* Chinese is a language family that includes various languages spoken throughout China, as well as in other parts of Southeast Asia. It's like saying "Romance languages" which would include French, Spanish, Italian, etc.
* Mandarin is a specific language within the Chinese language family. It's the most widely spoken language in China, spoken by over 900 million people. It's like saying "Spanish" within the Romance language family.
Here's an analogy:
* Chinese: Imagine a big family tree with many branches.
* Mandarin: Imagine one specific branch on that tree.
So, when someone says "Chinese," they could be referring to any of the languages in that family. However, when someone says "Mandarin," they are specifically talking about the language spoken by the majority of people in China.
Important note: In everyday language, "Chinese" is often used as a synonym for "Mandarin" because it's the most common Chinese language. But it's important to remember that there are other Chinese languages, such as Cantonese, Wu, Hakka, and Min.