Within China there are various dialects spoken in different parts, as different from each other as English is from French, but they all emerged out of the same language, and are written in one standard form.

The three main spoken forms of the Chinese language are:

• Cantonese.

This language is spoken by many of the Chinese from Main- land Hong Kong, The New Territories, Malaysia and Singapore. According to Holder in his research 'Mapping Minority Ethnic Languages in Northern Ireland', Cantonese is spoken by about 80-90% of the Chinese Community in Northern Ireland. (Holder)

• Haka

This dialect of the Chinese language is spoken by people from the New Territories of Hong Kong - about 5% of Chinese in Northern Ireland, mainly elderly members of the community. (Holder)

• Mandarin

Mandarin is currently the most common native language in the world; it is spoken by people originating from China and Taiwan. It is also spoken by a small proportion of Chinese students from Singapore and Malaysia. According to Holder it is spoken by about 10% of the Chinese Community in Northern Ireland. (Holder)