Planning a trip to China? How exciting! Let’s learn something about the languages that are spoken in this country. I bet you’ve heard the words “Chinese” and “Mandarin,” and you know they refer to the language spoken in the world’s most populated country—China. But did you know that Chinese is not equivalent to Mandarin? Sounds weird? It’s true!
While Mandarin is the official modern Chinese spoken language, it is actually one of the seven Chinese dialect groups. So when you travel inside of China, be prepared to hear lots of dialects. Whereas some of the dialects are similar to Mandarin, others are not. Sometimes, the dialects is so much different from Mandarin, you can’t help wondering whether you are still in China. Now you can tell why the government has set Mandarin as the official and standard language of China, which most foreigners deem the most useful. However, despite the truth that dialects vary, most of the Chinese people, especially those educated ones, are able to speak standard Mandarin Chinese.
Now, let us learn some simple Chinese. |
