Did you know that there are two versions of the written Mandarin language: Traditional Fántǐzì (繁体) & Simplified Jiǎntǐzì (简体字)? Both versions of the Chinese character writing system are related but they have some unique differences.
Traditional Chinese characters and Simplified Chinese characters are both derived from Classical Chinese which was the most used writing system that people of the Imperial Chinese era used to communicate with each other for thousands of years.
The use of the traditional Chinese writing system began in the 5th century during the rule of the Qin Dynasty and was used as the main system of writing China for centuries. These characters were very detailed, complicated, and intricate as they conveyed a lot of significant information. Thus, making them difficult and time-consuming to learn and write as they had between 9 to 16 strokes.
Simplified Chinese was adopted in the 1950s & 1960s during China’s era of modernization. This writing system made the writing system more accessible to the general population as it was easier to learn and write. Simplified Chinese characters contain between 6 to 8 strokes. The simplified system did not change the pronunciation of the characters.
Simplified Chinese is widely used in mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia while Traditional Chinese is widely used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Simplified Chinese is also the Chinese writing system used to write Chinese characters on computers and phones.
Therefore, the Simplified Chinese writing system is widely taught to non-native and native learners of Mandarin.
At Happy Mandarin, we teach our students with the Simplified Chinese writing system which is most popular in Mainland China. The unique characters of the Chinese writing system, even though they have been simplified still contain the rich cultural history, heritage and history of China. We have implemented a unique teaching methodology through which our students can gradually advance in their Chinese Character learning easily enabling them to be proficient Mandarin communicators. We teach students of all ages – from toddlers to pre-teens, and teenagers to working professionals. Our classes are designed to taking into consideration their age, Mandarin proficiency and learning talents, thereby ensuring that all students can progress happily and successfully in their Mandarin lessons.
