After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making. Output quadrupled by 2000. Political controls remain tight while economic controls continue to be relaxed.
The Chinese Language forms part of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. According to Guinness World Records 2006, Chinese, with 1.4 billion speakers in the Mandarin dialect alone, is the most commonly spoken language in the world. About one-fifth of the people in the world speak some form of Chinese as their native language.
Interest to learn Mandarin Chinese has recently risen in the Western world in part due to the acceleration in China's economic growth. It is estimated that there are now around 30 million people learning Chinese worldwide, many of whom are opting to learn chinese online
All varieties of spoken Chinese use tones. A few dialects of north China may have as few as three tones, while some dialects in south China have up to 6 or 10 tones, depending on how one counts. Listening to a native speaker pronouncing Chinese Language will help you enormously in your studies. Learn to speak chinese with Verbalplanet.com the ideal way to practice your skills in this fascinating language.
