> Well, as long as it's the right dialect and the correct script,
> otherwise you'll be as incomprehensible and illiterate as i am
> in some parts of China!
>
> BTW Martin, your GIF generator isn't working for me....

Not mine, it's at www.mandarintools.com.

I know that it can be embarrassing here for (say) Chinese students from Malaysia, because people in (Chinese) shops expect them to understand Cantonese, which they don't.

M.