What dialect of Chinese do the locals speak in Chinatown, San Francisco?

Question

What is the best method of learning Chinese?

Do the Mandarin and Cantonese understand each other?

Answer 1

its best to find a friend, and practice

certainly, daily usage would reinforce your memory

another good way is to buy a few enjoyable chinese movies that have subtitles

for example, i recommend the movie: "dragon squad".... its an action movie (a little bit violent though), with a mixture of english and chinese dialogue... but i notice during the chinese dialogue scenes, that they speak very slowly, which makes it easier to catch up on what they are saying

Answer 2

Yes it's probably Cantonese as it's easier for people from Hong Kong and similar places to emmigrate rather than the mainlanders who mainly speak Mandarin. Do not use freetranslation to learn Chinese, that is just ridiculous. Classes are best, I'm doing Chinese as my major and one year in, I know about 1000 characters and can have simple conversations. Good luck!

Answer 3

In Chinatown, SF, I think it's cantonese and then second is mandarin. Best method to learn the language is by speaking it very often or if you don't know anyone that speaks it, then I'd suggest you to take a class or private lesson.

Answer 4

If you choose to recognize Chinese you then will have to recognize that Chinese language is in reality one of the vital toughest languages for westerners to uncover out, and up correct up till now deciding to speak Chinese to a degree of skillability external of the school room atmosphere has been nearly incredibly tough however no longer in case you pick a software

Answer 5

Mandrain. Live in China for a year...you'll learn it fast. Or go to FreeTranslation.com