INTRODUCTION
Mandarin Chinese is the official language of Mainland China and Taiwan, and is one of the official languages of Singapore and the United Nations. It is the most widely-spoken language in the world.
Mandarin Chinese is sometimes referred to as a "dialect," but the distinction between dialects and languages is not always clear. There are many versions of Mandarin spoken throughout China, and these are usually classified as dialects.
Learning Mandarin
I started learning Mandarin Chinese in the year 2006 and have been learning it on and off ever since. I found it all fascinating. From the history, the culture to the billboards all written in Chinese characters. Looking back I've always had a love for the culture from the food to the various kung fu movies but this visit stirred some deep exciting emotions in me.Learning Mandarin, like any other language, is not easy. I had times when i wanted to give up. I was never any good at learning a language at school so i kept that negitive attidude towards language for a very long time.
It just so happens that i met a wonderful girl, who happend to be Chinese, so i had a good reason to start learning the language. I moved to China (Beijing) with my girlfriend, and it was then that i fell in love with China, the people, and their culture.
So, if you are interested in learning Mandarin, never give up. There are plenty of ways to start teaching yourself, from books to computer software. Any language is hard at first, and like me, you might just want to give up at the first hurdle, but once you get passed that first hurdle, it gets easier, and more enjoyable.
Hope this has been helpful, and i hope that if you are intereted in learning madarin, you will jump that first hurdle and start enjoying the whole process of learning a new language.






