What Cantonese Language Tells You About Life in Hong Kong

What Cantonese Language Tells You About Life in Hong Kong

What Cantonese Language Tells You About Life in Hong Kong

Mandarin is the official language in China that are spoken by 1.3 billion people, but Cantonese has a longer history than Mandarin, Cantonese is mainly spoken in Canto province including Hong Kong. Hong Kong people are very proud of their language because of their long history and full of meaning behind the words.  

 

Also, some foreigners are taking Cantonese class in Hong Kong instead of Mandarin lessons, because they like to under the Cantonese culture and social here in Hong Kong, even though Cantonese language is harder than Mandarin, it is more fun to learn to be honest.

 

The Cantonese language represents one among the various elements of an upscale culture that extends over a neighborhood that goes beyond that of the straightforward Canton. faraway from the straightforward stereotype that the word “Cantonese” can evoke to Westerners the cultural power of Cantonese is found within the 7th art, music or (you were expecting it) gastronomy.

 

Dominated by the aura of Mandarin, the Cantonese evolves within the most total discretion within the regions where it’s practiced. Yet its history, the strength of its culture, which spreads easily abroad, and therefore the economic power of the regions during which it’s still used – like Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and therefore the many overseas Chinese communities – make it particularly attractive. Lovers of languages and dialects, learning Cantonese in Hong Kong for them is like enjoying an honest meal again with a completely different recipe. The omnipresence of official Mandarin distorts the first aspect of learning this language, which isn’t the case of Cantonese, which is a smaller amount popular and fewer accessible. Also, with 8 tones and lots of similarities with Vietnamese it’s how to form a primary step towards Halong Bay country.

 

Without neglecting the history of Mandarin, the presence of Cantonese within the chronological timeline of the planet and China is colorful enough to miss. Guangzhou or Canton, which represents the 3rd largest city in China, has remained for several centuries outside the politics of the varied regimes that governed it. This makes it a neighborhood whose authenticity isn’t to be demonstrated. It’s nicknamed the “city of 5 rams”, in regard to a Chinese legend that speaks of 5 goats coming down from the sky, carrying immortals with them. We will venture to mention that Canton is indeed an immortal city that despite centuries of domination remains and is a component of the legend.

 

A language for film lovers

 

Popular at the regional, national and international levels, Hong Kong cinema highlights the particularity of the Cantonese language. we discover all its characteristics with its own sounds, its particular uses, its use of particles reinforcing its vivacity. The mastery of Mandarin reading is merely anecdotal here, since the quality Chinese subtitles, which accompany the films, only slightly or poorly translate the Cantonese language spoken by the characters. Hello the truth of dialogues and therefore the understanding of feature,

 

A language for aspiring expatriates.

 

Beautiful, modern and historic, Hong Kong is – like Shanghai – a city that draws migrants from everywhere the planet. Although westernized, the city, which had been under English control for several years (See why is it so important to find out English in Hong Kong), has nevertheless managed to retain its Chinese specificity. And once we mention Chinese in Hong Kong … It actually means Cantonese. Indeed, adopted by Hong Kong, which has made it its official language, Cantonese remains relevant today. it’s therefore a big plus, to urge closer to the local population and find out Hong Kong from another angle but also, why not, develop beneficial economic relations for the remainder of your entrepreneurial career.

 

Cantonese has 9 tones more than Mandarin 4 tones that make Cantonese language more difficult to learn, you have to take extra effort learning Cantonese language. However, variety of linguists consider it a definite language, with quite fifty million users in southern China, Hong Kong and therefore the Chinese diasporas, and an outsized cultural production, including film production, during this language. Chinese people that don’t come from Guangdong cannot know it , but they’re wont to hearing it due to Hong Kong’s cultural influence (films, music) in China.

 

But then what are the particularities of Cantonese Chinese? First of all, it’s generally considered as a spoken dialect, not a written communication. A dialect spoken within the Canton region of China, but also within the Hong Kong administrative region, as we’ve seen previously. Indeed, the border makes things look different, and therefore the two languages differ during a few respects. For instance, Learning Chinese characters aren’t an equivalent in Canton, where they’re simplified, as in Hong Kong.

 

This sometimes results in pronunciation problems in learning. On an equivalent principle, the initial “s”, in Cantonese, are often perceived and understood because the initial “sh” and the other way around. As we’ve understood, Cantonese Chinese may be a very particular language, which is even different from other sorts of Cantonese, but also and in particular from the official national language: Mandarin.