Learning the Chengdu Dialect with LTL // Thoughts, Tips & Tricks

The Chengdu dialect (成都话), the best-known form of Sichuanese, is a variety of Southwestern Mandarin, so it shares most of its grammar and vocabulary with Standard Mandarin. The main differences are pronunciation and tones: zh, ch and sh become z, c and s, n and l often merge, and only the first tone matches Mandarin.

Learn standard Mandarin first, then add the dialect through 1-on-1 lessons, sentence practice and daily listening.

Thanks to an opportunity at LTL, I have the chance to learn Sichuanese in an Online format with a 1-on-1 teacher.

This article will show my journey, plus tips and tricks for learning the Chengdu Dialect.

As I’ve been studying Mandarin Chinese and other various accents for many years, I wanted to get exposed to another dialect of Chinese I haven’t had much experience with before.

Considering that Chengdu is one of the major and fastest developing cities in China, I wanted to get a hang on the Chengdu dialect as my next challenge.

I would like to recount my experience and share some tips and tricks with you, and that’s exactly what this article is about.

What Is the Chengdu Dialect?

Chengdu Dialect Sounds and Tones

My Teacher

Class Structure

Chengdu Dialect Words and Phrases

How I Review

Online vs Offline

Is the Chengdu Dialect Worth Learning?

What Is the Chengdu Dialect? // Sichuanese and Mandarin

The Chengdu dialect (成都话, Chéngdū huà) is a variety of Southwestern Mandarin (西南官话, Xīnán Guānhuà). That puts it in the same Guanhua (官话) family as Standard Mandarin. Millions of people speak it in Chengdu and across Sichuan province.

Most people call it Sichuanese (四川话, Sìchuānhuà), but the two names don’t mean exactly the same thing. Sichuanese is the umbrella term for the dialects of Sichuan and Chongqing, which linguists group as Chengdu-Chongqing (成渝, Chéng-Yú) Mandarin. The Chengdu accent is its best-known variety: it’s what you hear on local TV, and it’s the version most learners start with.

The previous dialects I studied were all from different families of Chinese, such as:

• Shanghainese (Wu family)
• Taiwanese Hokkien (Min family)
• Cantonese (Yue family)

In contrast to those, Sichuanese is much easier to pick up once you already speak Mandarin, because the two share most of their grammar and vocabulary. It still takes real work, though: the tones and some sounds are different, and locals talk fast.

So should you learn standard Mandarin first? In my experience, yes.

Mandarin is what you need for the HSK, for reading and for talking to people outside Sichuan, and every Sichuanese lesson builds on it. Start with small group Chinese classes in Chengdu, then add the dialect.

The bonus of studying in Chengdu itself is that the dialect is all around you: at the market, in teahouses, on the bus. If you live with a homestay family in China, you’ll hear 成都话 at the dinner table every day.

You’ll pick up the local words long before you study them formally.

Chinese Listening Practice // How To Improve Your Chinese Listening Skills

Today we’ll be delving into some Chinese listening practice and telling you exactly the steps to improve your Chinese listening comprehension.

As my wife is from Guizhou, where they speak a very similar dialect, I wanted to take this chance to learn Sichuanese also for the purpose that this will later help me with learning her Guiyang dialect, which is even more obscure. 

Chengdu Dialect vs Mandarin // Sounds and Tones

If you already speak Mandarin, you’ll recognise most Chengdu words. What throws you off at first is the pronunciation. These are tendencies, not strict rules: older speakers show them most clearly, and younger people often keep more Mandarin sounds.

Sound shifts to listen for

The biggest change is that zh, ch and sh become z, c and s, so 是 (shì) sounds like “si”. Many speakers also mix up n and l, so 南 (nán, south) and 蓝 (lán, blue) can sound the same.

Chengdu dialect tones

The Chengdu dialect also has four tones, but only the first one sounds like Mandarin. The pitch numbers run from 1 (low) to 5 (high).

Many characters that Mandarin spreads across different tones, such as 一, 六, 十 and 吃, all fall into Chengdu’s low 2nd tone. Since sh also becomes s, 四 (four) and 十 (ten) both start with s, and only the tone tells them apart. 💡

Saying hello with a Chengdu accent

Take 你好 (nǐ hǎo). In Chengdu both syllables are in the 3rd tone, which is high falling, and Mandarin’s tone change for two third tones in a row doesn’t happen. So the greeting sounds like two quick drops in pitch, “ni hao”, rather than Mandarin’s rise and dip. A very local way to greet a neighbour is 吃了没得? (chī le méi de?, have you eaten?), with 吃 said low and falling as “ci”.

Learn Sichuanese | My Teacher

After booking the program, the LTL Director of Studies for the Online classes set me up with my teacher Winnie, a native from Chengdu, who is also by profession a Chinese teacher. If you’d rather learn face to face, LTL Chengdu also offers tailor-made 1-on-1 Chinese lessons at the campus.

Winnie’s teaching experience could be clearly seen even from the first class, as she is well aware of the difference between the phonetics of the dialect and Mandarin Chinese.

I was quite impressed by this and her knowledge of Chinese grammar, which shows that she has been teaching Mandarin Chinese for a long time before that.

Her accent in Mandarin Chinese is completely standard, with no hint of Sichuan in it at all, as would be common with the general populace of the area.

As the Chengdu dialect itself also changes due to the prevalence of Mandarin, she also often notes for me when some words are spoken differently by the older generation, who tend to speak with a more clearcut Sichuanese accent.

The younger generation often mix a lot of Mandarin Chinese into their Sichuanese dialect, making it less “pure”, as some might say.

Learn Sichuanese | Class Structure

The style of study is quite similar to what I have done with teachers of other dialects beforehand.

I have a list of 4,000 sentences in English, and the aim is to slowly but surely translate all of them into Sichuanese.

DID YOU KNOW – This method is known as sentence mining and is a common language learning method – memorising sentences instead of just learning words.

The sentences are for the most part extremely high frequency ones, which can immediately be used in conversation, such as “I live with my parents”, “What time does it start?” and so on.

Sometimes we also get a less common sentence, such as “Bush followed Reagan as president”, which is not only amusing and engaging, but also allows me to learn new words inside it, such as “president” and “following”, which will have use in the future.

We first see the sentence in English, and then I try to say it in Sichuanese based on what I learned up to that point.

Then my teacher writes the sentence down (which often looks like Mandarin Chinese, except some grammatical words that are different due to the different sound system) and pronounces it.

I then repeat the sentence enough times to make sure my pronunciation and flow is correct, and then we continue to the next sentence. We manage to translate about 40 sentences per lesson.

Each class passes on with lots of laughter and jokes around, as both my teacher and I are very relaxed type of people, and we enjoy the process of studying.

I am a big believer in the saying that language learning is best done through motivation.

That is, as long as you enjoy the language, play around and joke around with it, it will be engaging for you, and you will remember it much better.

As such, I try to say each sentence in Sichuanese with an exaggerated accent and translate it in the most wacky way possible.

Chengdu Dialect Words and Phrases to Learn First

These are the words I heard Winnie use most, and the ones you’ll hear in any Chengdu teahouse. The pinyin gives the Mandarin reading of the characters, so say them with the Chengdu tones above.

巴适 is the word Chengdu is known for. Use it for a great hotpot, a sunny afternoon in a teahouse or a comfy sofa. 摆龙门阵 is what everyone does over that tea: chatting for hours.

Then there’s 耍, which sums up Chengdu’s relaxed lifestyle. Locals don’t 玩 (wán) at the weekend, they go and 耍.

Compared with standard Mandarin, Chengdu slang sounds more playful and teasing. 瓜娃子 can be affectionate between friends, but it is still an insult, so don’t try it on strangers or your teacher.

You’ll also hear 二百五 (èrbǎiwǔ, idiot), though that one is used all over China, not just in Sichuan.

Online and among younger people you’ll also run into Chinese internet slang. 牛逼 (niú bī) means “awesome” or “amazing”, but it’s vulgar, so keep it for close friends. 妹纸 (mèi zhǐ) is a playful internet spelling of 妹子 (mèizi, girl), and you’ll see it all over social media.

Learn Sichuanese | How I Review

One major aspect of the class that was very important to me is that the teacher records the sentences.

Winnie does so after each class and sends me the recordings and translations.

In turn, I can put those into my Anki Flashcards app and practice it at home on a daily basis.

The aim here is to drill the sentences into my brain and have them be heard enough times that they become natural to me.

This is a similar concept to the “Earworm” effect, where you have listened to a song enough times that the moment you hear the start of it, you start singing the rest in your brain automatically as a reflex.

This kind of review also helps me with future lessons, as many of the words repeat themselves in other sentences, allowing me to translate sentences faster and more naturally.

TIP💡 Outside class, add real Chengdu speech to your listening. 幸福耙耳朵 (Xìngfú Pá’ěrduo) is a much-loved Sichuanese sitcom that first aired on Sichuan TV in 2006, and every episode is full of everyday dialect.

To see what’s possible for a foreign learner, search 老外说四川话 (lǎowài shuō Sìchuānhuà, foreigners speaking Sichuanese) on Bilibili or Douyin. You’ll find plenty of short videos to shadow.

Learn Sichuanese | Online vs Offline

I have to admit that as most people, at first I found the concept of studying through an online class somewhat “iffy” you might say.

It wasn’t that I was afraid for issues with internet connection, as my Wifi is fast enough to handle this.

I was more worried about the human aspect of studying online, as I believed (as most people do) that studying online is less engaging than studying offline with the teacher right next to you.

While there is some difference still between Online and in-person classes, I found to my surprise that the classes were equally engaging when taken online, as long as there is no lag due to connection issues.

I enjoy my classes immensely and appear for class in a good mood. The fact that I can do it during lunch breaks (which due to the time differences is the teacher’s early evening) AND from the convenience of my home makes the whole process really enjoyable.

In fact, when I have a chance to start classes face-to-face, I’m not so certain anymore that I will prefer those.

Back in 2017, a Digital Study Trends survey by Hanover Research for McGraw-Hill Education looked at college students’ digital study habits and preferences.

Source

Interestingly, those thoughts are mirrored by other students if these statistics are anything to go by.

Is the Chengdu Dialect Worth Learning? // My Progress

When I wrote this in August 2021, I had been studying Sichuanese for about 2 to 3 months, and I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly it all went.

My goal back then was to make my Sichuanese natural enough within six months that I could chat with people not only in Chengdu, but also in Guizhou and Chongqing, where the dialects are very similar.

My next plan was to ask LTL whether they had a teacher from Guiyang, so I could start on my wife’s dialect as well.

At that point, I still had around 3,800 sentences to go!

Chengdu Dialect // FAQ’s

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