Romanized textbook to promote her hometown's dialect.

有一个苏州的女孩为了推广家乡方言,花了三年自编了一本拼音教材。

(yǒu yīɡè sūzhōu de nǚhái wéile tuīɡuǎnɡ jiāxiānɡ fānɡyán, huāle sānnián zìbiānle yīběn pīnyīn jiàocái.)

B: That sounds great and very creative. I want to learn. The Suzhou dialect is described as a soft-spoken gentle dialect, it sounds gentle and tactful to the ear. 

这听起来太棒了,并且非常具有创意。我想学学。苏州话又被称作吴侬软语,听起来非常温柔婉转。

(zhè tīnɡqǐlái tài bànɡle, bìnɡqiě fēichánɡ jùyǒu chuànɡyì.wǒxiǎnɡ xuéxué.sūzhōu huà yòubèi chēnɡzuò wúnónɡ ruǎnyǔ, tīnɡqǐlái fēichánɡ wēnróu wǎnzhuǎn.)

Illustration: Liu Xidan/Global Times