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Cantonese is NOT dead! (yet) | ||
Tags: Cantonese | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6233 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 1 of 6 22 May 2013 at 3:34pm | IP Logged |
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I have been dabbling a little bit in Cantonese since most of the "Chinese" speakers in my area speak Cantonese and
not Mandarin. Ari was right! I have really been surprised how fun it has been so far to learn some Cantonese (although I haven't had the courage to try it out on anyone yet ... I guess I'm still a little gun-shy after my Mandarin speaking friend told me to stop speaking Mandarin to him because it was hurting his ears...) Nevertheless, I was saddened to see the abundance of posts across the internet regarding the uselessness of learning Cantonese and how it is only a matter of time before it is overtaken by Mandarin in the South Chinese diaspora. So, I found several articles/blog posts which are a ray of hope for the demand of Cantonese speakers. Enjoy! Demand For Cantonese High Hong Kong Hates Mandarin High Demand For Nannies 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| BaronBill Triglot Senior Member United States HowToLanguages.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4693 days ago 335 posts - 594 votes Speaks: English*, French, German Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Persian | Message 2 of 6 22 May 2013 at 7:15pm | IP Logged |
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That is very interesting as I'm struggling currently with whether to learn Mandarin or Cantonese next. It seems to be a common theme that Cantonese is "fun" whereas I have yet to hear Mandarin described that way. Can you elaborate on why is it so much fun and/or more interesting than Mandarin? I am very curious what the big differences are between the two (besides the 4 tones vs 6 tones). Edited by BaronBill on 22 May 2013 at 7:15pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4672 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 3 of 6 24 May 2013 at 9:14am | IP Logged |
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Mandarin will be, de-facto, offficial in Hong Kong and Macau in 40 years, when those two cities lose their special status. Cantonese will be reduced to a mere dialect, as it had already happened in Southern China and in Singapore.
For the time being, Cantonese holds on. All foreign companies use it when communicating with Hong Kong and Macau. (Hong Kong and Macau Canon, Sony etc page is in Cantonese, unlike Canon India and Sony India which are in English, and not in Hindi). Edited by Medulin on 24 May 2013 at 9:17am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4448 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 4 of 6 25 May 2013 at 12:50am | IP Logged |
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For people familiar with Hong Kong it is like Quebec as a distinct society within Canada. Quebec is very
determined to keep their Quebecois French in the schools that any school-age children is required to take up French in 80% of the curriculum and English only as a second language. Unless you are an Anglophone you can request for an English immersion program that put more emphasis on English. In Hong Kong the same story. The locals only take Mandarin as a second language and not the language in core subjects like math, science or Chinese literature which is still taught exclusively in Cantonese. And signs on the streets and local restaurants have resisted the use of "Simplified" characters. Macao, like HK still use "Traditional" Chinese characters like Taiwan. The only difference is the street signs are in Portuguese instead of English (Avenida for Avenue, Rua for Road and Estrada for Street). Like Quebec immigration is partly under the jurisdiction of the local government. The Mainland Chinese government issues visas for students and tourists from China but restricts people from obtaining permanent residency status unless a Mainlander is married to a local. It is still too early to suggest the use of Cantonese in HK will give way to Mandarin in public places. The British made an agreement in 1982 that after the 1997 handover, HK will remain unchange for 50 years. The only change is the Br. Governor from London replaced by someone appointed from Beijing. They still drive on the left. I was there in August 1989 shortly after the Tiananmen "Incident" in Beijing. Many left and eventually returned with foreign passports. The last time in HK was in 2009. There were long lineups of Mainland Chinese outside the designer stores (Gucci, Christian Dior, S. Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, etc.) in Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district. In a lot of small family-run diners people still rely on writing Chinese characters on paper and finger pointing for communication. In Shenzhen in neighbouring China we are seeing a greater use of Mandarin in shops and restaurants due to migrant labours from other parts of China. In Guangzhou (used to be called Canton by the British) where Cantonese originated, there was a controversy a few years ago when the Beijing government wanted to limit the use of Cantonese on TV (including programs and the news). People complaint and the local administration backed down. In N. America, Chinese communities tend to use Cantonese. Many from Guangdong province in S. China speak a similar dialect Toisan. In Central & S. America (places like Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana) there is a large Chinese population who descended from migrant workers in the 19th century tend to be Hakka-speaking. It is a bit shortsighted to assume Mandarin has a higher number of speakers you should automatically learn it over Cantonese. If you are going to spend more time in HK or Macau, Cantonese is more practical. If you plan to stay in Mainland China, Mandarin is more useful. Like you wouldn't be learning Mandarin for a trip to Paris. Edited by shk00design on 28 May 2013 at 4:46am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| YnEoS Senior Member United States Joined 4258 days ago 472 posts - 893 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian, Cantonese, Japanese, French, Hungarian, Czech, Swedish, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish | Message 5 of 6 08 June 2013 at 7:31pm | IP Logged |
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My goals for language learning may be a bit skewed compared to everyone else's. But personally speaking, the rich cinematic history of Cantonese language films will forever make it an indispensable language to me. Even if everyone in the world stopped speaking it (which I don't think will happen any time soon), I would still study it.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4626 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 6 of 6 09 June 2013 at 10:57am | IP Logged |
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Languages only die when the people abandon them. It seems to me that Cantonese speakers see their
language as an essential part of their cultural identity. Therefore I think the language will be around for a long time. The Chinese communities in the UK are mainly of Cantonese stock and it is common to find third and fourth generation speakers. If the Cantonese people abroad are unwilling to let their language go, I can only assume those in the homeland have an even tighter grip on their mother tongue. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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