Karen I. Chen is a writer, editor, and travel advisor. Karen's work has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, Departures, and more. While the prospect of ...

Unlike the English language, which uses the Roman alphabet, Mandarin does not have an alphabet. Mandarin characters have developed over approximately 4,000 years. But Mandarin characters aren't ...

Along with the spread of literacy in China has been the extension of the use of Mandarin as the national spoken language, and the adoption of a standard spelling system called Pinyin, which uses the ...

Burt: Correct! Mandarin characters don't give us the sound of a word, so the Chinese invented pinyin to help their learners. They took the letters of the Roman alphabet, the same we use for ...

Learning simple Mandarin Chinese phrases and words is easier than it seems. While the prospect of learning a new language may seem daunting, making an effort to pick up a few useful words and ...