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About one-fifth of the world's population speak some form of Chinese as their native tongue. The language has a very high level of internal diversity - many dialects of Chinese are different enough to be mutually incomprehensible. Standard Mandarin is the official language of the Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan, as well as one of the four official languages of Singapore.
Standard Cantonese is the official language of Hong Kong and Macau (along with English). It is also spoken in south east China, and Malaysia, Europe, Australia, Fiji, and north America. Cantonese is, therefore, the chosen language for the following phrases.
Special thanks to Sosena Tang for editorial guidance for the Cantonese translation.
Kalpana Theophilus is an optometrist practising in London