A training center of Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) established at the Nanjing Academy of Politics has become the first facility of its kind in the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The center is expected to play a positive role in popularizing Mandarin Chinese among army officers and soldiers, said Professor Lin Ling with the PLA Nanjing Academy of Politics, which is based in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, East China.
The different dialects of officers and soldiers have caused communication difficulties within the army and in exchanges with civilians, Lin said.
The professor is the chief editor of a special manual for teaching Mandarin Chinese to the armed forces.
In 1994, a nationwide training and testing center of Mandarin Chinese was launched for civilians. The PLA Nanjing Academy of Politics began its pilot training and testing of Putonghua, on a small scale, in 2004.
Source: Xinhua