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Mandarin vs Cantonese to learn? | ||
Tags: Mandarin | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Nature Diglot Groupie Canada Joined 5238 days ago 63 posts - 80 votes  Speaks: English*, French | Message 1 of 6 02 August 2011 at 1:27am | IP Logged | ||
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I took a year of Mandarin classes and while I learnt a lot, I was not motivated. Taiwan doesn't interest me. China would be fun for a visit but I'd never, ever, live there.
I absolutely love Hong Kong. It just seems like such a fun and exciting city and I can imagine myself living there for a little while. That is my main motivation to learn Cantonese. Plus if I ever would move there, I wouldn't want to be one of those typical foreigners who don't bother learning the native language and just expect people to cater to them in English and practically spend their entire time in the expat area of the city. Bleck, that is not me AT ALL. I want to show I AM interested in your culture. That and, being in Canada, Cantonese would be a lot more useful.Mandarin sure doesn't/wouldn't help me understand what the two old Chinese women at my summer job are saying in Cantonese! However, I know Mandarin is the "language of the future" and China and the economy and blablabla but I'm just so much more appealed to Cantonese.. I don't know what to do :S Edited by Nature on 02 August 2011 at 1:31am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6358 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English* | Message 2 of 6 02 August 2011 at 9:15am | IP Logged | ||
If you took a year of Mandarin and you weren't motivated, and you don't seem very motivated for Mandarin now (e.g.: "blablabla"), I don't think you need *us* to tell you which of the two. If all the replies say you'd be better off studying Mandarin, you'd study Cantonese anyway, wouldn't ya? So, may I suggest Korean? Edited by TerryW on 02 August 2011 at 9:20am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jinx Triglot Senior Member Germany reverbnation.co Joined 5694 days ago 1085 posts - 1879 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, Croatian, Serbian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish | Message 3 of 6 03 August 2011 at 4:50am | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, I think it's pretty obvious that Cantonese is the language for you. :) What better motivation than a city you love? Go for it, and don't worry about practicality. It's a pretty vague concept anyway, when you begin to really analyze it.
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| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5416 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 4 of 6 03 August 2011 at 6:38am | IP Logged | ||
Well, if you "absolutely love Hong Kong", you may live in China after all, considering Hong Kong is part of China. As for your thread question, it's clear you just want to share your love for Cantonese — no problem. I, Ari, and Moses ("Laoshu") all prefer Cantonese. The notion of preferring the underrated underdog to the overbearing powerhouse isn't exactly an uncommon mindset. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| aquablue Senior Member United States Joined 6383 days ago 150 posts - 172 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 5 of 6 04 August 2011 at 1:36am | IP Logged | ||
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I wouldn't learn cantonese just for HK, unless I was living there and had to use it
everyday. Although I like HK and it is the richest city in China, Mandarin seems like the best choice unless I happened to get a job in HK somehow and I needed it. You don't need Cantonese to move to HK as a westerner, most business is done in English. Oh, and how hard is cantonese to learn after mandarin? Are there any shared voca? Edited by aquablue on 04 August 2011 at 1:47am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Rael Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6630 days ago 24 posts - 25 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Korean | Message 6 of 6 06 August 2011 at 12:27am | IP Logged | ||
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Learn Cantonese. You shouldn't learn a language because you feel like you have to or
because of b.s. predictions of the future. That way the next year won't feel like torture and half-assing your way through mando just to get it out of the way for canto. Go with your true desire and the experience will be more rewarding. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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