Studying other dialects...

[mercator]

Where should I look if I want to study Cantonese and Hakka (Guangdong Kejia) online?

 

MDBG is awesome for Mandarin, and of course there are tons of Mandarin sites, but is there a site like that for Cantonese and Hakka?

 

Mom speaks Hakka and a little Mandarin (she's in her late 70's). Cantonese is the language of choice in Guangzhou, despite the government's standardizing on Mandarin.

 

I've studied Mandarin enough to know my wife has a thick "southern" (china) accent when she speaks it, and my 'book' Chinese isn't always understood on the first go. One example that throws me off sometimes is that her pinyin 'h' sound is often more like an fh sound. So 'putonghua' sounds more like 'putongfha.' passport sounds more like fuzhao than huzhao. I also notice differences in pinyin sounds that end in 'i' like zi and si.

 

Anyway, I thought I would surprise her and start learning a little of her more comfortable languages, and also to be able to talk to mom better, and of course get more brownie (or would that be moon cake?) points.

 

Any help is much appreciated!

 

Merc

[Randy W]

There are several Cantonese CD's available, including Pimsleur. Others, I don't know about.

[tonado]

http://www.cantonese.ca/

 

http://www.chinawestexchange.com/cantonese/

Edited April 18, 2006 by tonado (see edit history)

[tonado]

One way to learn Cantonese is watch HK movie.

[frank1538]

Welcome to the club. Jingwen speaks a local dialect of guangdonghua,as does her mom, but she can speak some putonghua, which is the dialect I butcher, I mean speak. In all honesty, it's easier for her to speak putonghua, although the words she has taught me have a distinctly Southern drawl to them.

 

Never fear, soon you'll both be speaking Chinglish, and nobody will be able to understand either of you.

[mercator]

Welcome to the club.   Jingwen speaks a local dialect of guangdonghua,as does her mom, but she can speak some putonghua, which is the dialect I butcher, I mean speak.  In all honesty, it's easier for her to speak putonghua, although the words she has taught me have a distinctly Southern drawl to them.

 

Never fear, soon you'll both be speaking Chinglish, and nobody will be able to understand either of you.

207797[/snapback]

Oh we already do, trust me. I call it Chinglish or ying-zhongwen, she calls it Laogong-laopo-hua. Gets alot of attention at airport gates and when I am sitting on the plane waiting for the gate to close. LOL.

 

She was sort of oblivious to it, until she went to the consulate and they spoke to her in English. She called me and declared that I speak "her english" and not good English.

[rogerluli]

  Cantonese is the language of choice in Guangzhou, despite the government's standardizing on Mandarin.

 

 

Merc

207770[/snapback]

Merc my laopo learned Cantonese in GZ because she had to for her job. But she says that Cantonese people in GZ only speak Cantonese to other Cantonese and Mandarin is much more the language of choice there.

[Randy W]

0„2 Cantonese is the language of choice in Guangzhou, despite the government's standardizing on Mandarin.

 

 

Merc

207770[/snapback]

Merc my laopo learned Cantonese in GZ because she had to for her job. But she says that Cantonese people in GZ only speak Cantonese to other Cantonese and Mandarin is much more the language of choice there.

208057[/snapback]

 

 

There are also plenty of people who still don't speak Madarin, including (Cantonese speakers) here in Houston.

[tonado]

  Cantonese is the language of choice in Guangzhou, despite the government's standardizing on Mandarin.

 

 

Merc

207770[/snapback]

Merc my laopo learned Cantonese in GZ because she had to for her job. But she says that Cantonese people in GZ only speak Cantonese to other Cantonese and Mandarin is much more the language of choice there.

208057[/snapback]

Cantonese people do speak only to other Cantonese people. Cantonese is so different from Mandarin in that both might not understand what each other is saying. Also, Cantonese in HK is a little different from Guangzhou.

Edited April 18, 2006 by tonado (see edit history)

[esun41]

My wife knows of Hakka but does not speak Hakka. She understands Mandarin but says she does not speak it well... "just hear" she says.

 

My step kids speak, hear, feel and smell (ha) many different dialects. They were taught in school and were taught Pinyun as well.

 

Amazing in just one generation the differences in their culture and education.

[mercator]

cantonese only speak cantonese to other cantonese...

 

GZ is almost all cantonese

[Mick]

The last four years that I lived in China, I resided in Shantou, which is on the northeast coast of Guangdong Province. The area is called "Chao Shan" and has its own language. Not just a dialect. Many of the folks there spoke Chao Shan, Mandarin and Cantonese. Of course, foreign devil that I am, I often couldn't tell the difference.

 

Li, who is from another province and speaks Mandarin, as well as her local dialect, picked up Cantonese and some of the Chao Shan pretty easily, although she said the Chao Shan was more like Japanese. In addition to English, Li speaks some Japanese.