English is pluricentric but symmetrical. Also all English dialects are mutually intelligible. Chinese has a pluricentric writing system, but many "dialects" are not mutually intelligible, and while politically referred to as "dialects" from a linguistic point of view, they are seperate languages, albeit from the same language family. Saying a Cantonese person should understand Mandarin is like saying English people should be able to understand German.
cantonese is minority Zhuang zu culture influenced dialect, it's not even language. the reason hongkong ppl think cantonese is language because they are only one in china speak with such foreign accent(may be because they were told by brits). Mandarin is national language originated from Qin dynasty which is more than 4000 years ago
cantonese is minority Zhuang zu culture influenced dialect, it's not even language. the reason hongkong ppl think cantonese is language because they are only one in china speak with such foreign accent(may be because they were told by brits). Mandarin is national language originated from Qin dynasty which is more than 4000 years ago
oh, my god! did it say a chinese nanny with advanced education , good english and mandarine can make 60-100 thousand dollars a year?! that's more than ten times of my salary income as a decent teacher in beijing
advanced education = 6+ years. education cost a lot in the US & tuition is constantly rising. if the payoff isn't big, no sane american would pay U.S. universities their entire year's salary for 6+yrs. everything in the U.S. cost $, $60-$100K isn't really a lot. there may not be insurance involved. giving birth in a private hospital w/o insurance for a couple hrs. = $--,---.--. a major city like chicago charges 30% tax for bottled h2o, a gal of h20 costing $3.00 = $0.90 tax =$3.90/gal=$1K-2k/yr.
It's pretty silly because "Mandarin" has many so dialects that are not mutually intelligible. Standard Mandarin will get you by in Beijing, but not necessarily other cities. Plus there are so many Chinese with fluent English, there's little chance of an English speakers gaining an "edge" by knowing Mandarin. Finally, English is *firmly* entrenched as the new global lingua franca, and this will not likely change.
English has many dialects too but you still get around well with standard English. Same for Mandarin. And in China you would find Mandarin very usefull.
What an ignorant point of view. And you are uninformed as well. There may be dialects, but with basic mandarine everyone who speaks any mandarine dialect will understand you. And vice versa.
You are obviously a native english speaker. So you should become comfortable with the idea that your language is vastly outnumbered by the chinese speaking population. Your entitlement to be understood by most people on the planet without having to learn another language will diminish.
Hmmm... Mandarin... WHY CAN"T THE JAPS LEARN THIS ONE TOO! I DON"T WANNA LEARN JAPANESE TO UNDERSTAND Anime without the subtitiles XD... oh well Japanese will be my 4th langauge =P Mandarin... well at least it's simple to learn... but I don't think I can speak as fluent as those in china
depends on the source, between 60%-70%. the statistics represent mainland chinese speaking mandarin as "their native language" (wiki). i'm assuming native language means 1st language. mandarin is also being promoted as the official language in china, inclu. provinces where mandarin has traditionally not been the local dialect. mainland chinese kids are required to learn mandarin from the elementary level. 100% of current graduates of mainland chinese universities are fluent in it.
you're exaggerating. cantonese & mandarin are both chinese dialects. while it isn't uncommon for a cantonese speaker who didn't learn mandarin in school or have no or limited exposure to mandarin to misunderstand some words (70%?), the 2 are still derived from a common language. common words such as mother, father, etc. are still recognizable in a sentence w/o a translator, even for ppl who learned to speak cantonese as a 2nd language.
chinese is really hard to learn. I am glad that i am a native chinese speaker.
Barryms0083 2 years ago
English is pluricentric but symmetrical. Also all English dialects are mutually intelligible. Chinese has a pluricentric writing system, but many "dialects" are not mutually intelligible, and while politically referred to as "dialects" from a linguistic point of view, they are seperate languages, albeit from the same language family. Saying a Cantonese person should understand Mandarin is like saying English people should be able to understand German.
cmmndrblu 2 years ago
most people in china speak mandarin even if they have their own dialects in their regions... in school kids learn mandarin.
1daitetomohisa 3 years ago
Smart man.
Check out the economic time horizon of China in 2013. Then in 2018, and 2025. Incredible opportunities!
But then again, America will always have an edge in technological time horizon for at least another 30 years.
Renaissancedehuaxia 3 years ago
being a nanny is not a career choice most self-respecting chinese would make,that guy is right. It's not about money, it's about social status.
eatfastnoodle 4 years ago
correct
cc91801 2 years ago
hehe i'm learning mandarin
athenaBOBena 4 years ago
My grandfather spoke Mandarin and Cantonese, hehe then again he was chinese.
JenovaXiu 4 years ago
I know Americans who speak Mandarin and Cantonese, obviously they're not Chinese. So what's your point?
TheHorsesMouth 4 years ago
No point, just making conversation.
JenovaXiu 4 years ago
Ok. Just thought I was missing something.
TheHorsesMouth 4 years ago
u gotta be kidding, i can tell when a white guy is speaking manadarin, its never as fluent. never mind canto.
jdiddy666 4 years ago
upbringing can contribute to one's accent. mandarin may not have been his 1st language.
anbncejksg 4 years ago
cantonese is minority Zhuang zu culture influenced dialect, it's not even language. the reason hongkong ppl think cantonese is language because they are only one in china speak with such foreign accent(may be because they were told by brits). Mandarin is national language originated from Qin dynasty which is more than 4000 years ago
thanks88 5 years ago
cantonese is minority Zhuang zu culture influenced dialect, it's not even language. the reason hongkong ppl think cantonese is language because they are only one in china speak with such foreign accent(may be because they were told by brits). Mandarin is national language originated from Qin dynasty which is more than 4000 years ago
thanks88 5 years ago
oh, my god! did it say a chinese nanny with advanced education , good english and mandarine can make 60-100 thousand dollars a year?! that's more than ten times of my salary income as a decent teacher in beijing
liwendong2005 5 years ago
advanced education = 6+ years. education cost a lot in the US & tuition is constantly rising. if the payoff isn't big, no sane american would pay U.S. universities their entire year's salary for 6+yrs. everything in the U.S. cost $, $60-$100K isn't really a lot. there may not be insurance involved. giving birth in a private hospital w/o insurance for a couple hrs. = $--,---.--. a major city like chicago charges 30% tax for bottled h2o, a gal of h20 costing $3.00 = $0.90 tax =$3.90/gal=$1K-2k/yr.
anbncejksg 4 years ago
really stupid their bum rushing eveyone to learn a language, like they did with spanish 9 out of 10
don,t use - people should only learn if they like the culture, ive been speaking mandarin for 4 years.
Not because some one said i hade to.
Raymasaki 5 years ago
It's pretty silly because "Mandarin" has many so dialects that are not mutually intelligible. Standard Mandarin will get you by in Beijing, but not necessarily other cities. Plus there are so many Chinese with fluent English, there's little chance of an English speakers gaining an "edge" by knowing Mandarin. Finally, English is *firmly* entrenched as the new global lingua franca, and this will not likely change.
gristy001 5 years ago
English has many dialects too but you still get around well with standard English. Same for Mandarin. And in China you would find Mandarin very usefull.
hiphop242 5 years ago
What an ignorant point of view. And you are uninformed as well. There may be dialects, but with basic mandarine everyone who speaks any mandarine dialect will understand you. And vice versa.
You are obviously a native english speaker. So you should become comfortable with the idea that your language is vastly outnumbered by the chinese speaking population. Your entitlement to be understood by most people on the planet without having to learn another language will diminish.
Solaufein123 5 years ago
Chinese is not easy to learn.
And I agree with this article, Mandarin is the best and most spoken language it is very complex! But my family dont think so.
arpgme 5 years ago
Mandarin is actually a very very easy language. Grammar is MUCH easier then, let's say, English.
hiphop242 5 years ago
even though you are correct about the chinese grammar, english still isn't a language that is hard to learn and/or has hard to learn grammar.
Solaufein123 5 years ago
Hmmm... Mandarin... WHY CAN"T THE JAPS LEARN THIS ONE TOO! I DON"T WANNA LEARN JAPANESE TO UNDERSTAND Anime without the subtitiles XD... oh well Japanese will be my 4th langauge =P Mandarin... well at least it's simple to learn... but I don't think I can speak as fluent as those in china
gamapg 5 years ago
The language characters came from pictures, so of course there is no alphabet. What you learn are simplified pictures.
blingster86 5 years ago
it would be so much easier if words were spelled in pinyin like they sound in english
ssssss7 5 years ago
It is. You must be using the Wade-Giles form of "pinyin".
TheHorsesMouth 5 years ago
I'm Cantonese and I don't understand a single word of Mandarin
orionpirates 5 years ago
You're Chinese but you don't understand Putonghua.
TFTFY!
TheHorsesMouth 5 years ago
40% of mainland Chinese speak no Mandarin at all. I wonder how many speak it as 1st language...
hiphop242 5 years ago
depends on the source, between 60%-70%. the statistics represent mainland chinese speaking mandarin as "their native language" (wiki). i'm assuming native language means 1st language. mandarin is also being promoted as the official language in china, inclu. provinces where mandarin has traditionally not been the local dialect. mainland chinese kids are required to learn mandarin from the elementary level. 100% of current graduates of mainland chinese universities are fluent in it.
anbncejksg 4 years ago
nope only about 30% of mainland Chinese doesn't speak Mandarin.
aiwozhonghua 3 years ago
you're exaggerating. cantonese & mandarin are both chinese dialects. while it isn't uncommon for a cantonese speaker who didn't learn mandarin in school or have no or limited exposure to mandarin to misunderstand some words (70%?), the 2 are still derived from a common language. common words such as mother, father, etc. are still recognizable in a sentence w/o a translator, even for ppl who learned to speak cantonese as a 2nd language.
anbncejksg 4 years ago
Wow cool! Thank god I'm learning Mandarin!
mateo2k6 5 years ago
no wonder. the most speaking language on the world is Chinese
Maxpower4 5 years ago
I'm glad about this. People really should teach their kids many languages.
YakuChan 5 years ago
Interesting, but how come the local Chinese school only gets like, 2-3 American students in a class to learn Mandarin?
ShaolinLohan631 5 years ago