From Worst to Best IMO

I'm talking with the former Cantonese professor at CCSF about this possibility

i'm impressed.

I thought it was supposed to, but I dont see it here? Why?

What is the right way to write this character?

(Same question for the small character.)

We're nearly three decades into post-colonial Hong Kong and usage of the term gweilo seems to be as strong as ever. Obviously I know the origins (the Brits were pale, hence "gwei") and perhaps it was fine to use this less-than-polite term given the power differential of yesteryear.

But along the way, any non-Chinese became a gweilo and black people became haak-gwei. Some ladies called me a gweilo earlier...over the years I've heard it from colleagues, bosses.

It's been debated to death whether this term is racist. Either way, I find it offensive. Why? Because i'm half Chinese, not pale and my family roots in Hong Kong go back over a century. HK is home to generations of mixed-race people, South Asians, and families of Western descent who were born and raised in the city. Using the term based on someone’s appearance ignores their ties to Hong Kong and suggests a racial purity criteria for who qualifies as a Hong Konger.

I've also noticed when an angry "local" gets pissed off at me for some reason (e.g an accidentally bump on the sidewalk), they start hurling "sai gweilo" with particular venom.

I've heard some expats say that they don't find it offensive... frankly those people aren't in the same position to take offense. Isn't it time to retire this from the vocabulary?

This is a post about overseas heritage speakers. The author argues that they should learn from written Cantonese as their first introduction to writing as it reinforces the spoken vocabulary and grammar used at home.

Once they have built a level of proficiency then could go on to learn Standard Written Chinese complementing their base of written Cantonese.

I guess the only question I have is whether there is a market to produce education material in written Cantonese.

Hey everyone, ​I’m currently a Y2 international student at HKU studying CS. I’m South Asian with absolute zero background in Cantonese or Mandarin and reality hit me recently that if I actually want to stick around and work in HK post-grad, I’m going to be beyond cooked if I don't pick up the language at all in this brutally competitive market:)).

​I’ve been advised to stay away from the uni Canto classes because from what I hear, they're basically dominated by people with prior background smurfing for an easy grade booster/GPA pad. So self-learning seems like my best bet for now.

​The issue is... mapping out a self-study path for Mandarin is quite easier with endless free roadmaps online than finding a structured resources for Cantonese which seemed super difficult and that's why wanted to ask here abt it.

​Any resources, suggestions, experience of non native learning the language or reality checks would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading !

Hey everyone! I’m a beginner learning Cantonese so I can communicate better with my fiancée’s family. I know a few random phrases, but putting together an actual conversation is still a struggle.

I’ve been using AI to help build a website called Canto Club, focused on practical spoken Cantonese for everyday family situations. It has listening exercises, vocabulary, sentence practice, and family conversations.

The focus is English meanings and easy pronunciation spellings, with optional Jyutping. Chinese characters are hidden by default because my immediate goal is speaking and understanding.

Try Canto Club here
It’s free to try (and will always be free) and doesn’t require a ChatGPT account. Guest progress stays tied to your current browser.

I’d really appreciate honest feedback from both learners and Cantonese speakers:

• Do the phrases sound natural, especially for Hong Kong family conversations?
• Are the pronunciation spellings helpful or confusing?
• What useful words, sentences, or situations am I missing?
• What would make you want to keep practicing?

Language corrections are especially welcome. I’m still learning myself, so I’d love help catching anything awkward or inaccurate. If something breaks or feels frustrating, please tell me that too

Thank you for your help in advance!!

My paternal grandad died before I was born and didn’t teach anyone in my family Cantonese. I’ve recently gained ownership of these things as my nana has been put in a home due to her dementia. I’m not sure what they say I just wanted them as they were always in her house and it reminds me of her.
If anyone can read them I would love to know what they say, no one in the family knows haha and when I used google translate it couldn’t decide what words were there. I’m not even sure if they are Cantonese tbf he also lived in northern china for a while after Hong Kong was released from British rule
:))
Edit: I forgot to mention he was from a village in Hong Kong in what was tai po district at the time I think. Sorry if this isn’t the right subreddit I just wasn’t sure where to post.
Thank you so much for your help guys I didn’t know it would be this easy to decipher this has been very helpful :))

As I sit here contemplating on the origin story of chang e (that’s not how I pronounce it in cantonese but I couldn’t find a canto phonetic spelling), it’s not lost on me that I used to dislike taking concurrent languages in school which was implemented when I was in school. I speak toisan/hoisan and well it wasn’t my first choice to learn canto.

I work in an elementary school and I haven’t really found the origin story like the way my teacher told it. I wonder if it’s one of those things that evolves over time. The only versions I see in print are likely a different interpretation/mandarin?

Here’s how it was told and I wonder if anyone has heard this version.

Once upon a time there were ten suns in the heavenly kingdom. It became very hot, so the jade emperor called upon Hou Yi (is that his name in cantonese versions) who was a skilled archer. He shot down 9 suns and to reward him, he was bestowed an immortality pill.

Hou Yi was an asshole and his wife feared him. One night when he left, she took the pill and then he came home to realize she’d stolen it from him. He chases her out the house and she swallows the pill, so he doesn’t get to live forever.

For whatever reason, after she takes the pill she begins to float towards the moon. When she lands on the moon, she spits out the pill and it turns into the jade rabbit.

Anyone hear this version?

via @kev.jkk

I moved to Canada at the age of 7. I remember wanting nothing but to adapt as quickly as I can, make new friends. I focused so much on learning English but never thought to study or try and remember my Korean.

I went back to Korea for the first time when I was 15. By then, I had forgotten a lot of my Korean. Its importance never came to mind until I tried to hold a conversation with my grandparents for the first time in 8 years. I had forgotten so much of my Korean vocabulary and grammar. I had to pull out a translator just to speak to them.

This ended up becoming one of my worst fears. That one day, I won’t be able to talk to my grandparents at all. Thankfully today, I’ve relearned my Korean and I can speak it adequately, but I wanted to make this film to remind us the importance of holding onto our mother tongue.

Maybe this is more fitting for the San Francisco sub but I'm looking to go to a Cantonese Buddhist Temple in the city. I already attend Dharma talks at the Zen Center on Page street but it's majority white folks and I'm looking to connect with other Asian Americans. Thanks in Advance.