I'm in dilemma .... shall i learn MANDARIN or CANTONESE ?!?!?

Question

Hi,
I'm non-Chinese. I am able to speak Cantonese fairly. Now, i am planning to look for a new job in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, i see MANDARIN as the requirement in almost every job search. Looking at this situation, i guess i must start to learn MANDARIN soon. But the problem is ........ if i learn MANDARIN, i need to find someone in Hong Kong with whom i can have MANDARIN practical conversation. Well, i guess it's a very hard and difficult idea for me to find MANDARIN SPEAKER in Hong Kong since i know no Chinese people in Hong Kong ... !!! The only i can expect is through ... by my question viewers like YOU and INTERNET SURFING.

Answer 1

Mandarin: (c. 800 million) This is the mother dialect of Chinese living in northern and southwestern China. It is the basis for Standard Mandarin, the official spoken language of China.

Yue(Cantonese): (c. 80 million) spoken in Guangdong province, Guangxi Autonomous Region, Hong Kong, Macau, all over Southeast Asia and by many Overseas Chinese. Used by linguistics, "Cantonese" covers all the Yue dialects, such as Toishanese, though the term is also used to refer to just the Standard Cantonese of Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Learn Mandarin:
http://www.instantspeakchinese.com/?source=google&kw=mandarinLanguage
Find a US school:
http://www.askasia.org/chinese/schooldirectory.htm
Discussion of merits of the Chinese languages:
http://www.chinese-forums.com/showthread.php?t=1893&page=3

Answer 2

Hi,
I think it's depended on which language you are capable of and interested in. Someone thinks Mandarin is easier to learn because of simpler pronunciation and easier to remember than Cantonese.
Of course, if you have mandarin-speaking friends, more opportunities are exposed for you. However, do you feel difficult in learning Cantonese these years? If so, try to learn Mandarin. If not, keep learning through chatting with Cantonese friends or watching Cantonese TV programme.
It's suggested to try to learn Mandarin first. Then, make a comparison and decision.

Answer 3

Basically, in HK, everyone speaks cantonese. Most of educated people speak as well mandarin and english.

For the future, you should definitely learn Mandarin. Official language of China mainland. The HK specificities will disapear soon since the China gov want to unify the whole country.

Now of course, if you want to live and work in HK, cantonese will be a +. Depends in which industry you will work and who you will have to work with.
Don't worry, you will find a lot of mandarin speaking chinese in HK, don't need to know peoles before...

Answer 4

I think you should learn Mandarin since your job search requirements need it. I'm not sure how you'll be able to get along in other areas of China with Cantonese, but Mandarin usually works...I think. Plus, there's always Taiwan, and they speak Mandarin and Taiwanese, so that shouldn't be a problem. Best of luck!

Answer 5

lolz.. i speak english, cantonese and chinese. Well.. basically chinese and cantonese are the same words but pronounced differently. But not so differently as well. It is like adding another tone to your cantonese will change it to chinese. Tell you what.. I am not much of cantonese speaker.. I do chinese translated cantonese and it works fine... about the same

Answer 6

Learn madarin, that the most common language in the asian countries :)

check out the sites below good luck :)
www.adpost.com/hk/employment/1738 - 38k -
www.onestoplanguage.net/SchoolDetail.php?id=271 - 23k -
www.msllearningcenter.com - 26k -
http://www.chinesepod.com/podcast/2005/11/04/35-don%E2%80%99t-take-that-tone-with-me/

Answer 7

English and Madarin

Answer 8

Make a decision based on which is more beneficial to you.

Answer 9

english