Introduction to Chinese
Facts and statistics about Mandarin Chinese
- 1 billion people speak standard Mandarin Chinese
- 214 keys make up Chinese characters
- 400 syllables are enough to pronounce the words
- 4 tones apply to all or part of the syllables
- 1000 characters are necessary to speak fluently
| Number of characters to know | Percentage understandable |
|---|---|
| 100 | 40% |
| 200 | 55% |
| 500 | 75% |
| 1000 | 90% |
| 2000 | 97% |
| 5000 | 100% |
Principle
Chinese is a tonal language (4 tones), with a well-defined set of characters and a simple grammar. For instance, there is no conjugation. Mastering 1000 characters is enough for handling daily situations, both in and out of a professional context.
A language like English uses the 26-letters Latin alphabet. Chinese has no alphabet. However, it uses a set of 214 keys (or radicals), which make it possible to find a word in a dictionary, and to write the characters.
The pronunciation of Chinese is helped by pinyin, which is a way to write Chinese using Latin characters. It is possible to start speaking Chinese immediately, thanks to this system.
Words, characters and radicals
Each Chinese word consists of at least one character, which can be written:
- with ideograms (hanzi)
- with Latin letters (pinyin)
Each Chinese character is made of one or more radicals.
Each radical is a graphical unit, which has a meaning (semantic value) and a sound (phonetic function).
Example:
| Chinese words (hanzi) | Pronunciation (pinyin) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 人 | rén | Person |
| 今天 | jīn tiān | Today |
Differences between Mandarin and Cantonese
They differ in pronunciation for the same concepts and words. Mandarin is spoken in Mainland China and Taiwan, whereas Cantonese is used in Hong Kong and Canton. Thus, pronunciation (in Mandarin or Cantonese) and writing (simplified or traditional) are two different problems. Simplified writing is used in Continental China, traditional in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Canton.
For example, to write the word "horse":
- in Traditional: 馬 (it is possible to see a horse, with four legs and a tail)
- in Simplified: 马 (simpler, with the four legs turned into a simple horizontal stroke)
It can be summarised thus:
| Continental China | Taiwan | Hong-Kong/Canton | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writing | Simplified | Traditional | Traditional |
| Speaking | Mandarin | Mandarin | Cantonese |
Learning Chinese means:
- learning the Chinese radicals, use them to compose characters an words. It is possible to employ pinyin if writing is not a priority
- mastering the pronunciation of each of the 4 tones
- understanding the Chinese grammar rules
- practice both speaking and writing in order to progress
HSK Academy will help you with:
- learning easily the radicals, characters and words
- practicing your written and spoken skills
- progressing from beginner to master
Continue Chinese phonetics.