Although the local dialect in cities and towns around Guangdong is, mainly, Cantonese, the official state language is Mandarin (Chinese – Putonghua – numbers relate to one of the four tones a character possesses), which is used in official settings including education. Zhaoqing University provides free lessons in Mandarin Chinese for their foreign teachers, ask the INTERNATIONAL OFFICE for details.  

There are four tones in Mandarin Chinese (more in Cantonese) and these can pose difficulties for foreigners whose languages are not as reliant on tones.  The syllable ma for instance could mean mother mā (first tone), hemp má (second tone), horse mă (third tone), or scold mà (fourth tone) and even as a question ma (neutral tone).