Cantonese or Mandarin?

[Phil Redmond]

For those that don't know, the Chinese characters under Alpha Dog's name are from an old Chinese song from about 20 years ago.
"Wo bu chou dan shi wo tai wen rou" in Mandarin, which literally
means "I am not ugly but I am too docile and gentle," and can probably be
interpreted as "I am not ugly but I am very caring."

[reneritchie]

irregardless

See, now imagine poor NTC going nuts trying to find that non-word? He might consider American lingua-fusion, irrespective and regardless of intent, anticipointing to say the least

And agreed on the good heart.

Phil, maybe the western ditty, "She ain't pretty she just looks this way" was a cover of that old tune?

[yylee]

hmmm....I remember the song's name was actually:

"Wo hun chou dan shi wo hun wen rou"

says "I'm very ugly but I'm very caring"

can't remember the singer's name, but he's not a handsome guy at all. May be Phil was referring to a different song.....

[Alpha Dog]

Originally posted by reneritchie

AD - Nei Sik Gong Faatmaan? Wah....

Ngo ho zhong yi sik haa gao, siu mai, cha siu bao, m'goi (mmmkayyyy).

[ntc]

Chris,

No need to lose confidence in the tapes you are using. I think you are using the right approach. The tapes will teach you the language itself. You will then need to find folks to practice with so that you will be able to use the language along with the proper "slangs", "idioms", etc. I think you should be commended just for taking the initiative in trying to learn such a tough language. Same goes for all the other folks here who seem to have a pretty good understanding of the Cantonese language.

I was fortunate to have learned Cantonese as my native language. It is definitely one of the toughest (if not THE toughest) dialect among all the Chinese dialects.

Keep up the great work, all !!!

[Phil Redmond]

I was fortunate to have learned Cantonese as my native language. It is definitely one of the toughest (if not THE toughest) dialect among all the Chinese dialects.

Mandarin speakers always ask me why I learned Cantonese because it's harder. It seem that Mandarin is easier for Westerners. Do you agree? Also, thanks.
Phil

[ntc]

Originally posted by reneritchie


See, now imagine poor NTC going nuts trying to find that non-word? He might consider American lingua-fusion, irrespective and regardless of intent, anticipointing to say the least

And agreed on the good heart.

Phil, maybe the western ditty, "She ain't pretty she just looks this way" was a cover of that old tune?

I AM SOOOOOO PO !!!!! (hehehehehe)

[ntc]

Originally posted by chris
Your point is well taken- what surprised me is NTC saying that do je was not a common response - even though what constitutes a common response in a given language may exhibit regional and/or socioeconomic variation. Anyway, irregardless of common usage issues, I just plain like "you've got a good heart" better as a response

You see..... the "heart" response versus the "do je" is the norm when responding to the "nei hou ma" question in both Hong Kong and Macao. Now, there is a good chance that there may be alternative response(s) in other Cantonese-speaking places like FutShan, Canton, or even Singapore where Cantonese is as widely spoken as Mandarin. I think as you have a chance to practice with Cantonese-speaking people from different places, you will find it very intriguing the variations that exist. I know I did.

[ntc]

Originally posted by Phil Redmond

Mandarin speakers always ask me why I learned Cantonese because it's harder. It seem that Mandarin is easier for Westerners. Do you agree? Also, thanks.
Phil

I definitely agree that Mandarin is much easier. It has only five standard tones. The tones are also much easier to master, as they are not as nasal- or throat-based as Cantonese.

[Alpha Dog]

That distinction depends on your hearing. If you're tone deaf, both dialects, in fact all languages, are going to be hard to learn. If you aren't tone deaf and you have the opportunity to practice what you learn, no language should be difficult.

[cho]

The best way to help learn is to immerse yourself in the media of the language. Listen to Chinese music, and watch movies. and with movies, you'd be able to pick up more of the words 'regular' people use, rather than textbook speak.

Thanks to p2p sharing and the internet canto-pop is so much easier to find.

[Alpha Dog]

Originally posted by cho
The best way to help learn is to immerse yourself in the media of the language. Listen to Chinese music, and watch movies. and with movies, you'd be able to pick up more of the words 'regular' people use, rather than textbook speak.

Thanks to p2p sharing and the internet canto-pop is so much easier to find.

You forgot the real best way -- get a Chinese girlfriend!

[cho]

Originally posted by Alpha Dog

You forgot the real best way -- get a Chinese girlfriend!

everybody, forget what I said, this way will get you real lessons AND some shu-mai.