What Type of Chinese Should I Learn

One press picks a kind of Chinese to learn, with where it is spoken.

What Type of Chinese Should I Learn

Show all 6
  1. Standard Chinese (Mandarin)Official in mainland China and Singapore, a national language of Taiwan; based on the Beijing dialect.

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How it works

Chinese is many spoken languages with one modern written standard, and speakers of different kinds often cannot understand each other. Press the button for one of six with official standing. The full list holds 52.

Read the full guide

Mandarin or Cantonese

Outside China and Taiwan, Standard Chinese, the standard form of Mandarin, and Cantonese are the only kinds commonly taught at universities, Wikipedia’s article on the varieties of Chinese says.

Choose by who you want to talk to

Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew and Cantonese traveled with emigrants and are spoken in Chinese communities around the world, so a family’s own Chinese may not be Mandarin. Ask which kind your relatives or friends speak before you choose.

  • Standard Chinese is called Putonghua in mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, so a course under either name teaches the same standard.

Questions and answers

Should I learn Mandarin or Cantonese?

Mandarin, in its standard form, for mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore: about 70 percent of Chinese speakers speak a Mandarin variety natively. Cantonese for Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou and many overseas communities.

What are the types of Chinese?

Linguists usually sort the local varieties into ten groups: Mandarin, Jin, Wu, Hui, Min, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Yue and Pinghua. Cantonese belongs to Yue, Shanghainese to Wu, and Hokkien and Teochew to Min.

Should I learn simplified or traditional Chinese?

Simplified characters are the standard in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, and in most overseas Chinese communities outside Southeast Asia. Choose by where you will read.

Can Mandarin and Cantonese speakers understand each other?

Not in speech. Wikipedia’s article on Yue says its varieties, Cantonese among them, are not mutually intelligible with Chinese languages outside the branch.

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All 52 kinds of Chinese

Official and national languages 6

  • Cantonese Guangzhou and the Pearl River Delta; co-official in Hong Kong and Macau.
  • Singaporean Mandarin Singapore, where Mandarin is one of four official languages.
  • Standard Chinese (Mandarin) Official in mainland China and Singapore, a national language of Taiwan; based on the Beijing dialect.
  • Taiwanese Hakka Taiwan, mainly in Miaoli, Pingtung, Kaohsiung and around Hsinchu; a national language there.
  • Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwan, where more than 70 percent of people speak it natively; a national language there.
  • Taiwanese Mandarin Taiwan, where this form of Standard Chinese is called Guoyu.

Mandarin and Jin 14

  • Beijing dialect The urban area of Beijing. Standard Chinese takes its sounds from it.
  • Central Plains Mandarin Henan and central and southern Shaanxi, with the cities of Xi’an and Zhengzhou.
  • Dungan Southeastern Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan. It grew from Mandarin and is written in Cyrillic.
  • Jiaoliao Mandarin The Jiaodong Peninsula, from Yantai to Qingdao, and the Liaodong Peninsula, from Dalian to Dandong.
  • Jilu Mandarin Hebei and the western part of Shandong.
  • Jin Most of Shanxi, much of central Inner Mongolia and nearby parts of Hebei, Henan and Shaanxi.
  • Lanyin Mandarin Gansu and northern Ningxia, and in recent decades northern Xinjiang.
  • Lower Yangtze Mandarin Central Anhui, eastern Hubei, most of Jiangsu north of the Yangtze, and the area around Nanjing.
  • Malaysian Mandarin Malaysia, where it is the main language of the Chinese community.
  • Mandarin The largest branch, spoken natively by 70 percent of Chinese speakers, from Yunnan to Heilongjiang.
  • Nanjing dialect The urban area of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu. It belongs to the Lower Yangtze group.
  • Northeastern Mandarin Northeast China, except the Liaodong Peninsula.
  • Sichuanese Sichuan and Chongqing, where this branch of Southwestern Mandarin is the common language.
  • Southwestern Mandarin Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most of Hubei and nearby parts of Hunan and Guangxi.

Wu, Hui, Gan and Xiang 10

  • Changsha dialect Changsha, capital of Hunan; a dialect of New Xiang.
  • Gan Jiangxi, with speakers in Hunan, Hubei, Anhui and Fujian.
  • Hangzhounese The urban centre of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang; Wu with a strong Mandarin influence.
  • Hui Southern Anhui, with nearby parts of Zhejiang and Jiangxi.
  • Ningbo dialect Ningbo and Zhoushan prefectures in Zhejiang.
  • Shanghainese The central districts of Shanghai and the areas around; the largest single form of Wu.
  • Suzhounese The city of Suzhou in Jiangsu; by tradition the prestige dialect of Wu.
  • Wenzhounese Wenzhou, in the south of Zhejiang; the most divergent division of Wu.
  • Wu Shanghai, Zhejiang and the parts of Jiangsu south of the Yangtze.
  • Xiang Mainly Hunan, with northern Guangxi and parts of neighboring provinces.

Yue, Hakka and Pinghua 6

  • Hakka Parts of southern China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, wherever Hakka people settled.
  • Meixian dialect Meixian District of Meizhou, Guangdong; the prestige dialect of Hakka.
  • Northern Pinghua Guangxi, centered on Guilin.
  • Southern Pinghua Guangxi, around Nanning.
  • Taishanese Taishan and the Sze Yup area of Guangdong; once the main Chinese of North American Chinatowns.
  • Yue Guangdong and Guangxi in southern China. Cantonese is its prestige variety.

Min 14

  • Amoy dialect The city of Xiamen in southern Fujian; one of the more standardized kinds of Hokkien.
  • Central Min The valley of the Sha River in Sanming prefecture, in the mountains of central Fujian.
  • Eastern Min Eastern Fujian; its prestige form is the speech of Fuzhou, the capital of the province.
  • Fuzhounese Fuzhou and the Mindong region of eastern Fujian.
  • Hainanese The island of Hainan, and Hainanese communities overseas.
  • Hokkien Southern Fujian and Taiwan, and Chinese communities across Southeast Asia.
  • Leizhou Min Leizhou city and nearby counties on the Leizhou Peninsula.
  • Northern Min Nanping prefecture in northwestern Fujian.
  • Penang Hokkien Penang, Malaysia, where most of the Chinese community speaks it natively.
  • Pu–Xian Min Putian city and Xianyou County in Fujian, with parts of Fuzhou and Quanzhou.
  • Shao–Jiang Min Western Nanping in northwest Fujian: Guangze, Shaowu and western Shunchang, with Jiangle.
  • Singaporean Hokkien Singapore; close to the Amoy dialect of Xiamen and to Taiwanese Hokkien.
  • Southern Min Southern Fujian, most of Taiwan, eastern Guangdong, Hainan and southern Zhejiang.
  • Teochew The Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong, and Teochew communities around the world.

Written Chinese 2

  • Classical Chinese The written language of the Chinese classics, used for formal writing until the early 20th century.
  • Written vernacular Chinese The modern written standard, matched to spoken Standard Chinese and read by speakers of every kind.