華語, or Mandarin Chinese, is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is the official language of China, Taiwan, and Singapore, and is one of the four official languages of Singapore. Mandarin is part of the Sino-Tibetan language family and is known for its tonal nature, where the meaning of a word can change based on its tone. The writing system of 華語 uses Chinese characters, which are logograms representing words or morphemes. There are two main forms of written Chinese: Simplified Chinese, used mainly in mainland China, and Traditional Chinese, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Learning 華語 can open doors to understanding Chinese culture and history.