Episode 13: That's it!

The different types of Mandarin

Mandarin is one of a large number of spoken languages in the Sinitic language family. The Sinitic language family also includes Cantonese, Hakka, Shanghainese, Hokkien (Min), Sichuanese, and many, many others. But Mandarin, being the official language of several Chinese-speaking countries, is by far the most widely spoken language in the family.

Within the Mandarin language itself, there are also many different dialects. The two most widely spoken and most commonly taught dialects are Pǔtōnghuà (普通話), the official dialect of the People’s Republic of China, and Guóyǔ (國語), the official dialect spoken in Taiwan.

The difference goes even further than the spoken language. In China, Pǔtōnghuà is written using a simplified version of the original Chinese characters, whereas in Taiwan, Guóyǔ is written using the traditional characters.

What dialect of Mandarin should you learn?

Which dialect should you learn? And how important is this decision?

Thankfully, Pǔtōnghuà and Guóyǔ are mutually intelligible. They are roughly as different from each other as, say, American English and British English are from each other. This means that whichever version you choose to learn, you will still be able to communicate with speakers of the other dialect.

The Taiwanese dialect, Guóyǔ, which is used in this podcast, has a pronunciation that is often described as “lighter.” It puts much less emphasis on the retroflex r sound (one notable feature of this is that the words sì (四) and shì (是) can sound almost the same in the typical Taiwanese pronunciation).

The Chinese dialect, Pǔtōnghuà, makes more use of the retroflex r sound, made by curling the tongue back when saying words like shì (是) and chī (吃). There are many other differences, but we don’t need to discuss the details here.

It’s important to note that these two dialects are really just archetypes. The way real people speak never conforms perfectly to any standard. Language is both a collective and a personal phenomenon, and everyone speaks a little bit differently.

You may already know which dialect you want to learn, but if not, I would suggest that you simply choose your favorite — the one you like listening to the most. Whichever you choose, if you learn through listening and imitation, then it won’t be hard to learn the other dialect if you ever change your mind along the way.

A note about learning Chinese characters

Teaching Chinese characters is outside the scope of this podcast, but if you are learning Chinese characters through another course or method, you can use the transcript below to follow along.

Learning characters can be a fulfilling project, and can help you to remember and differentiate similar-sounding words. And, of course, it opens up more avenues for practicing your Mandarin, such as reading (books, children's books, comic books) and corresponding with Chinese speakers via email and other messaging apps. I highly encourage you to give it a try!

However, if the thought of memorizing all those characters now gives you a headache, rest assured: you can start speaking Mandarin without being able to read or write. Millions of preliterate children speak Mandarin fluently, and so can you. If and when you are ready to start learning the characters, speaking some Mandarin already will make it that much easier. 

The bottom line is this: Don't let anything stop you or discourage you. The best method is the method you actually use, and any method you choose is better than no method at all. Find a way to move forward. You can always make adjustments later. And most important of all, enjoy!  

Daily Practice Session

Dialogue text (Chinese characters)

A-Ming (M): 不好意思，可以點餐了！

Waiter (F): 好，你要點什麼呢？

M: 一個宮保雞丁，一份鍋貼，還有一個炒青菜

F: 要白飯嗎？

M: 要！誒，小李，你要吃飯嗎？

Xiao Li (L): 好啊

M: 那我們要兩碗白飯

F: 這樣就好了嗎？

M: 對，這樣就好

F: 好的，請稍等

M: 他們的鍋貼超好吃！對了，你要不要喝啤酒？

L：我不能喝酒，等一下還要開車啊

M：對齁，那... 我們喝茶吧！

L：好

M：好，我去拿

Dialogue text (w/ pinyin and translation)

• A-Ming (M): 不好意思，可以點餐了！

  • Bù hǎoyìsi, kěyǐ diǎn cānle!

  • Excuse me, we can order!  

• Waiter (F): 好，你要點什麼呢？

  • Hǎo, nǐ yàodiǎn shénme ne?

  • Ok, what do you want to order? 

• M: 一個宮保雞丁，一份鍋貼，還有一個炒青菜

  • Yīgè gōngbǎo jī dīng, yī fèn guōtiē, hái yǒu yīgè chǎo qīngcài

  • One 宮保雞丁, one portion of potstickers, and also one stir-fried green vegetable. 

• F: 要白飯嗎？

  • Yào báifàn ma?

  • Do you want white rice? 

• M: 要！誒，小李，你要吃飯嗎？

  • Yào! Éi, xiǎo lǐ, nǐ yào chīfàn ma?

  • Want! Oh, Xiao Li, do you want to eat rice? 

• Xiao Li (L): 好啊

  • Hǎo a

  • Ok!

• M: 那我們要兩碗白飯

  • Nà wǒmen yào liǎng wǎn báifàn

  • Then we want two bowls of white rice.

• F: 這樣就好了嗎？

  • Zhèyàng jiù hǎole ma?

  • Is that it? 

• M: 對，這樣就好

  • Duì, zhèyàng jiù hǎo

  • Yep, that's it. 

• F: 好的，請稍等

  • Hǎo de, qǐng shāo děng

  • Ok, please wait a moment. 

• M: 他們的鍋貼超好吃！對了，你要不要喝啤酒？

  • Tāmen de guōtiē chāo hào chī! Duìle, nǐ yào bùyào hē píjiǔ?

  • Their potstickers are super delicious! Oh right, do you want to drink beer? 

• L：我不能喝酒，等一下還要開車啊

  • Wǒ bùnéng hējiǔ, děng yīxià hái yào kāichē a

  • I can't drink alcohol, I have to drive in a second!

• M：對齁，那... 我們喝茶吧！

  • Duì hōu, nà... Wǒmen hē chá bā!

  • Oh right, then... let's drink tea! 

• L：好

  • Hǎo

  • OK. 

• M：好，我去拿

  • Hǎo, wǒ qù ná

  • Ok, I'll go get it.

Thank you for listening!