Mandarin or Cantonese: which should I learn? What software do you recommend?

Question

I am going to visit China next year with my HS for two weeks. I believe we are going to Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, the Great Wall, and some rural locales. Should I study Mandarin or Cantonese? And how similar are the two languages? If I knew Mandarin and heard somebody speak Cantonese would I be able to understand them, would they be able to understand me?

And What software do you recomend to learn the language?

As for the software, I'm a student, I don't want to spend much but I want something effective. I'm thinking eBay...

Answer 1

Hello,

Mandarin, more people speak that and Cantonese is the next popular dialect of china.

I wouldn't say that you should go to a country just to study a language i am living proof that self study works,. I am 22 yaers old and speak more than 9 Languages which are Mandarin,Japanese,Cantonese,Korean,Spanish,Portuguese,Arabic,Italian,Tagalog and a few others like Indonesia well on an intermediate level and also some Ancient languages.
If you want some good books i'll recommend some

Teach yourself Cantonese
Teach yourself Chinese ( Mandarin)
Living language chinese
Ultimate chinese
Colloquialm Cantonese
Coloquial Chinese

Pimsleur Recorded Books are very goos because they are like recorded conversations and it is also similar to the Rosetta Stone software, both a costly. i would recommend you checking it in your local library.

Here are a few websites, that might help you out.

1. http://chinese.rutgers.edu/class_content_simplified_chinese/level1/class1-to-9/class1/dialog_en.htm
2.http://www.hanyu.com.cn/
3.http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chinese
4.http://www.minmm.com/

These above are for Mandarin.

You could also try talk now cantonese it is designed for begineers and also travelers.

If you are really in a hurry like for travel try,

1. Berlitz Cantonese chinese
2.Berlitz Mandarin Chinese
3. Rough guide to manadarin, this book is great because it has alot of cultural information and also the pronunciaion guide for non chinese speakers great buy though!
4.Say it in chinese

Take care and good luck

Answer 2

If you learn Mandarin, you should be able to communicate in many places in China, since Mandarin is used as the language of government and in the media. Mandarin and Cantonese are completely different languages, as different as English and German, let's say. You would not be able to understand somebody speaking Cantonese if you knew Mandarin. However, many Cantonese speakers will be able to understand and speak Mandarin also.

I am not familiar with language-learning software, but don't choose any software that does the following:
1. Asks you to translate sentences back and forth between Chinese and English. Translation has very little use as a language-learning exercise. Choose instead a software that requires you to get meaning by understanding Chinese.
2. Spends most of its time on memorizing characters. If you are traveling to China, you need spoken Chinese, not written Chinese.
3. Asks you to repeat the same or similar sentences and/or dialogues over and over. This is a methodology that we don't use anymore because it doesn't work.

Answer 3

Rosetta Stone for Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin is known as Putonghua (without tone accents) which means "Common Language". It is China's Official Language based on the principal dialect spoken in and around Beijing.

Many Chinese do not speak Cantonese. An example is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The actors had to learn Cantonese. Cantonese is a variation of Chinese, so with Mandarin, you should catch some words. Cantonese is from the Guangzhou region.

I've been happy with Rosetta Stone CD's in the past. Easy to use, immersion kinda thing. Worth every penny. If you have a microphone on your computer, you can even practice your accent! (very important in a tone sensitive language like Chinese)

Answer 4

Mandarin is spoken all over China, it's the common language. There are many software packages available; make sure you get one that uses a microphone to check your tonal pronunciation, as Mandarin has four tones (Cantonese 6) which change the meaning of the word, e.g. ma, ma, ma and ma, each with a different tone can mean ' horse' or 'question mark', etc.

In six months maybe you should concentrate on 'Mandarin for travel' i.e. greeting, numbers, money, 'how much is this?' and' Where is...?' along with the Chinese characters for numbers, 'toilet', etc, and place names you'll be visiting.
(makes it easier to catch the right bus!)

Everyone in China can speak & understand Mandarin, & luckily the written characters are the same for most of the many different chinese languages.

It would also be helpful if you enrolled in some local evening classes (once or so per week) for a term to help with the all important pronunciation. Fortunately the grammar is quite easy!

Good luck!

Answer 5

I say learn mandarin, since you're going to the more highly-spoken mandarin areas of China. Cantonese is mainly used more for native speakers, but i'm sure you'll gather some of the language as you go along the region.

Software wise, there are many to choose from. I don't know of any specific ones. Good luck!

Answer 6

Mandarin. The only reason to learn Cantonese is if you were going to visit Guangdong province or Hong Kong, but in Guangdong, you would find a people who would speak Mandarin.

The two dialects are completly different. If someone who only spoke Mandarin were to try to talk to someone who spoke only Cantonese, they would not be able to communicate. Sure, some words would be similar, but not enough.

check out http://www.mandarintools.com for some suggustions on learning, and some places to get software.

Answer 7

I'm learning mandarin. It is China's official language and is used in al of China but pronunciation differs. What you have to learn is how to read and write. Writing is the same no matter what dialect. The spoken language is different within the same dialects that's why their TV has subtitles. I'm also going to learn hong kong style Cantonese.
Mandarin is easier because it has 4 tones, Cantonese has 8.
I suggest a teacher. it is very hard to learn without one.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; the house of flying daggers and hero are in Mandarin. Jakie Chang movies, kung fu hustle, bruce lee and Hong Kong made movies movies are in Cantonese.

Answer 8

Mainland China doesn't speak cantonese except for the canton province. You'll be better off studying mandarin. Make sure you spend at least some time with a native speaker because the tones are very hard.

Answer 9

Mandarin is the one to learn. I was Hong Kong where they speak Canonese; for one thing Hong Kong is in Canton. It is a language that was isolated from the Chinese of the rest of China and so not only do the words they use there differ in pronouciation but they are sometimes different words entirely if you go for the written word. My favorite story was when I learned a bit of Chinese and said to a group of children: mot (yau) chin and got everyone screaming yau chin, yau chin! Mandarin it is mei yau chin. I am told by a friend from pei king or whatever we are calling it now. I am still pretty much mei yau chin.

Answer 10

i would recommend u 2 learn mandarin first becuz it is spoken all over china. Cantonese is just one dialect spoken in a certain part of china.