Protect dialects and local accents.

Play games and chat with my niece who went to kindergarten for one year at the age of three and a half.

Her dialect is mixed with Mandarin, and Mandarin is mixed with dialects. Mandarin is not standard, and dialect is not very authentic, which always sounds a bit awkward.

When I think of my little nephew, I can speak dialects before I go to kindergarten. Since I went to kindergarten, I went to primary school again. When I get home, I communicate with my family in Mandarin. I don't need dialect, and I can't speak dialect. Sometimes I chat with my grandparents, and occasionally I talk elegantly. The uneducated old people can't understand what they really want to express, and sometimes they make a lot of jokes when they get it wrong.

And many children around me, even adults, have similar situations to some extent. They are used to speaking Mandarin, and speaking dialects feels unnatural.

Language is a communication tool. Since it is communication, we should convey our own ideas and let the listeners understand. China is also a populous country with many nationalities, languages and dialects. In order to promote the communication between ethnic groups and regions, it is necessary to unify the language and avoid communication obstacles. Therefore, in ancient times, it was officially stipulated that there should be both refined and popular tastes. Today, we advocate the promotion of Putonghua.

In 1956, China also issued "Instructions on Promoting Putonghua", and in 1982, it was stipulated in the Constitution of People's Republic of China (PRC) that "the State promotes Putonghua which is commonly used throughout the country", and the promotion of Putonghua was officially put on the legal status, and since 1998, the third week of September has been designated as the national promotion and publicity week.

However, is it necessary to abolish dialects to promote Putonghua?

From the national level, the country is only vigorously promoting Putonghua, and does not want dialects to disappear. After all, dialect is also a kind of culture. However, while vigorously promoting Putonghua, it virtually narrowed the scope of use of local languages and aggravated the disappearance of local languages. That's not alarmist.

My husband has a Zhuang classmate. He was born and raised in Guangxi, and now he can only speak Mandarin and write Chinese characters. For Zhuang language, he can only understand simple language and can't write at all.

I think, not only the Zhuang nationality, but also other nationalities with their own languages and characters may have this situation more or less.

Once I attended a recitation lecture, the speaker said: I went to a small village in the south of your city more than 20 years ago, and I felt that people there said that life was really beautiful, just like singing. After learning to chant, I went there to collect the wind. I found that the voices of adults and children have changed, almost like Mandarin, and I can't find such a beautiful voice.

Now the school requires all teachers and students to use Putonghua, and the propaganda slogan clearly says "Putonghua is the language of the campus", especially during the Putonghua Publicity Week in September every year, when the superior checks, the following activities related to Putonghua are also carried out in various forms to promote Putonghua. Children use Mandarin from the beginning of school. All the communication between teachers and students is in Mandarin. They spend most of the day at school, so they use Mandarin most of the time.

In other places, employees in enterprises are required to know Mandarin, and employees in shopping malls, restaurants and other industries are required to know Mandarin. Even street vendors try to use Mandarin. As long as they go out to communicate, strangers are used to using Mandarin. It is no exaggeration to say that Mandarin is pervasive.

But what about dialects? Although there are still a large number of people who speak dialects in the village, as far as people around me and I are concerned, even if many young people speak dialects, they are no longer pure and become Putonghua-style dialects. And children, because of school education, speak dialect Mandarin, or even change to less standard or standard Mandarin, and can't speak dialects.

Moreover, because more and more people speak Mandarin, some people begin to feel that dialects are ugly and ashamed to speak them.

Once I visited my neighbor's house, I happened to meet his daughter who was working in the city and took her children back to her family. She uses dialect when chatting with us, but always uses Mandarin when communicating with children.

I asked casually, why not use dialect? It's not that children don't understand.

She replied, which surprised me greatly: I won't let my children speak the old dialect (dialect), it's too ugly!

When I was on the bus, I heard a girl chatting with a girl.

A said: Last time I saw a woman somewhere, she was really beautiful. She has to have a look, a figure, and all her gestures show her temperament. Unexpectedly, as soon as I opened my mouth, I was surprised to say out-and-out old dialect, and her image was completely ruined!

Now it's my turn to be surprised.

Although Mandarin has a clear pronunciation and mellow voice, it has the beauty of cadence, but dialects also have their own advantages of being playful, flexible and friendly. Sometimes if you can't express yourself in Mandarin, you can easily solve it in dialect. Some wisecracks can't be expressed in non-dialects. Besides, Mandarin is based on dialects. Why do dialects become synonymous with dirt in some people's minds?

Dialect is the carrier of our traditional culture. Whether it is slang or minor, ancient Chinese vocabulary or ancient phonology, it is closely related to dialect. Without dialects, these can only exist as lost cultures in Mandarin books, and there is no fresh life.

Especially as Chinese teachers, what we do is related to language and writing, and we have a greater responsibility to inherit and protect traditional language and culture.

In the past, I also emphasized that students must communicate in Mandarin in class, but now I allow them to answer in authentic dialects. Although I have been criticized by colleagues in other units in the teaching and research process of open classes, I humbly accept face-to-face suggestions to show my respect, but in my heart, I have never been ready to accept opinions. Because I'm worried, it's not that they can't speak Mandarin, but that the dialect we have spoken for many years will only stay in audio-visual materials one day. What a sad thing it will be!

Yesterday, I saw a message on the Internet entitled "the State Council's Major Ethnic Policies in 20 17: Opinions on Implementing the Inheritance and Development Project of Chinese Excellent Traditional Culture". One of the words was "Vigorously promote and standardize the use of the national common language and characters to protect the inheritance of dialect culture. Carry out the protection of minority cultures, strengthen the protection and dissemination of minority languages and books, and do a good job in the translation and publication of minority books and Han books. "

Suddenly, I feel confident and supportive.

Protect dialects and local accents.

We have a responsibility and a mission!