CHINA DAILY

Jayme Lawman (middle) celebrates his wedding day with his groomsmen. Lawman started learning Shanghainese while he was dating his wife.

CHINA DAILY
  Jayme Lawman and his wife.

CHINA DAILY
  Tyler Christler in a selfie with his former rommate Song Yang.

CHINA DAILY
  A LOOK AT WORDS IN ENGLISH, PUTONGHUA AND THE BEIJING DIALECT

MANDARIN is considered one of the hardest languages for a native English speaker to learn.

But, as if China's main dialect weren't difficult enough to master, Jayme Lawman decided to also take on Shanghainese.

The Englishman has become so proficient that he was featured in the documentary Searching for the Shanghai Dialect on Shanghai television in March.

When the film starts, Lawman－introduced by his Chinese name Luo Sijie－is shown greeting a shopkeeper in Shanghainese.