Chinese is a language spoken by nearly one fifth of the world's population. It is spoken in China and its provinces, as well as by Chinese communities living abroad. Chinese consists of many dialects, the most significant being Mandarin and Cantonese.
The Mandarin dialect of Chinese is the standard dialect of the country, and is the one most commonly taught to foreigners. In Chinese it is called Putonghua. Mandarin Chinese in the People's Republic of China uses simplified Chinese characters, whereas in Taiwan the traditional Chinese characters are used. The simplified Chinese characters were introduced half a century ago by the Chinese government, to facilitate learning Chinese writing and to increase literacy.
In Hong Kong and other areas of Southern China, Cantonese is the main dialect of spoken Chinese, though Mandarin is still taught and used in different settings. Cantonese also uses Chinese characters, except they are different from the Chinese writing associated with Mandarin. The Cantonese Chinese characters are traditional like the Chinese characters used in Taiwan, and there are many Chinese characters in Cantonese which are unique to this dialect.
All dialects of Chinese are tonal, which means that different Chinese words that sound the same change meaning depending on the tone it is pronounced with. The Chinese characters give no indication of their own pronunciation or tone, so Chinese pinyin was developed to help the foreigner to learn the proper pronunciation and tones for every Chinese character. One can find a suitable Chinese pinyin dictionary to help them with different words in Chinese.
Chinese is a difficult language but is rewarding and useful in today's global economy. Good luck on your speaking Chinese, writing Chinese and learning Chinese!
