Language Tutorial
The Chinese Language is spoken by over one billion people worldwide. While there are several different regional groupings of the language (Mandarin, Wu, Min, and Cantonese being the most widely spoken), the standardized spoken form of Chinese is Standard Mandarin.
Characters
There are two different types of Chinese characters. Traditional characters are very intricate and used primarily in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Simplified characters are paired down versions of the traditional character. While some of them differ greatly from their traditional counterparts, it is sometimes possible to identify one type of character if the other one is known. Simplified characters are used on the mainland and are generally taught for Chinese language classes.
Radicals
The Chinese language is comprised of more than fifty thousand characters, but only two to three thousand are necessary to be considered functionally literate. While this may seem like a formidable task, the characters themselves are broken down into smaller components known as “radicals”. Knowing even some of the radicals helps to understand unfamiliar characters and is necessary to navigate any Chinese dictionary.
 |
|---|
Useful Phrases
Here are some helpful phrases to know when travelling through China:
The China Center at Rollins College| 1000 Holt Avenue | Winter Park, Florida | 32789 | 407.646.1512
|