About one-fifth of the world’s population, or over one billion people, speak some form of Chinese as their native language. 1. How many people speak Chinese in the world?

2. Do they all speak same kind of Chinese language? NO! There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese, of which the most spoken, by far, is Mandarin (about 850 million).

Name Hanyu Pinyin Trad. Simp. Total Speakers Notes Mandarin (Guan) Běifānghuà Guānhuà 北方話 官話 北方话 官话 c. 850 million includes Standard Mandarin WuWúyǔ 吳語吴语 c. 90 million includes Shanghainese Shanghainese Cantonese Cantonese (Yue) Yuèyǔ Guǎngdōnghuà 粵語 廣東話 粤语 广东话 c. 80 million includes Standard CantoneseStandard Cantonese MinMǐnyǔ 閩語闽语 c. 50 million includes Taiwanese and TeochewTaiwaneseTeochew Xiang Xiāngyǔ Húnánhuà 湘語 湖南話 湘语 湖南话 c. 35 million Hakka Hakka (Kejia) Kèjiāhuà Kèhuà 客家話 客話 客家话 客话 c. 35 million Gan Gànyǔ Jiāngxīhuà 贛語 江西話 赣语 江西话 c. 20 million

3. What kind of Chinese are we learning? pŭ tōng huà 普 通 话 Standard Mandarin Chinese

Knowledge tool 3. Why do we learn Chinese?

4. What do we need to know? pīn yīn hàn zì 拼 音 汉字 Pronunciation Character

pīnyīn 拼音 pronunciation hànzì 汉字 Character zhōng wén 中 文 Chinese

yīn jié 音 节 Syllable shēng mǔ + 声 母 initial (consonant) yùnmǔ + 韵 母 final (vowel) shēng diào 声 调 tone ( ˉ ˊ ˇ ˋ untoned )

shēngmǔ 声 母 (21+2=23) initial b p m f d t n l g k h j q x z c s zh ch sh r y w

yùnmǔ 韵 母 finals a o e i u ü dānyùnmǔ 单韵母 simple finals fùyùnmǔ 复韵母 compound finals bíyùnmǔ 鼻韵母 finals followed by a nasal sound ai ei ui ao ou iu ie üe er an en in un ün ang eng ing ong

b p m f d t n l g k h j q x z c s zh ch sh r y w a o e i u ü ai ei ui ao ou iu ie üe er an en in un ün ang eng ing ong

sì shēng 四 声 four tones ˉ ˊ ˇ ˋ 一声 二声 三声 四声

mā, má, mǎ, mà 妈 麻 马 骂 mom numb horse scold

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