Shanghai's Hongkou District has launched a Shanghai dialect training program for young migrant workers, hoping to ease their stress by first removing language barriers.

Initiated by the Hongkou Youth League, the pilot training program has been opened to more than 70 migrant workers in the service sector, such as restaurants and hotels.

Migrant waiters and waitresses were divided into groups and followed Shanghai-native social workers to learn how to take orders and introduce dishes in the Shanghai dialect.

Social workers will also introduce Shanghai's culture, manners and lifestyles to the migrant youth, and conduct interactive games.

Sheng Saifen, an official with the Hongkou Youth League, said all the training content was tailored according to the actual needs of migrant workers.

"Service sector workers usually see the most urgent need for Shanghai dialect understanding to communicate with their customers," Sheng said. "But the most important thing is to set up a platform for migrant youth to ease their pressure and merge into the city better."

Quyang Community, where the pilot training program is being carried out, is home to more than 1,000 migrant workers, most of whom work in restaurants, barber shops and other service industries. Tao Chunhong, a Jiangsu Province-native waitress who has been working in the city for 11 years, said that at first she was very afraid of meeting customers speaking the Shanghai dialect.

The 30-year-old then tried her best to overcome the language problem by watching TV and reading comics in the Shanghai dialect. "Now I understand most of what the natives say which makes me feel I'm no longer a stranger here," Tao said.