Where is cantonese and mandarin spoken

Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Rory Boland. Rory Boland is a guidebook author and travel writer who has lived and worked in Hong Kong and London. Updated April 14, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. When you look at it closely, there are actually over dialects of Chinese!

Cantonese is the other main dialect. While less people speak it, it is spoken in very internationally cities including Hong Kong and Macau. It also happens to be spoken quite widely overseas. The population who speaks it tends to be older, as learning Mandarin was not a requirement in Hong Kong and Macau schools until late s. The biggest stars from China are usually Cantonese-speaking ones too, such as Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, although both demonstrated fluency in Mandarin as well.

Mandarin and Cantonese are nearly written the same way with the same base characters. Though there are some differences in vocabulary and grammar, native speakers can often contextually interpret those differences. Here's an example of different word order in Cantonese vs. Therefore a Mandarin-speaker and a Cantonese-speaker would be able to write letters to one another with minimal difficulty. It is a number of dialect groups. Do you know what Chinese dialect is mainly spoken about?

In this blog, we will learn about two of these dialects and their differences. Before we go to the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin, let us discover what the Chinese Language is. Chinese is an umbrella language term that includes multiple dialects like Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, and more.

These Chinese dialects are united by a common writing system. But the most important thing you need to know is that these spoken Chinese are different and not mutually intelligible. Are you still confused?

Well, try to think about it this way. Cabbage is a type of vegetable. Cantonese is a form of Chinese. I hope that it is clear to you. You may be one of those people who are wondering what are the differences between the two dialects. Like what is stated above, the Chinese language is composed of different dialects. Cantonese and Mandarin are not two languages rather, they are two of the many Chinese dialects.

In this blog, we will focus on the difference between the two in the case of the place where it is being spoken, the written characters, the way of speaking, and the tones. Where are Mandarin and Cantonese being widely spoken? One of the differences between the two is the places they are spoken. First, let us talk about Mandarin. Mandarin is the official language of Mainland China. It is widely spoken throughout the county that is why it is called the lingua franca or the main dialect of China.

Mandarin is spoken by million native speakers mainly in the north of China but now, it is used all over mainland China and Taiwan.

It is also one of the four official languages of Singapore. Young and unhappy in Hong Kong. The youths out to save Hong Kong's unique opera. China's old art of Peking Opera.

Mandarin classes for babies launched. For some young people in Hong Kong, speaking Mandarin is somewhat taboo. Read more about Hong Kong since the handover:. Why Britain returned Hong Kong to China Golden geese and democracy 'infections' - did predictions come true? Language of success. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Cantonese v Mandarin: What's the difference? Language battle. Mandarin, also known as Putonghua, is seen as the key to success by many Hong Kong parents.

Cantonese and Mandarin: which came first? Image source, AFP. A man at a protest expressing support for Cantonese. Government bias? Image source, EPA. The young people out to save Hong Kong's unique opera Have Hong Kong's youth lost hope in the future?