[ZanKanTou]

I'm trying to locate a place to learn Mandarin, not Putonghua. I prefer Mandarin but it seems like everywhere I go to check, it's all about Putonghua. Well, I know HK is back with China so that is the reason, but there must be a place were you can learn some Mandarin. Anybody know?

[Max]

correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't they the same?

[kristof]

[yiujames]

I am confused , I have been using this (these ?) language for years...I am convinced that they are the same. (if you say they are different, then it's politically different, PDH from Mainland and Mandarin from Taiwan )

[ZanKanTou]

LOL~ Well, yeah they speak the same thing, but the letters are different. Basically Madanrin is what is used over at Taiwan, and Putonghua is used over at China. The big difference in the two, is that Mandarin uses traditional Chinese, just liek in Catonese. Putonghua uses simplified Chinese, which is basically sued over at China.

[BenderBends]

ummm...

taiwan speaks taiwanese
canton people (HK) speak cantonese
Mainland people speak Mandarin (putonghua)
tibetans speak tibetan

all of them use different variations of type...
not sure where you are getting your information from

[martyn]

Originally Posted by mattstewart

ummm...

taiwan speaks taiwanese
canton people (HK) speak cantonese
Mainland people speak Mandarin (putonghua)
tibetans speak tibetan

And American's speak American! (Well, according to the picture in the attachment)

[timklip]

Originally Posted by mattstewart

ummm...

taiwan speaks taiwanese
canton people (HK) speak cantonese
Mainland people speak Mandarin (putonghua)
tibetans speak tibetan

all of them use different variations of type...
not sure where you are getting your information from

lol....not sure where YOU'RE getting your information from...do a little research before you dismiss someone with your misinformation.

"Standard Mandarin is the official spoken language of the People's Republic of China—where it is known as Putonghua (普通話; literally, "the common tongue") —and the Republic of China (Taiwan)—where it is known as Guoyu (Kuo-yü, literally, "the national tongue").



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese

[BenderBends]

Originally Posted by timklip

lol....not sure where YOU'RE getting your information from...do a little research before you dismiss someone with your misinformation.

"Standard Mandarin is the official spoken language of the People's Republic of China—where it is known as Putonghua (???; literally, "the common tongue") —and the Republic of China (Taiwan)—where it is known as Guoyu (Kuo-yü, literally, "the national tongue").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese

lol again... thats exactly what i said...so not sure why you are debating with me...

only difference is i didnt specify the term Guoyu for taiwan from wikipedia...

unless you are trying to say that Guoyu is same as putonghua? which couldn't be further from the truth.

the point is:
mandarin and putonghua are the same thing
taiwan speaks a different language not known as putonghua
HK speaks yet another different language

and my sources are my friends in northern china, taiwan and HK, and my living experience in the 3 areas....hope that helps clear the air...although wikipedia helps some of us too


and yes...americans speak american...lol....actually only some of us speak american...the others speak Spanish "the other american"

[Gatts]

Originally Posted by mattstewart

unless you are trying to say that Guoyu is same as putonghua? which couldn't be further from the truth.

The official language in Taiwan is Mandarin/Putonghua/GuoYu. YES Guoyu is the same as Mandarin. Period. I don't know what your friends have been smoking/telling you. Of course there are othere dialects spoken in Taiwan such as Fukinese (From the nearby Fujian province of China) and native Taiwanese dialect(s) across the country. But the main and official language is Mandarin. When written they use non-simplified characters.

Yes, HK speaks "another language", pretty obvious so when living here. In HK the language is Cantonese, Chinese traditional characters when written. Some colloquial text is written in Cantonese-only characters though.

Hope that clears things up.