Speak Mandarin drive in China? Yes!

Many Chinese in China cannot speak Mandarin, or at least speak well enough to be understood. Surprising? Maybe to those who do not know much about China.

The fact is that there are 56 official tribal groups in China who are not of the majority Han race. Out of those 56 tribes, each has many sub-divisions, which adds to many more tribes, each one having their own language. Add to that the number of ethnic Han dialects or languages like Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, Hockchew, Hing Hwa, Shanghainese, Sichuan language, etc. That's a lot of different languages for one huge country!

It should not be surprising, then, that many Chinese citizens do not speak the national language Mandarin well enough to function in everyday life. While Singapore has been running the Speak Mandarin Campaign for years to get Singaporeans to brush up on Mandarin (which is a second or third language to most), here is China, the exporter of Mandarin, having to conduct a Speak Mandarin drive for their own citizens! Ironic? Maybe. Real? Yes.

You don't have to be Chinese to speak Mandarin. Start learning today!

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