Talk:Mandarin Chinese

National Debate
I don't think the character forms should be separated. Both should be displayed together - one on top of the other - so that people can learn both. --Jiang 00:57, 30 Dec 2003 (PST)


 * The aim of this textbook is to first familiarize the learner with the spoken Mandarin and its syntaxical and grammatical structure and then proceed with the character memorization. If someone would care to add the Traditional text later on, then I will not object. The convoluted issue of Simplified vs. Traditional is too blown out of proportion as it is. -Taoster

Listing both does not mean one has to memorize both. I don't see how it would hurt.

Why is Hong Kong displayed but not Macau? They dont speak Mandarin (assuming this is Mandarin-based) in Hong Kong. I'll remove it. --Jiang 11:36, 19 Jan 2004 (UTC)

As I repeat, they don't speak Mandarin in HK and Macau. --Jiang


 * I must have been in a parallel world, then, when I visted Hong Kong and the shopkeepers understood my Mandarin. -Taoster

Barely...it certainly isn't their native tongue. It's seldom spoken. I couldn't get by with Mandarin. Besides, HK is part of the PRC. --Jiang


 * No, but it is being adapted into mainstream society as one of the official languages. HK and Macau are parts of PRC, however, being that they are both Special Administrative Regions, I felt obligated to provide them with separate flags until they become wholly part of the PRC. -Taoster

Cantonese is de facto in LegCo. Though under the British, English was mandated in the schools, the average Hong Konger has very poor English skills.

Including HK and Macau will leave the impression to people that they can get by using Mandarin, and that Mandarin is commonly spoken, when this is not the case. It's misleading. --Jiang 06:08, 21 Jan 2004 (UTC)


 * While I do acknowledge that Cantonese will forever be the "official" dialect of Hong Kong, it is impossible to deny that Mandarin is rapidly being integrated into its society. Even prior to 1997, a large Mandarin user base was already present in HK, and this is reflected in the amount of HK huaqiao (first generation) in the US who are able to converse understandably well in Mandarin. -Taoster

Until it is integrated to a considerable degree, listing both SARs are misleading. We could do fine without them. --Jiang


 * People can generalize their own conclusions. If they're willing to put forth the effort to learn a language, then chances are that they won't be misled by such trivialities. -Taoster

People seriously wanting to learn the language won't come here or come here alone. It's the people who are simply browsing that we are misleading. What is there to gain from listing them? --Jiang 07:59, 22 Jan 2004 (UTC)


 * I don't see how it is misleading. It's simply asserting the fact that a percentage -- albeit small -- speaks the dialect. -Taoster

Should we also add the flags of the USA, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam? --Jiang

Yes, if you believe them to be specialized regions of the PRC. -Taoster


 * Then "asserting the fact that a percentage -- albeit small -- speaks the dialect" isn't really an issue then? The issue is that they're part of the PRC. A dependency is a dependency and I see no reason to include them if this is the case. --Jiang 22:25, 23 Jan 2004 (UTC)


 * Alright, this is counterintuitive and cannot be argued past deadlock. Remove it if you so wish, but with all the energy that you've expended in discussing this, you could have at least helped with the textbook. -Taoster


 * I thought you just list the countries where Mandarin Chinese is one of the official languages? For instance, the French lesson has a Canadian flag, even though French is rarely spoken outside of Quebec. I figure that whether or not there is a large Mandarin Chinese speaking population, you might as well include the countries where the government has it as an official language.

-Alex S

Please contribute
The Chinese book has gone a bit stagnant.. and I know many people out there know chinese as a primary language and english as a second. So if you do happen to know Chinese, don't be afraid to add!!

hahahaha, i find it funny that the front page has been updated more times than the book's contents

Splash Page Debate
I don't think a splash page contributes to the Wikibook. It just makes one more page to click through. It's like having a Flash intro to the book--totally useless for learning. If you take a look at all the other Language Books, most have now dispensed with the cover page. If we wanted to make a cover picture for eventual printed versions of the text, we could just keep a link to it from the contents page. And the flags can still get their chance to shine in our Introduction. --Everlong 19:21, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)