Chongqing Dialect vs. other Sichuan Dialects

[Understudy]

I've been contemplating heading to Chongqing to go to school for a while, but want to know how much difficulty I might encounter when working with the local dialect. I was in Leshan, Sichuan, about a year ago, and the local dialect was nearly impossible for me to understand (I'm at about four years of language study). While Leshan is not that far away from Chongqing, I have heard that it is actually a very different, much older dialect, so I'm not sure if it is a good representation of what to expect. Is it worth studying Putonghua in a Chongqing university while being exposed to a dialect that has so many differences in structure and pronunciation?

[abcdefg]

Is it worth studying Putonghua in a Chongqing university while being exposed to a dialect that has so many differences in structure and pronunciation?

My experience during a couple trips to Chongqing (I have not lived there) is that it's a fairly cosmopolitan place where it's easy to find Putonghua. You will inevitably get some exposure to the local dialect, but there's no need to try to learn it. If you like Chongqing for other reasons, don't let the dialect issue keep you from going there. At least that would be my advice.

Similar situation here in Kunming. I've lived here part of each year for the last four years and never found a need to learn the dialect. Get by just fine with Putonghua. Sometimes I will be stumped by an elderly vegetable seller in the wet market, but that's not a big deal. I have absolutely no desire to clutter my small brain with dialect when it's fully occupied trying to master Putonghua.

EDIT: I realize now on re-reading this that I've ignored your query about comparing the various Sichuan dialects with eachother. Maybe someone else can answer that.

[Understudy]

@abcdefg- Seems like you have answers to all of my questions- Leshan, as compared to Chongqing, is tiny, which meant that there wasn't all that much variation in the dialect. I'm fascinated with Chongqing, both in terms of recent history (last hundred years), as well as it's geographic location. If I can make language study work while I'm there, I think it would be a great place to spend some time.

[Kiz]

I'm from Chengdu. I spent sometime on Leshan and Chongqing both. To me, the dialects are different in some specific pronunciations. If you can totally understand one, you will get the other soon or later.

Hope it helps~

PS: if you want to figure out the relations between the dialects, try to understand the same sentence in different dialects in a slow speed. Unlike trans-provincial dialects, they use similar words and phrases most of the time.

[Marietta]

Hi!

It seems that I will spend the next academic year in Chongqing!

I will study Chinese in Chongqing Universities one year language course!

I am interested about everythin connected to Chonqing. Do you know something about Chongqing University? Especially its language course?

Regards

[sleepy eyes]

They are both variations of the exact same dialect. Linguistically speaking, it's just a matter of accent and slang. If you ask a local, he will say they are different (mind you, there is an amiable rivalry between CQ and Chengdu), but it's a matter of different categories of perception to ours. The division of dialects does not follow strict linguistic categories (it doesn't anywhere, anyway). I have asked this several times to local friends and before Kiz' posts, which obviously carries a lot more authority than mine, I had never heard of any hint of difficulties in immediate intelligilibility. I have several sentences in Sichuanese on my electronic dictionary and I made an experiment with them to sort this out. When I play them for my 12-ys old neighbour, she says it's Chongqinghua.