Mandarin (普通话) is the official language of China and one of the official languages of Singapore. It is (general) referred to as "Chinese".
But in fact, it is just one of many Chinese languages. China is old and vast country and the mountain ranges, rivers, and deserts create (region) borders. Till now, each region (develop) its own spoken language. Different spoken languages include Wu, Xiang, Hakka, Cantonese, Min and many other dialects (方言).
(classify) these Chinese languages as dialects or languages is a controversial (有争议的) topic. Often they are classified as dialects, but they have their own vocabulary and grammar systems. A Cantonese (speak) and a person speaking Min will not be able to communicate each other. Similarly, a person speaking Hakka will not be able to understand Xiang. Given these major (difference), they could be regarded as languages. They all share a common writing system—Chinese characters.
Even though characters can (pronounce) in completely different ways depending on what language or dialect one speaks, the written language is understandable across all regions. we learn above supports the argument that they are dialects of the official Chinese language Mandarin.
