| Putonghua, also called Standard Mandarin, is mainland China’s official language. As such, it’s also the version of Chinese that most international students learn. “Putonghua” comes from the Chinese word 普通话 (Pǔtōnghuà in pinyin), which means “common tongue” or “common language.” Putonghua is the national language of the People’s Republic of China and is used in schools and workplaces throughout the country. It is commonly referred to as Standard Mandarin. Although there are still many different varieties of spoken Chinese in use today, Putonghua is the lingua franca that people from all over China use to communicate with each other.  For a language that has only been recognized as China’s official national standard for less than a century, Putonghua has already become impressively popular in China, as well as internationally. In mainland China today, the government works to promote Putonghua in schools and workplaces, where signs exhorting everyone to speak “civilized language” can sometimes be seen. While some of China’s minority languages enjoy some official recognition, especially at the regional level, many of them are gradually being replaced by Putonghua, which is often seen as the key to academic and economic success. Some parents purposefully do not teach their children the local language or dialect in an attempt to ensure that they will develop standard Mandarin pronunciation unaffected by a local accent. How many people actually speak Putonghua? Despite the growing influence of Putonghua in mainland China, as late as 2014, only around 70% of China’s population could speak it “to some degree,” while only one tenth of those able to speak it were actually considered fluent. Less than a generation ago, it was common for teachers in remote rural areas to be largely unable to speak Putonghua themselves. Since most children and parents in these areas also only spoke the local dialect, children in such schools often had difficulty mastering Putonghua. Recently, however, the Chinese government has begun to correct this problem by requiring teachers to prove their Mandarin proficiency before beginning their careers as educators. Because there are still so many Chinese people who are not completely proficient in Putonghua, the official Putonghua Proficiency Test (普通话水平测试 Pǔtōnghuà Shuǐpíng Cèshì) has become increasingly popular in recent years. Passing this Chinese proficiency test is a requirement of native speakers made by certain employers. The scores required vary depending on the position, with those working jobs like TV correspondents and broadcasters needing the highest scores. |
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