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Old 11-09-2016, 10:02 AM   #20
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Chinese is the language used in China, but what Chinese language ? This is a difficult question to answer.

China is a vast nation boasting diversified nationalities and languages. With 56 ethnic groups, there are over 100 languages used in China, and countless local dialects. The People's Republic of China stipulates Mandarin as China's universal national language which is known in English as Mandarin Chinese, or standard Chinese. It is the most used language in China and one of the 6 official languages of the United Nations.

Information you read on Internet says about 70 % of the total population can speak Mandarin, this is both true and untrue. For indeed, if standard Mandarin is “putonghua” (literally translated "common tongue or speech) language, it has different regional words, grammar, many regional accents and a completely different sounding dialect of Chinese. China has ten major dialects, including Cantonese, Hokkien, Xiang, and Wu, as well as thousands of smaller ones.

Then the standard line of calling everything a “dialect” makes it really hard to tell, I would say that Chinese dialects are more fully different tongue languages than only regional grammar and accents.
China’s 10 or so dialect groups should be treated as completely separate languages. Moreover while standard Mandarin has become the official language of instruction in schools and among government officials, many families prefer to speak one of the dialects when home.

Therefore, if 70% of the 1.3 billion Chinese in the country can speak "Mandarin", only 50/55 % of the total population can speak standard Mandarin. Let's us not confuse percentage of population with geographical location : Two thirds of the citizens in China’s cities and towns speak standard Mandarin, only 20 % in the rural areas. 86 % of the population can speak as well or only regional Chinese dialects. 400 million people in China (equivalent to the population of Europe) can’t communicate in Mandarin...

Outside of the cities, don't except much people speaking standard Mandarin, they speak local dialect, a large part of them do not speak or understand the language used by the authorities. Moreover, standard Mandarin spoken by the authorities in Chongqing is some different than the standard Mandarin spoken by the authorities in Beijing.
Outside of Chongqing they speak local dialect of Sichuan (Sichuanese), it is quite the same outside of Beijing (4 different dialects !) Shanghai (shanghaïen spoken), Nankin & Yangzhou (Jianghai spoken), etc... Let us not forget the Cantonese (Yue) dialects which are spoken in Guangdong (Canton) and Guangxi, in the area around the southernmost point in the curve of the South China coastline.

These Yue / Cantonese dialects are also spoken in North America. Unlike people from other parts of China, the people who speak Yue / Cantonese dialects have settled in fairly large numbers in the United States and Canada by people who immigrated from Hong Kong (Cantonese spoken there) and Guangdong (Canton).

In Hong Kong, the most popular language is Cantonese. Standard Mandarin the official dialect of China, is used through the country for government communication. Although English remains an official language in Hong Kong, getting along with English alone can be much harder than you may think outside of Hong Kong Main island. Hong Kong is a great place to visit.

In Taiwan (Taipei is a one-hour & half flight from Hong Kong), the country is much more influenced by Mainland China than Hong Kong, so they speak Mandarin.

Macau (an one hour ride by TurboJet Ferry from Hong Kong, an easy day trip) speaks mostly Cantonese, also standard Mandarin and Portuguese.

What about Chinese written language :
Mandarin, Cantonese, the 9 other main local dialects speakers, use the same written language.
Normally (there are a few exceptions), if a Mandarin person knows traditional characters he/she is able to read and understand written Chinese anywhere, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore. The grammar, the accents, some words, are very much different in the spoken tongue but written-wise it is pretty much the same. All Chinese dialects use (almost) an identical writing system.

Chinese characters, called Kanji in Japanese, are also heavily used in the Japanese writing. China now uses simplified characters, whereas Japan use traditional ones. Chinese cannot read Japanese aloud or vice-versa, but they can understand what is being said in the text.

But, although you could read on the Internet about that, the very big problem is that only a minority of the population in China Mainland know how to read and write fluent Chinese, from what I have seen.

In China Mainland, the extreme complexity of numerous different dialects spoken combined to the fact a minority know how to read and write is a somewhat different nature and huge issue. Even Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People’s Republic of China, spoke with such a pronounced regional accent that many Chinese had a hard time understanding him.

All this makes it more complicated to travel on your own (I mean outside of a tourist or business group) in China Mainland especially in the country side. An interpreter is required, which is a crucial, even vital point. I was accompanied by Miss Xiao, she is my interpreter (and my "security") in China since years. She speaks Mandarin, Sichuanese, Yue (Cantonese), Shanghaïen, English. Formerly employed by the French Embassy in Beijing, she speaks also fluent French.
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