Sometimes it’s hard to find face-to-face language classes in your neighborhood. This is why many people are using the Internet to learn new languages

Following an earlier post titled Learning Arabic online, here I’d like to introduce 3 sites that offer free online classes in Shanghainese and Mandarin Chinese. I use them for revision

Shanghainese learning resources

520hai.com <http://www.520hai.com/shanghai/>

This is a collection free online classes for beginners in Shanghainese. The website supports Internet Explorer but has problems if you view it with Firefox. Highlight of the contents are

• Key phrases
• Explanation of differences between Mandarin Chinese and the Wu dialects (a category of dialects spoken in Eastern China - Shanghainese is one of the Wu dialects)
• Video tutorials (watch first lesson on simple greeting phrases used between family members)
• Mp3 webcast of key terms
• Shanghainese language textbooks used before 1949

ShanghaiNing.com <http://www.shanghaining.com/>

For those interested in using Shanghainese in a “hip” way, you can download some Shanghainese raps and songs here,and learn a new word each day. These 3 songs are particularly catchy

• Riding a Bus in Shanghai
• 99 Times in Love with Shanghai
• KTV Girls in Shanghai

Chinese learning resources

CSLpod <http://cslpod.com>

It is run by a small team of enthusiastic Chinese people which is designed to help people improve their Chinese skills. It has podcasts for beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The contents are updated every day, so you can hear up-to-date news articles read by Chinese voices, with transcripts included

I’m extremely delighted to be able to spend time with two fine gentlemen, a Kuwaiti (Mr. K) and a Croatian (Mr. C). Because of them, I truely feel how fortunate I have been. Both of them have experienced wars first-hand. Mr. K with the First Gulf War and Mr. C with the Yogoslavian war in the early 90’s

One of the conversations with Mr. K goes like this
Me: What do you think about the US?
Mr. K: Well, I can’t say that I agree with the US foreign policy. But I have to be thankful to them. Without America, there’s no Kuwaiti. By the way, our security depends on the US now. So we are friends
Me: Do you feel happy being a friend of the US?
Mr. K: I know their intentions. They didn’t help us because they really love Kuwaitis. But I was in Kuwait City during the whole duration of Iraqi occupation. Life was tough. When the Iraqis retreated, they took everyone they could see hostage. No matter how evil their intentions are, the outcome is that the US saved us
Me: Do you like to continue working with the US?
Mr. K: Sure, we’re making a lot of money. We supply them a lot of things - drinks, rubber, oil, power. Their money is helping us build our industry. It’s good to have American military bases here