why people often says "you speak chinese" ... No! I am Chinese but I speak Mandarin!?

Answer 1

Chill out. It is just a question. People often ask me where I am from, I say Canada because I was born and raised here. However, they are expecting another answer because of the color of my skin.

If you do not take the time to explain to people the difference they are not going to know. But if you react in this nasty manner people are going to dislike you. You need an attitude adjustment.

Answer 2

People say "You speak Chinese" because they don't realize that "Chinese" isn't a spoken language... or because they don't know whether you speak Mandarin or Cantonese or a local dialect. To people who haven't studied tonal languages, they all sound basically the same!

When someone says "You speak Chinese," you should say, "Actually, I speak Mandarin Chinese. There are many languages spoken in China, and they can be quite different from one another. There is no one Chinese language, although most of China's languages are written very similarly."

Answer 3

Ni hao. It's probably because for a long time Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. were thought to be different dialects of a common language - Chinese. It's only relatively recently that such 'dialects' are now classified as languages.

Also, to the English (speaking) ear, most languages of China sound the same - monosyllabic and tonal. Don't get upset by it.

By the way, a better English way to express your question is "Why do people often say . . ." - people is plural so the verb has no 's' at the end.

:-)

Answer 4

Not all Chinese people speak Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is the official spoken language of China. There are lots of dialects in China. But most people understand Mandarin.

Answer 5

Because "Chinese" is in fact considered a "language" or "language family" and it encompasses all dialects. So they are not incorrect when asking you that. Actually, someone asked me yesterday if I spoke Chinese and I said yes, Mandarin. He gave me a funny look and I could tell that he didn't know what Mandarin was. lol So that would be useless information to some people.

So, the point is, not only is Chinese a group of people, but it is also a language. Kind of like, English could refer to the English people or the English language.

Answer 6

Probably they mean: "do you speak Chinese language". No matter Mandarin or Cantonese, both are Chinese language.

If someone asks me this kind of question, I would answer, yes, and I am from China mainland, speak Chinese mandarin.

Answer 7

There are many different dialects in Chinese language. Mandarin being the official and mostly spoken. Some others are Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc. The term Chinese includes all dialects.

Answer 8

Maybe they are Chinese overseas. In that case, they are Chinese but not Chinese Nationality ; they speak Mandarin since they were young or maybe learn Mandarin after they grown up. Chinese and Chinese overseas are different, if you know what I mean. Same look but different way of thinking.

Answer 9

It's because most people do not realize that Chinese people have two dialects. They also don't know that the proper word for the chinese language is not chinese, unlike korean or japanese which incorporate the name of the country where they are used.

Answer 10

Mandarin is a dialect, you still technically speak Chinese.