Cantonese Learning Experiences

"I was a big fan of Hong Kong movies from about 16 on, and when I discovered in college that Mandarin was actually doable I decided to aim high and learn Cantonese in hopes of getting into the movie industry in the future. I've always recognized that as a most-likely unattainable goal, but I'm continuing with my Chinese studies with the expectation that I'll probably fall into a related career along the way."

"1-4 out of 10, depending on my mood, the subject, and the setting. I order all my meals in Cantonese, and these days the only hangups that arise are usually because I speak too quietly or the waiter is prepared to listen to English and it takes a couple tries before it registers that I'm speaking lousy Cantonese. I can get most ideas that I need to express across if the other party has some patience. Unfortunately, the phrases I'm most fluent with are generally rude, abusive, or downright vulgar, so they don't get much play!"

"5 out of 10 - Again, depends on the subject and voice. I can get the gist of many newspaper articles and understand a lot of less formal writing quite clearly.  If I'm selective about the subject and stick to grammar and vocabulary I'm comfortable with, I can pass for Chinese online. Not that I've TRIED, but I've been asked about my name before."

"I've been learning Mandarin for about 3 years - it's a bit better than my Cantonese due to more chances to speak."

"Finding any decent resources. Every major book out there has significant weaknesses or limitations, and it's really hard to find classes. Fortunately, I've found some pretty good books now."

"I'm in Hong Kong for the time being, and outside of class it's incredibly difficult to actually do any talking. Due to the large number of tourists, the constant noise, and the fact that almost everybody speaks at least a little English, it takes a pretty decent level of Cantonese to aggressively break through the initial "whitey-barrier," and I'm not there. So I'm having a hard time improving my speaking, and it's too noisy here most of the time for me to get much out of other people's conversations. Fortunately, I am actually in contact with some local people this time."

"If you learn to read while you learn to speak, you'll find that a lot of the language is pretty simple; if you know 1,000 solid characters, they can be combined into much, much more. I've correctly guessed the names of nouns plenty of times."

"Depends on what their goals are and how long they have. I couldn't say anything about the fastest way to speak good Cantonese. Frankly, I'm skeptical that any kind of verbal cram-course could be very successful other than with a handful of naturally talented people. To somebody with a lot of ambition and a lot of time to get there, I would say take Mandarin first as it's easier to get good materials and classes, and will give you a good grounding in grammar, vocabulary, and written Chinese."

"Romanization is almost worthless, and slowed-down tapes aren't much better. The best thing to do is to actually hear the word or phrase you want spoken naturally. Try to think less in terms of numbers or lines or whatever your preferred system uses and more in terms of what it actually SOUNDS like."

"Plenty, I'm sure. Often I can't voice the distinction even if I know it. My teachers don't correct me very often compared to other students, though."