今天我们来聊聊方言  

Jīntiān wǒmen lái liáoliáo fāngyán  

Today we are going to talk about dialects  

当你学会了日常的中文  

Dāng nǐ xuéhuì le rìcháng de Zhōngwén  

When you have learned everyday Chinese  

你满怀期待来到中国  

Nǐ mǎnhuái qīdài lái dào Zhōngguó  

You come to China with full expectation  

发现,听不懂

Fāxiàn Tīng bù dǒng

Only to find that you can't understand

有可能是因为他们说的是方言  

Yǒu kěnéng shì yīnwèi tāmen shuō de shì fāngyán  

It may be because they are speaking a dialect  

而你只学了普通话  

Ér nǐ zhǐ xué le pǔtōnghuà  

But you only learned Mandarin  

中国太大了  

Zhōngguó tài dà le  

China is too big  

不同的省、市、地区有非常多不同的方言  

Bùtóng de shěng, shì, dìqū yǒu fēicháng duō bùtóng de fāngyán  

There are many different dialects in different provinces, cities and regions  

它们的语法结构都差不多  

Tāmen de yǔfǎ jiégòu dōu chàbuduō  

Their grammatical structures are almost the same  

而语音语调和特殊用词就很不一样  

Ér yǔyīn yǔdiào hé tèshū yòngcí jiù hěn bù yīyàng  

But their pronunciation, intonation and special vocabulary are quite different  

所以统一普通话非常重要  

Suǒyǐ tǒngyī pǔtōnghuà fēicháng zhòngyào  

Therefore, unifying Mandarin is very important  

不过现在大多数人都会说普通话  

Búguò xiànzài dàduōshù rén dōu huì shuō pǔtōnghuà  

However, most people can speak Mandarin now  

在绝大多数的商业环境中  

Zài juédàduōshù de shāngyè huánjìng zhōng  

In most business environments  

服务员也都是说普通话  

Fúwùyuán yě dōu shì shuō pǔtōnghuà  

Waiters also speak Mandarin  

这也是因为一个城市里  

Zhè yě shì yīnwèi yīgè chéngshì lǐ  

This is also because in a city  

有非常多来自外地的人  

Yǒu fēicháng duō láizì wàidì de rén  

There are many people from other places  

我们目前生活在成都  

Wǒmen mùqián shēnghuó zài Chéngdū  

We currently live in Chengdu  

但是我和我老公都不是成都人  

Dànshì wǒ hé wǒ lǎogōng dōu bù shì Chéngdū rén  

But neither my husband nor I are from Chengdu  

我是重庆人  

Wǒ shì Chóngqìng rén  

I am from Chongqing  

他是甘肃人  

Tā shì Gānsù rén  

He is from Gansu  

重庆话和成都话基本一致  

Chóngqìng huà hé Chéngdū huà jīběn yīzhì  

Chongqing dialect and Chengdu dialect are basically the same  

而甘肃话则完全不同

Ér Gānsù huà zé wánquán bùtóng.

While the Gansu dialect is completely different.

所以他能在这里工作生活  

Suǒyǐ tā néng zài zhèlǐ gōngzuò shēnghuó  

So it's true that he can work and live here  

确实是不容易且很厉害的  

Quèshí shì bù róngyì qiě hěn lìhai de  

It is really not easy and quite impressive

北京话可能最接近于普通话  

Běijīng huà kěnéng zuì jiējìn yú pǔtōnghuà  

Beijing dialect may be the closest to Mandarin  

但是北京话有太多的儿化音  

Dànshì Běijīng huà yǒu tài duō de érhuàyīn  

But Beijing dialect has too many retroflex endings (erhua)  

就像英式英语说 car，而美式英语说 carJiù xiàng Yīngshì Yīngyǔ shuō car, ér Měishì Yīngyǔ shuō carJust like British English says "car", while American English says "car"

北京话的语速也很快  

Běijīng huà de Yǔsù yě hěn kuài  

The speaking speed of Beijing dialect is also very fast  

而且有特殊的语音语调  

Érqiě yǒu tèshū de yǔyīn yǔdiào  

And it has a special pronunciation and intonation  

我们在北京待过五年  

Wǒmen zài Běijīng dāi guò wǔ nián  

We lived in Beijing for five years  

也留有一些北京口音  

Yě liúyǒu yīxiē Běijīng kǒuyīn  

And we still have a bit of Beijing accent  

不同地区的方言确实会呈现出不同的人群性格  

Bùtóng dìqū de fāngyán quèshí huì chéngxiàn chū bùtóng de rénqún xìnggé  

Dialects from different regions do reflect the different personalities of the people there  

比如北方人要粗犷一些  

Bǐrú běifāng rén yào cūguǎng yīxiē  

For example, people from northern China are more straightforward and bold  

南方人要温柔一些  

Nánfāng rén yào wēnróu yīxiē  

While people from southern China are gentler  

至少听起来是这样的  

Zhìshǎo tīng qǐlái shì zhèyàng de  

At least that's how it sounds