By VERNA YU
Published: July 22, 2010

HONG KONG — I had always presumed that speaking to your child in your native tongue was the most natural thing in the world. Apparently not everyone thinks so.

When we held a birthday party for our two-year-old daughter several months ago, I had a bit of a shock.

The first sign came when a four-year-old Chinese boy looked annoyed and frustrated when I asked in Cantonese what snacks he would like from the table.

“No, no, no!” he yelled in English. His mother promptly translated what I said into English.

This baffled me. The boy was born and bred here in Hong Kong, and his parents are both native speakers of the dominant Cantonese dialect, but they speak to their children only in their less-than-perfect English.

It turned out they have a simple reason: They want their children to get into a prestigious international school.

They worry that if their children speak Cantonese at home they will not learn enough English to pass the interview.

The mother is delighted with her achievement. Her son has been accepted by an international kindergarten and her younger girl’s first words were all in English.

I quickly realized that she wasn’t the only one who thought like this. I noticed that several other parents at the birthday party were also speaking broken English to their children.

“I will show you how does it work,” said one father in heavily-accented English, showing a toy train to his 19-month-old son.

He admitted with slight embarrassment that his English pronunciation and grammar were not great, and trying to communicate with his toddler in a language he himself is struggling with has led to problems.

“One day I was trying to tell him this is how you button your shirt,” he said, switching into Cantonese. “But then I couldn’t say it in English, so I had to ring up a friend and ask.”

I asked: Doesn’t he think it is better to talk to his toddler in the language he is most at ease in?

“I think you’ve lived abroad for too long — you don’t understand what parents here have to think about,” the boy’s mother said. “Competition for international schools is fierce. If we don’t make sure he speaks English now, he won’t pass the interview.”

I looked at her very cute toddler, who was busy chasing a ball on the floor, and felt a bit sad.

The boy is not yet two, and he was still babbling away in baby words. Yet in this competitive world, it is considered better for him to be exposed only to English, a language that his parents are not confident speaking but one they believe is more valuable than their native tongue.

More and more, ambitious parents in Hong Kong are giving their children a head-start in English by putting them into English-speaking play groups, kindergartens and international schools. At these elite institutions, Mandarin Chinese is sometimes taught as a second language.

As for the local Cantonese dialect, who cares?

I am saddened. What will happen to those age-old nursery rhymes our grandmothers taught us, the songs we sang at kindergarten, those Tang-dynasty poems that every preschool child was taught to recite?

And surely the classic tales of the “Twenty-four pious sons” — the stories that the Chinese have used to teach their children about the Confucian virtue of filial piety since the 14th century — can’t have the same cultural resonance when translated into English.

Besides, Cantonese carries echoes of ancient Chinese that no longer exist in the official Mandarin. It is a lively language full of colorful expressions.

It is our heritage, and if we don’t pass it on, who will?

When these children are not taught to speak the language of their ancestors, a connection with their native culture is bound to be lost.

And when they grow up, how will they see themselves? Will they still have a sense of belonging to Chinese culture? Will this society’s future elites be international in outlook, yet somehow rootless in culture?

Perhaps I’m being alarmist, but I wonder whether there will be a day when we in Hong Kong come to regret the decline of our language. By that time, it may be too late.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/opinion/23iht-edyu.html?_r=1&_r

I know tons of foreigners that think that if they kept listening to Cantonese, they will eventually pick it up - no matter if its the radio and it all sounds like gibberish.

I have probably done around 80% input (listening) to about 20% output (speaking). This means, you don’t speak your way to fluency…. you listen your way to fluency. You can’t output what you haven’t inputted.

In my journey to learn Cantonese as fast as possible, I have learnt the most important principle in learning languages - You need to understand the input, which is one of Stephen Krashen’s principles of 2nd language acquisition.

• Repetitive listening to content that doesn’t make sense will not mean you will eventually get it.
• Listening to incomprehensible content very loud and clear will not mean you will understand it better
• Listening to incomprehensible content super slow over and over will not make you understand it better

So how can you understand the input? Take a look at Stephen Krashen as he explains the most important factor in learning languages.

The fastest way to learn Cantonese is by

• Learning as much vocab as possible. You can’t speak what you haven’t learnt, and you can’t guess your way through conversations as you’ll just look stupid when you do the wrong thing.
• Forget the grammar. You will notice it naturally after huge input. You’ll simply notice that’s the way they do it.
• Understand what you are listening. My method is to translate each “new” word into Jyutping, then into English and listen over-and-over to the Cantonese until it becomes natural.
• Learn the tone number with every new word and memorise it. Otherwise, you’ll sound like a broken record.

To the know-it-all foreigners and to to locals that preach Cantonese has no grammar, the big news is that CANTONESE HAS GRAMMAR. Though for all learners, I suggest you don’t learn it until you are quite good. You don’t need to learn it because you’ll never speak smoothly when sentences need to be filtered through a wall of grammar rules. You’ll start figuring out that time and verbs go in certain places. You’ll notice the ending particles after you listen to them being said in context.

開門七件事
7 daily necessities

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‘柴米油鹽醬醋茶’自古以來就稱為開門七件事. 開門, 呢個字, 照字面睇, 即係話, 打開門, 但係, 喺呢個情況, 佢嘅意思係, 一個家庭日常生活嘅必需品.

‘Caai4 mai5 jau4 jim4 zoeng3 cou3 caa4’, zi6 gu2 ji4 loi4 zau6 cing1 wai4 hoi1 mun4 cat1 gin6 si6. Hoi1 mun4, ni1 go3 zi6, ziu3 zi6 min6*2 tai2, zik1 hai6 waa6, daa2 hoi1 mun4, daan6 hai6, hai2 ni1 go3 cing4 fong3, keoi5 ge3 ji3 si3 hai6, jat1 go3 gaa1 ting4 jat6 soeng4 sang1 wut6 ge3 bit1 seoi1 ban2.

‘Firewood, Rice, Oil, Salt, Sauce, Vinegar, Tea’ are ‘the seven items (needed) for going into business’ since a long time ago. Open door, this word, according to its literal meaning means open the door; however, its meaning is a daily necessities.

柴:柴係一種燃料. 樵夫上山砍伐樹木嘅樹幹或者樹枝，然後將佢地劈成適合爐灶大小嘅條狀, 呢種木材就叫做柴. 香港嘅家庭, 絕大部分都採用煤氣爐或者電磁爐. 柴呢種燃料, 而家只會係露營嘅時候, 先有機會用到.

Caai4:caai4 hai6 jat1 zung2 jin4 liu6*2. Ciu4 fu1 soeng5 saan1 ham2 fat6 syu6 muk6 ge3 syu6 gon3 waak6 ze2 syu6 zi1, jin4 hau6 zoeng1 keoi5 dei6 pek3 sing4 sik1 hap6 lou4 zou3 daai6 siu2 ge3 tiu4 zong6. Ni1 zung2 muk6 coi4 zau6 giu3 zou6 caai4. Hoeng1 gong2 ge3 gaa1 ting4, zyut3 daai6 bou6 fan6 dou1 coi2 jung6 mui4 hei3 lou4 waak6 ze2 din6 ci4 lou6. Caai4 ni1 zung2 jin4 liu6*2, ji4 gaa1 zi1 wui6 hai6 lou6 jing4 ge3 si4 hau6, sin1 jau5 gei1 wui6 jung6 dou3.

Firewood: Firewood is a fuel. A woodcutter goes to the forest and chops trunks and branches, and then chops them into fitted stick shapes suitable for a stove. This kind of wood is called firewood. The majority of Hong Kong families use gas cookers or induction cookers. Firewood, this kind of fuel, is only used in camping nowadays.

米:米係中國南方人嘅主要糧食, 未熟既叫米, 煮熟嘅叫飯. 中國以農立國, 古時百分之七十五以上嘅人口係農民, 農夫耕種稻米, 係一種勞力嘅工作, 所謂粒粒皆辛苦.

mai5 :mai5 hai6 zung1 gwok3 naam4 fong1 jan4 ge3 zyu2 jiu3 loeng4 sik6 , mei6 suk6 ge3 giu3 mai5 , zyu2 suk6 ge3 giu3 faan6 . zung1 gwok3 ji5 nung4 laap6 gwok3 , gu2 si4 baak3 fan6 zi1 cat1 sap6 ng5 ji5 soeng6 g3 jan4 hau2 hai6 nung4 man4 , nung4 fu1 gaang1 zung3 dou6 mai5 , hai6 jat1 zung2 lou4 lik6 ge3 gung1 zok3 , so2 wai6 lap1 lap1 gaai1 san1 fu2 .

Rice: Rice is the main food in southern China. It is called grain when raw, and called rice when cooked. China is an agriculture country, 75% of the population are farmers. Farmers planting rice is a labor job, it is so called every granule courts.

油:油係每道煎炒煮炸煮嘅菜餚都會用到, 食油發展到今時今日, 已經有好多種類, 市面上較常見啲食油主要為花生油, 粟米油, 芥花籽油, 橄欖油, 葵花籽油等等.

jau4 : jau4 hai6 mui5 dou6 zin1 caau2 zyu2 zaa3 zyu2 ge3 coi3 dou1 wui5 jung6 dou3 , sik6 jau4 faat3 zin2 dou3*2 gam1 si4 gam1 jat6 , ji5 ging1 jau5 hou2 do1 zung2 leoi6 , si5 min6 soeng6 gaau3 soeng4 gin3 di1 sik6 jau4 zyu2 jiu3 wai6 faa1 sang1 jau4 , suk1 mai5 jau4 , gaai3 faa1 jau4 , gaam3 laam5*2 jau4 , kwai4 faa1 jau4 dang2 dang2 .

Oil: Oil is used when cooking every dish. Oil developed until now there are a lot of types. The common types of oil in the market are peanut oil, corn oil, canola oil, olive oil, and sunflower oil etc.

鹽:鹽係香港食用到嘅十居其九係海鹽, 有分為粗鹽同幼鹽

Jim4: jim4 hai6 hoeng1 gong2 sik6 jung6 dou3 ge3 sap6 geoi1 kei4 gau2 hai6 hoi2 jim4, jau5 fan1 wai6 cou1 jim4 tung4 jau3 jim4.

Salt: The majority of salt consumed in Hong Kong is sea salt, coarse salt and fine salt.

醬:醬係一種調味品, 佢可以幫助食物吊味, 常用嘅有豉油, 蠔油, 辣椒醬, 魚露等等.

zoeng3: zoeng3 hai6 jat1 zung2 tiu6 mei6 ban2 , keoi5 ho2 ji5 bong1 zo6 sik6 mat6 diu3 mei6 , soeng4 jung6 ge3 jau5 si6 jau4*2 , hou4 jau4 , laat6 ziu1 zoeng3 , jyu4 lou6 dang2 dang2 .

Sauce: Sauce is a type of seasoning. It can enhance the flavour of food. The common one includes soya sauce, oyster sauce, chili sauce, and fish sauce etc.

醋:香港人最常食用嘅醋係甜醋, 產婦生產之後會食薑醋, 薑可以促進食慾, 甜醋就有助散瘀補血.

cou3: hoeng1 gong2 jan4 zeoi3 soeng4 sik6 jung6 ge3 cou3 hai6 tim4 cou3, caan2 fu5 sang1 caan2 zi1 hau6 wui6*2 sik6 goeng1
cou3, goeng1 ho2 ji5 cuk1 zeon3 sik6 juk6 , tim4 cou3 zau6 jau5 zo6 saan3 jyu2 bou2 hyut3 .

Vinegar: The most vinegar used in Hong Kong is sweet vinegar. Pregnant women eat ginger sweet vinegar after laboring. Ginger can enhance appetite and sweet vinegar can help healing bruises and supplement blood quantity.

茶:中國人鍾意品茗, 佢嘅重要性好似西方人鍾意飲咖啡一樣. 茶係一種有營養價值同有保健作用既飲料, 研究證明, 佢可以預防癌症, 降低血壓, 消炎殺菌等等的功效. 眾多茶葉種類之中, 我個人最中情普洱.

Caa4 :zung1 gwok3 jan4 zung1 ji3 ban2 ming5 , keoi5 ge3 zung6 jiu3 sing3 hou2 ci5 sai1 fong1 jan4 zung1 ji3 jam2 gaa3 fe1 jat1 joeng6 . caa4 hai6 jat1 zung2 jau5 jing4 joeng5 gaa3 zik6 tung4 jau5 bou2 gin6 zok3 jung6 gei3 jam2 liu6*2 , jin4 gau3 zing3 ming4 , keoi5 ho2 ji5 jyu6 fong4 ngaam4 zing3 , gong3 dai1 hyut3 aat3 , siu1 jim4 saat3 kwan2 dang2 dang2 di1 gung1 haau6 . zung3 do1 caa4 jip6 zung2 leoi6 zi1 zung1, ngo5 go3 jan4 zeoi3 zung1 cing4 pou2 lei2 .

Tea: Chinese people love drinking tea, its importance is the same as western people love drinking coffee. Tea is a nutritious and healthy drink. Research proves that, it can prevent cancer, lower blood pressure, kill bacteria etc. Among different types of tea, I prefer pu-er tea personally.

Its was rare for me to watch a female 茄喱啡 (ke1 le1 fe1) act on TVB yet alone 口若懸河 (hau2 joek6 jyun4 ho4), meaning to speak very fluently. In this case, I think she is probably the first native Cantonese speaking white actor used by TVB. Though I’ve seen many white actors who have exceptionally fluent Cantonese like Brian Burrell, John Wakefield and Gregory Rivers.

I hate when people tell me “your Cantonese is very good” but say it in English. Finally, all my built up frustration over the years can be explained by this video…

A while back, someone on the Cantonese learning forum described:

There are two Hong Kong’s.

Hong Kong (香港,香講) and Hong (m) Kong (香唔港, 香唔講).

“Heung Gong” (香港,香講) is “the HK that speaks to you in Cantonese”. You’ll make friends and speak Cantonese with them. Heung Gong (HK) people mostly live in Kowloon, the New Territories, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

“Heung (m) Gong” (香唔港, 香唔講) or H(m)K is the HK that won’t speak in Cantonese to you.

Heung (m) Gong (HmK), is mainly located in certain parts of Central and in the offices of foreign capital firms. HmK’ers generally speak Cantonese among themselves. You’ll hear them joke, smile, laugh, greet and talk in Cantonese. But not to you.

They’ll speak “about” Cantonese in English. But not “in” Cantonese to you. To everyone else, yes, but not to you.

Some when they speak “in” English “about” Cantonese, will claim they’re speaking “in” Cantonese. You’ll notice it after a few experiences. Don’t get fooled.

“Heung Gong” (香講) people will accept you, speak Cantonese to you and welcome you. It’s heaven. Many can’t speak English and have no interest in English at all. They’ll talk “in” Cantonese. There’s no problem, no insults, no exclusion.

I came across an article (少數族裔不懂中文搵工難 - siu2 sou3 zuk6 jeoi6 bat1 dung2 zung1 man4 wan2 gung1 naan4) in Yahoo about Ethnic Minorities finding it difficult to find work in Hong Kong. The article describes a young man Mohammad, which I previously met briefly last month.

He tells the story that he can speak fluent Cantonese but cannot read or write. He only studied to Form 5 and constantly gets rejected for jobs when he writes a Pakistani name and gets phone calls when he writes a Chinese name. Also when people call him up, they recognise that he has an accent and rejects him because he is not Chinese.

I met a group of ethnic minorities who want the government to cater for their poor language needs so that they can enter the civil service without needing to pass Chinese. They claim that they get discriminated because they can’t pass the Chinese test. I met a person who claimed he couldn’t get a promotion in the civil service because of non-existent Chinese reading skills. Its 11 years since 1997 and instead of learning to read Chinese, he’d rather complain for 11 years that the Government discriminated him. On the other hand, he said he would need 7 years to learn written Chinese properly. To me, its pretty obvious if he didn’t spend 11 years complaining that he couldn’t get promoted for poor Chinese, he could have already mastered Chinese and been promoted.

Regarding this article, Mohammad quit his previous job because he wanted to take leave to act in a documentary about race discrimination. When his boss didn’t allow him to, he decided to quit. This is the real world, and obviously he doesn’t have his priorities straight. I couldn’t imagine asking my boss for random leave so I could act in a TVB series. One has a commitment to their job and why would it be any different for Mohammad, just because he wants to act in a race discrimination video.

Many Chinese people get rejected for jobs all the time. Even I know many who don’t get phone calls either. Even I applied for work and been rejected, I don’t believe its discrimination because I’m a Westerner. For Mohammad who is a Form 5 Graduate, demand for jobs would be quite competitive in today’s economic market. I’m sure there is a huge pool of job seekers who can speak and write both Chinese and English. So it makes more sense for Mohammad to find his own competitive advantage. I’m sure not many employers would want to hire sub-par employees.

I don’t deny there isn’t discrimination in Hong Kong as I’ve been a victim of it in Australia and Hong Kong. Though I think that one should only blame themselves for their own language limitations. I see many job postings relating to my previous/current experiences on JobsDB, which I believe I could do well. However, due to having Written and Spoken Chinese requirements, I know that I am not suitable. Instead of complaining that I was discriminated because of my foreign name, I took out my copy-book and practiced several pages of Chinese.

I am very happy that last saturday I met John Wakefield (莊域飛) in Sha Tin. John and his wife were super nice and I learnt a lot about his life, Cantonese and other aspects of life.

My wife agreed that John now speaks like a 100% Native Hong Kong person. Pretty happy that I could speak Cantonese with them for a few hours without problems. I was a little ashamed of being so far behind John in Cantonese accent and accuracy, however, it motivated me to do my best and improve on my accent and pronunciation. John explained “fossilization”, where one will reach a point in ability and not improve any further no matter how long one speaks a language. Such as my father who speaks fluent but far from native English, even though living in Australia for 40 years.

John pointed out that everyone has their own talent or skill. While I have an impressive vocabulary in Cantonese, John has an impeccable talent for accent accuracy.

For those who don’t know who John is, I have listed a few impressive videos of him speakng Cantonese when he was my age.