The two official languages of multicultural Malaysia are Malay and English, but many other languages are spoken, including several Chinese and Indian dialects.

A Malaysian TV show called Mr. Siao's Mandarin Class provides a glimpse into Malaysian society and an idea of how these various cultures interact. The setting is a Mandarin language class, and the dialogue is a mixture of Chinese (Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka), English and Malay.

Mr. Siao's Mandarin Class is entertaining and educational, even if you don't understand all the dialog. You can see it on YouTube.

I have a confession to make: I don't have a cell phone. So I don't know much about them besides texting and games. And up until today, I had just a vague idea that you can use a cell phone to browse the Internet.

So I was surprised to see that Google has a new cell phone app that allows you to search the Internet using voice input. Wow! This stuff is more advanced than I ever dreamed.

I don't consider myself a technophobe, being quite computer literate, but cell phones don't interest me at all. But I know that they are considered essential in some corners, so it's my duty to inform Mandarin students about the latest gadgets that can be used to learn the language.

This Google app recognizes English (in various accents) or Mandarin Chinese. According to the Google Research blog, "Mandarin Voice Search (is) a part of Google Mobile App for Nokia s60 phones. Google Mobile App places a Google search widget on your Nokia phone's home screen, allowing you to quickly search by voice or by typing."

Google plans to extend this technology to allow searches "in any language."

The BBC reports that we may soon be seeing Chinese characters in the address bars of our favorite web browsers.

Web addresses - anything beginning with http:// - are currently restricted to Latin characters. Considering that more than 50% of Internet users speak languages that use non-Latin characters, this domination of Latin based domain names is long due for a change.

There are lots of technical challenges to this proposal, but if all goes well, we should soon be able to use Chinese characters (as well as other scripts) for web addresses.

Just as there are many ways to say "can" in Mandarin, there are also many ways to say "to be".

The Mandarin 是 shì is an "equivalence verb" used when the subject equals the predicate: 我是美國人 / 我是美国人 / wǒ shì měiguorén (I am an American).

When it comes to adjectives, though, watch out. Many Mandarin adjectives are "stative verbs", which are used to describe a relatively static quality, such as "He is tall". Stative verbs already have "to be" embedded in them, so the correct translation of "He is tall" is 他很高 / tā hěn gāo (He very tall).

And yet a third way to say "to be" is with the verb 在 zài. This is a locative verb which also has "to be" embedded in it, so to say "He is in Beijing" we say 他在北京 / tā zài běijīng.

A recent New York Times article reports that in many of North America's Chinese communities, Mandarin is becoming more common than Cantonese.

Immigrants from China in the last 10 years or so have been primarily Mandarin speakers, so as their numbers grow, Mandarin becomes more prominent. William Wong in the San Fransisco Chronicle gives some of the history of Chinese immigration to the USA.

This predominance of Mandarin in North America is a good thing for Mandarin students, since they will have more chances to practice their language skills. But it also affects anyone interested in traditional Chinese characters. Since most new immigrants are from mainland China, we are sure to see an increase in the use of simplified characters. The written language of North American Chinese communities has always been traditional characters (which are used with both Mandarin and Cantonese).

It doesn't have to be an either/or question, but the debate between traditional Chinese characters and simplified Chinese characters continues. For a little bit of background on each system, read my two articles: Simplified Characters & Traditional Characters.

The two forms of Chinese writing - traditional and simplified characters - create an additional hurdle when learning Mandarin. At some point in your studies, you will have to choose which form you want to learn.

A poll on this website shows an almost equal split in preference between simplified and traditional characters, and some of the commentators suggest learning to read both forms, but pick one form for writing. Sounds like a good strategy to me.

In this struggle between simplified and traditional, some Chinese characters get lost in the shuffle. An example of this is shénme, which is an interrogative meaning what.

There are two traditional ways to write shénme, and two simplified ways, so students often get confused about which form they are reading.

Traditional: 甚麼 or 什麼

Simplified: 甚么 or 什么

I'm not sure how the two forms arose, but they are commonly used. Of course, the key to whether you are reading simplified or traditional is the second character - 麼/么.

Names are very important in Chinese culture, and some parents consult fortune tellers to ensure an auspicious name for their newborn girl or boy.

But sometimes the best intentions don't yield the desired results, and people end up with a name that seems to bring them bad luck. So they change their names.

This is quite common in Taiwan, where people can legally change their names up to three times. Only the given name can be changed, never the family name.

Well, it's not only people that can have bad luck names. A branch of the Taipei subway system - known as the MRT - has an unlucky name too. The Zha-Hu line (柵湖) has more problems than usual, and some people blame these on its name. Zha is a homonym for 詐, which means "dishonest" and Hu is a homonym for 唬, which means "intimidate" or "to fool".

Another explanation for the bad luck is that Zha, a "wood barrier", is on Hu, a "lake". According to Feng Shui principals, floating wood on water creates instability, causing breakdowns and delays on the MRT line.

After a little bit of study, you are sure to notice that some Mandarin words are doubled, as in 謝謝 xièxie (thanks). What's with the doubling? Isn't one thanks enough?

There are a few reasons for doubled characters. Sometimes, as in xièxie, the doubled character sounds better. Family names are often doubled, just for the sound - 弟弟 - dìdi (younger brother).

Nouns are sometimes doubled to give them a plural or continual sense - 天天 tiāntiān (every day).

Repetition can also be used for emphasis - 慢慢走 - màn màn zǒu - (this is said when a friend is departing - literally "slow slow walk".

And repetitions can be used for their sound quality, as in 八搭八搭 bā dā bā dā (the sound of raindrops).

The English word "can" doesn't translate easily into Mandarin Chinese. That's because the English "can" actually has several meanings, whereas in Mandarin, all these meanings have different words.

The first meaning of "can" is "permission" - Can I borrow this book? This "can" in Mandarin is 可以 kěyǐ.

The second meaning of "can" is "skill" - I can speak French. To express this idea in Mandarin, use 會 huì.

And the last meaning of "can" is "ability" - I'm not busy today, so I can come over. Use 能 néng in this type of sentence.

There is a bit of overlap between 能 néng and 可以 kěyǐ, as in a sentence like:

我能不能用你的筆?
wǒ néng bu néng yòng nǐ de bǐ?
Can I use your pen?

Instead of néng bu néng, the sentence above could be said with kě bù kěyǐ.