Are dialects just as acceptable?

gzlaser

MANDARIN, or putonghua, is the standard service sector language in major cities. But recently, employees at the Shanghai metro's Railway Station stop have been busy learning dialects from other parts of the country.

The metro hopes to provide better service to travelers from outside the city. According to the metro authority, more than 300,000 people pass through that particular stop every day, and many of them speak a different dialect. The language barrier has led to communication problems and slowed the process of buying tickets and asking for directions.

The dialects the metro employees are learning include those of Minnan (spoken in southern Fujian), Guangdong, Wenzhou, Wuhan and Changsha. They are focusing on simple sentences, such as \"How much is a ticket?\"and \"How do I get to the railway station?\"

Critics say this is not a good move because people should be encouraged to speak putonghua in public. But defenders say it's a welcome service allowing travelers to feel at home in a strange city.

What do you think? Is it a good idea for employees in the service sector to use different dialects?