I'm a native English speaker who is interested in learning Chinese. I get the impression that most people learning Chinese learn Mandarin, as this is the most spoken dialect. However, my mother and her family speak Cantonese, and these are the people I would probably talk with the most (to begin with, anyway).
If I learn Cantonese, how well would a Mandarin speaker understand me? And how much more work is it to start learning Mandarin after learning some Cantonese? Is it just a case of different pronounciation, or are the languages very different?
Thanks for your advice.
Should I learn Mandarin or Cantonese?
-
Thomas Chan
Re: Should I learn Mandarin or Cantonese?
; I'm a native English speaker who is interested in learning Chinese. I get the : impression that
: most people learning Chinese learn Mandarin, as this is the most spoken dialect.
Yes, and 70% of Chinese speakers speak Mandarin compared to just 4-5% for Cantonese.
Most people also learn Mandarin because it is the official/national language, and
many non-Mandarin-speaking Chinese also end up learning it to some extent for that
reason. The amount and quality of classes, textbooks, dictionaries, etc also
weigh heavily in Mandarin's favor. On the other hand, the Cantonese disapora is
overrepresented and looks more numerous than global population figures would
indicate, seemingly rivaling Mandarin, and locally in the UK (e.g., expats from
Hong Kong), might be more useful to know.
: However, my
: mother and her family speak Cantonese, and these are the people I would probably : talk with
: the most (to begin with, anyway).
Normally, if someone didn't have any particular preference, I would recommend
learning Mandarin, because of the amount of people they can potentially communicate
with, and because it is an official/national language and lingua franca of sorts.
The materials for instruction are better and more numerous, and if one wants to
learn to read and write, the written Chinese is virtually identical to spoken
Mandarin (there is great disparity between what the Cantonese speaker says and how
they must write, so it is more work to learn to read/write coming from a
Cantonese-speaking basis).
But since you have Cantonese informants to help you learn, answer questions, etc,
as well as being people you'd want to talk to, I think you'd make faster progress
and you'd also have a lot of opportunities to use it. It'd be slow going just studying Mandarin alone with no one to actually practice it with. Plus it's not
hard to find opportunities such as classes for Mandarin, but the chance to study
Cantonese is rare--I wouldn't pass up the opportunity. Finally, I don't know how
important it is to you, but there is something to be said for being able to
communicate in one's "hometown" language with family, relatives, etc.
: If I learn Cantonese, how well would a Mandarin speaker understand me? And how : much more work
: is it to start learning Mandarin after learning some Cantonese? Is it just a case : of
: different pronounciation, or are the languages very different?
A Mandarin speaker wouldn't understand you and vice versa. They're different in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
Thomas Chan
tc31@cornell.edu
: most people learning Chinese learn Mandarin, as this is the most spoken dialect.
Yes, and 70% of Chinese speakers speak Mandarin compared to just 4-5% for Cantonese.
Most people also learn Mandarin because it is the official/national language, and
many non-Mandarin-speaking Chinese also end up learning it to some extent for that
reason. The amount and quality of classes, textbooks, dictionaries, etc also
weigh heavily in Mandarin's favor. On the other hand, the Cantonese disapora is
overrepresented and looks more numerous than global population figures would
indicate, seemingly rivaling Mandarin, and locally in the UK (e.g., expats from
Hong Kong), might be more useful to know.
: However, my
: mother and her family speak Cantonese, and these are the people I would probably : talk with
: the most (to begin with, anyway).
Normally, if someone didn't have any particular preference, I would recommend
learning Mandarin, because of the amount of people they can potentially communicate
with, and because it is an official/national language and lingua franca of sorts.
The materials for instruction are better and more numerous, and if one wants to
learn to read and write, the written Chinese is virtually identical to spoken
Mandarin (there is great disparity between what the Cantonese speaker says and how
they must write, so it is more work to learn to read/write coming from a
Cantonese-speaking basis).
But since you have Cantonese informants to help you learn, answer questions, etc,
as well as being people you'd want to talk to, I think you'd make faster progress
and you'd also have a lot of opportunities to use it. It'd be slow going just studying Mandarin alone with no one to actually practice it with. Plus it's not
hard to find opportunities such as classes for Mandarin, but the chance to study
Cantonese is rare--I wouldn't pass up the opportunity. Finally, I don't know how
important it is to you, but there is something to be said for being able to
communicate in one's "hometown" language with family, relatives, etc.
: If I learn Cantonese, how well would a Mandarin speaker understand me? And how : much more work
: is it to start learning Mandarin after learning some Cantonese? Is it just a case : of
: different pronounciation, or are the languages very different?
A Mandarin speaker wouldn't understand you and vice versa. They're different in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
Thomas Chan
tc31@cornell.edu