Hello my name is Phil and this is my blog about the journey of learning Cantonese from scratch.
Firstly let me introduce myself - I am Australian and English is my first language. My motivation to learn Cantonese is so that I can speak to my sister and her family in Hong Kong. As a English speaker, I have to say that learning Cantonese is difficult. What has helped me the most is writing down Cantonese words in a form of "pinyin" alphabetical language - and although there seems to be no official pinyin for Cantonese, I believe it is good practice to write down what you hear and the only way I can do that is via a made-up pinyin. Anyway - you choose for yourself whether such a technique will help you.
The first words I have learned in Cantonese is Leng Chay and Leng Lui which means 'handsome' and 'beautiful' respectively. These words are very common greetings in Hong Kong and can be used in as alternatives to normal address like Mr, Mrs, Ms etc. For example, "leng chay, can i have a glass of sou (water) m goi (please)". This would be a normal way of asking a waiter for a glass of water. These first words have been very beneficial to me as they were great conversation starters.
Today was just a taste of what future lessons will be about. I wish you the best for your Cantonese learning endeavours. See you next time for more Cantonese words.
Choi Kin, Leng Chay Phil
3 comments:
Liking your blog so far ba po phil. But, I disagree that writing that what you learnt is better. I reckon it's better to learn cantonese through conversation.
Anyway, Leng chay (not), good luck!
Ninja0
thank you so much for creating/maintaining this blog! i've been trying to learn cantonese for ages... loved those hong kong dramas as a kid :)
thank you so much for creating/maintaining this blog! i've been trying to learn cantonese for ages... loved those hong kong dramas as a kid :)
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