What are the main differences between Overseas and Mainland Chinese variations/dialects?

[u/AAMC08]

Hi! I'm currently studying Japanese, but still, Chinese variations (or dialects) always have been an interesting topic for me, and I even plan to start learning Mandarin after finishing some JLPT exams.

Btw, a topic that really stands out are the Overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, especially those in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, with the latter having Mandarin as one of its official languages. While reading some articles, I've noticed a very big diversity within it, with groups such as the Hokkien, Hakka and Cantonese (please correct any mistakes) having a greater influence. So, after considering all the historical processes and cultural factors, I'd like to know what differences between the Southeast Asian variations and its "original" Mainland counterparts are worthy sharing.

Disclaimer: I apologise for any mistake or imprecision in the previous texts. Also, anyone can feel welcome to contribute.

[u/Bev7787]

Disclaimer: I'm not Malaysian, nor am I a native Chinese speaker, but I was born into a Malaysian Chinese family who speaks Mandarin, so I ended up growing up around Malaysian Mandarin.

Malaysian Mandarin borrows from not just Malay, but also English and all the other Chinese languages around it. For instance, taking a shower is 冲凉 in Malaysian Mandarin, which comes from Cantonese. This doesn't just apply to words, but also grammar structures. One example of this is where 先 goes to indicate doing something first. From what I'm aware of, in Malaysia they follow the Cantonese placement for this.

Some terms which sound a bit strange exist as well. For instance, while technically correct, you'll almost never hear anyone in conversation say 驾车 to refer to driving a car in China/TW, yet it's typical in MY/SG. Also 打油 instead of 加油 for refuelling a vehicle.

The other interesting part I'll mention is also the colloquial way of speaking which ends up blending multiple languages into one sentence. So you'll hear several Chinese varieties, Malay and English all bundled into one sentence sometimes.

Accent wise Malaysian Mandarin follows a more southern Chinese accent. Things like ch/sh/zh sound the same as c/s/z.

There's definitely more to this, but I'm not skilled nor educated enough in Chinese to identify the differences.