jimbo Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6295 days ago 469 posts - 642 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Japanese, Latin
| Message 33 of 59 08 February 2011 at 3:37am | IP Logged |
Li Fei wrote:
I hate to suggest a change of plans, but it sure sounds like you are more interested in literary Chinese than in everyday Cantonese. Shouldn't you go where your heart is??? |
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It is all part of my crazy plan. My goal is to make use of my time in Hong Kong to learn Cantonese. Once I can get around pretty well in Cantonese, I'll take some Chinese literature classes at Hong Kong University's continuing education center (HKU SPACE).
I'd also like to study Vietnamese later. There are a lot of words from "Chinese" in Vietnamese. Some of them are pronounced somewhat like they are in Mandarin. Some look like they came from Cantonese or Min Nan Hua (a.k.a. Southern Min or Fukianese or Hokkien). I'm kind of fuzzy on the details and I'm trying not to look at it too much right now.
Another option would be to take the class in Thai offered by HKU SPACE. Thailand is, after all, warm, friendly, and close by. Good food too!
Like I said earlier, focus is a problem...
Edited by jimbo on 08 February 2011 at 3:38am
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jimbo Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6295 days ago 469 posts - 642 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Japanese, Latin
| Message 34 of 59 09 February 2011 at 2:32pm | IP Logged |
Oh, this is just too funny for words:
Spoilt Princess Syndrome.
I guess I should join the modern world and see what other good Cantonese resources there are available on
YouTube.
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hkboy Groupie Hong Kong Joined 5677 days ago 65 posts - 86 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Cantonese, Mandarin
| Message 35 of 59 17 February 2011 at 4:13am | IP Logged |
That's pretty funny. Jimbo, good luck on your studies. I always like to read about another Cantonese learner.
jimbo wrote:
Oh, this is just too funny for words:
Spoilt Princess Syndrome.
I guess I should join the modern world and see what other good Cantonese resources there are available on
YouTube. |
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1 person has voted this message useful
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jimbo Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6295 days ago 469 posts - 642 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Japanese, Latin
| Message 36 of 59 21 February 2011 at 6:25am | IP Logged |
A friend managed to track down a copy of "The Bund"on DVD for me.
Once I finish a few more episodes of Battlestar Galactia I'll work my way through "The Bund" as fast as I can without my wife killing me. (I suspect she will not appreciate me watching a 30-year old Hong Kong TV drama in Cantonese all the time).
I've restarted my Cantonese classes and am working through materials my teacher has prepared. That is going great.
I'm having less luck reading through the Sidney Lau Cantonese books. They are good but there is only so much time each day I'm spending on Cantonese.
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jimbo Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6295 days ago 469 posts - 642 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Japanese, Latin
| Message 37 of 59 17 March 2011 at 4:02am | IP Logged |
I've kind of gotten lost with my Cantonese studies. I need structure and my class ran out of that when I finished the
introductory textbook and the teaching materials my teacher has prepared as he is trying to write his own textbook.
(Good stuff, just ran out of material.)
I'm going to try to start a new textbook and see if that helps. "About Hong Kong for Intermediate Cantonese
Learners."
On a positive note, I'm getting in a bit of practice with the taxi drivers from time to time. Good guys to practice with
but traffic in Hong Kong requires a lot of concentration so probably better for me to find another opportunity to
practice talking and let them focus on driving.
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hkboy Groupie Hong Kong Joined 5677 days ago 65 posts - 86 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Cantonese, Mandarin
| Message 38 of 59 17 March 2011 at 7:13am | IP Logged |
Hi jimbo,
Glad to see your post and update. I just happen to be going through "About HK". I think it's really good and be interested to hear your opinion on it. I've also got several of the other Greenwood Press books and have "Wedding Bells" ready to go next.
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jimbo Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6295 days ago 469 posts - 642 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Japanese, Latin
| Message 39 of 59 17 March 2011 at 7:36am | IP Logged |
hkboy wrote:
I just happen to be going through "About HK". I think it's really good and be interested to hear
your opinion on it. |
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The book seems pretty good to me and the accompanying CD is well done.
My only issue is the funky romanization system. It only takes a little while to get used to with the teacher on hand
but it would have been helpful if they had included a couple of pages explaining their system. Learning to deal with
multiple systems is going to be part of the learning process for Cantonese.
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Li Fei Pro Member United States Joined 5124 days ago 147 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map
| Message 40 of 59 20 March 2011 at 2:22am | IP Logged |
Good luck with the new textbook, and especially, congratulations on practicing your Cantonese with the taxi
drivers! Sounds like a great challenge, especially since their speech is probably littered with colorful curses as
they navigate the traffic. I hope HK cabs have seat belts!
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