Chinese in its variants is a subgroup of the Sino-Tibetan language family and is the official language in China, Taiwan and Singapore.
The most important dialects include the "language of the North", the high-level language Mandarin, and Cantonese. Mandarin is spoken by about 875 million speakers in China, Taiwan and Singapore. Cantonese has about 70 million speakers and is spoken in Hong Kong and Macau, among other places.
Unlike many European languages, Chinese has neither conjugations nor declensions. One difficulty in learning it is that it is a tonal language. The pitch with which a word is pronounced determines its meaning. On the other hand, Chinese has a logographic script in which each word has its own character, instead of for each sound as is usual in European languages.
Because of the differences in linguistic aspects, it is exciting to acquire a basic knowledge of Chinese, but also to gain insights into another culture. The fact that China has grown into a strong economic power is another incentive to explore the language and culture of this region.
Are you learning a foreign language and would like to improve your language skills?
Then sign up for our tandem programme and find a suitable tandem partner through our portal!
The principle is simple: You and your tandem partner speak your native language half of the time, your partner’s native language the rest of the time. This way you are not only learning to use the language practically in everyday life, but you also learn a lot about the other culture. Both languages are spoken equally, so you are alternately a learner and a teacher.
Margarita Pérez Crespo
☎ +49 531 391 5087
m.perez-crespo(at)tu-braunschweig.de
Room 223A, 2nd floor
Bültenweg 74/75
38106 Braunschweig
Office hours:
by appointment via email
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