Can a Mandarin speaker read Chinese?

All literate Chinese people can read and write in Mandarin, even if they do not speak it.

Why are Chinese songs so hard to understand?

The major reason is, obviously, we have four tones which are messed up in songs. Besides, the lyrics are written in different styles. Many of them are like poems, which have rich meanings but hard to get it without reading the texts.

Can Chinese understand wrong tones?

Tones are important when learning Chinese. This means than getting a tone wrong doesn’t make communication impossible, but it does make it harder, as does any mistake.

Can I speak Chinese without tones?

Actually, Chinese doesn’t like English, which tones are very important for understanding. We Chinese usually speak without too many tones. In Chinese language, When you say “ You are Mr Li?” in a question tone, it is also acceptable to say “You are Mr Li, aren’t you”.

Is it possible to speak Mandarin anywhere in China?

Sure that you can speak Mandarin almost anywhere in China. Actually, most Chinese can understand Mandarin but not everyone can speak Mandarin well. So unfortunately you can make people understand but you may not understand their words. Just imagine you are in a small town in Britain.

Why do people ask me if I know Mandarin or Cantonese?

In my experience, many people don’t ask because they actually care, but because they want to subtly signal how they are well-educated and cultured because they know that both Mandarin and Cantonese exist. To someone who speaks Chinese, however, the question doesn’t really make sense. Chinese is not simply divided into Mandarin and Cantonese.

Can Cantonese speakers understand Standard Written Chinese?

When Cantonese speakers write in standard written Chinese, apparently, Mandarin speakers can understand it without any problem.

How much can a Mandarin speaker understand?

In this case, how much a Mandarin speaker can understand depends on his/her exposure to Cantonese. For someone with zero exposure, they can understand ”今日”,“妈”,“屋”,“要”,“想死” because it’s the same in Mandarin. They can also guess it’s something not very pleasant.