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400 Million Chinese Cannot Speak Mandarin

Posted by timothy on from the they-didn't-go-with-the-english-only-option? dept.

dryriver writes with this excerpt from a thought-provoking report at the BBC: "China's Education Ministry says that about 400 million people — or 30% of the population — cannot speak the country's national language. Of the 70% of the population who can speak Mandarin, many do not do it well enough, a ministry spokeswoman told Xinhua news agency on Thursday. The admission from officials came as the government launched another push for linguistic unity in China. China is home to thousands of dialects and several minority languages. These include Cantonese and Hokkien, which enjoy strong regional support. Mandarin — formally called Putonghua in China, meaning 'common tongue' — is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world. The Education Ministry spokeswoman said the push would be focusing on the countryside and areas with ethnic minorities."

4 of 562 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why don't they just learn English? by h4rr4r · · Score: 3, Funny

    Because even God does not trust those bastards in the dark.

  2. Re:Why don't they just learn English? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Get a Japanese toilet. Luxury models are almost self-aware at this point.

  3. Re:Why don't they just learn English? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Sum ting wong.

    Yu fuk up.

    Dang yang kee.

  4. Re:It's not just China.. by MightyYar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, but they have us beat again... only about 300 million Americans can't speak Mandarin.

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