200,000 pass Putonghua test
( 2003-09-18 13:50) (China Daily)
An increasing number of
Shanghainese, who formerly preferred their local dialect, are learning to speak
Putonghua, Shanghai Evening Post reports. And now 200,000 residents have passed
the city's Putonghua oral test.
Many people in Shanghai avoided speaking Putonghua in the past, but the
majority now use it regularly in public, according to Sun Xiaoxian, director of
the Shanghai Putonghua Testing Centre.
Speaking Putonghua will eventually become second nature to the Shanghainese,
but the formation of such a habit is a lengthy process, she added. Shanghai now
requires public servants and people working in the service sector to speak
Putonghua.
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