Become an expert in Chinese linguistics!
BlogLanguagesChineseEverything You Need to Know about Chinese Languages: Become an expert in Chinese linguistics!
What languages do the Chinese speak?
The great history of Chinese languages
Which Chinese language should be given preference when learning?
The influence of Chinese in the Asian world
Focus on Mandarin Chinese
What is Pinyin?
The tones in Chinese: Become an expert in Chinese linguistics!
1.3 billion inhabitants, that is 1/6 of the world’s population. 8 metropolitan areas with more than 10 million inhabitants and thirty cities of at least 2 million. 10 million square kilometers.
China is the third largest country in the world!
Having become the world’s leading economic power, China is also one of the 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
The world’s leading exporter, the country has the largest army on the planet and its military budget is number two in the world ranking.
Figures that cause dizziness and that there are more and more students and businessmen who are attracted to this country!
In this article you will discover everything you need to know to learn Chinese , and why not to settle in China …!
What languages do the Chinese speak?: Become an expert in Chinese linguistics!
Mandarin is the first language spoken in China
Nowadays, more and more young people want to include in their CV: «upper-intermediate level in written and spoken Chinese»
But be aware that there are 81 languages spoken in China!
Which one to choose?
The Mandarin?
Cantonese?
At Superprof , we will guide you.
We have already commented above, 81 languages are spoken in China . Among which, 49 are called as the nationality of the people who speak them:
The “han” language is spoken by the “han”,
The “zhuang” by the “zhuang”,
The “buyei”, the “dai” …
Of the 32 remaining languages, the denomination totally differs from the nationality of its speakers.
For example: the 90,000 Tibetans have as their mother tongue … “Gyarong” and not Tibetan!
To simplify it: in southern China , we will find minority languages and dialects. In North China : the dialects have more similarities between them.
Now that you are more clear about the distribution of languages, let’s focus on 3 of them …
If you want to learn this language without leaving home, our teachers also teach Chinese courses online .
Mandarin Chinese
It is the most widely spoken language in China!
Mandarin Chinese or 普通話 / 普通话 pǔtōnghuà (“common language”), has more than 955 million speakers.
It is the official language of the People’s Republic of China since 1956, and the most widely taught when you want to learn Chinese.
If you want to go to China, you have to learn Mandarin as the whole country speaks standard Mandarin!
Something useful you have to know: this language is also spoken in Taiwan and Singapore.
Cantonese Chinese
Cantonese is spoken by more than 71 million people . This Chinese language is spoken in Hong Kong, Macao and even in some areas of Southeast Asia.
It is often discredited as it is considered quite simple with respect to Mandarin. Therefore, for some Chinese, Cantonese is a poor language, devoid of beauty.
Despite this, Cantonese is currently considered the second living language of China, by speakers.
Chinese Wu
Wu is spoken in Shanghai and in the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and covers about 77 million speakers .
Things get complicated here too. For some Chinese, Cantonese is not the second language of the country, but it is Wu that takes away the title!
Because all of this? Because it is still made up of many individual dialects, and is considered, like Mandarin, as a noble language.
Something important that Spaniards should know: the word «wu» is well known by Scrabble lovers who have made it their favorite word to be able to use the letter «W», famous for being one of the most difficult when it comes to writing. form a word.
