Is it hard to learn spoken Cantonese?

[Bogs]

I don't know any, but want to learn at learn a good few phrases at least. It's only right expats make an effort to learn the local mother-tongue and it makes a big difference in the eyes of non-English speaking locals if you're at least making an effort. Is this a fair assessment?
How does it compare to trying to pick up other languages.

Thanks for any help.
Bogs

[carang]

it's hard, very hard, but well worth the effort. people at the supermarket remember me when i go in. there's never a mistake in the taxi. the service in the restaurants is better.

all in all it makes life much easier and more enjoyable here.

i've never taken any lessons. i made and still make a conscious effort to learn. when in a taxi, i always talk to the driver as much as possible and for my first 4 years here, they were my teachers. (now my hubby tries to teach me.)

good luck!

[Mal]

I've tried some CDs just out of interest and it is difficult. The course that I tried had about 30 lessons with each one being 30 minutes long. It seems both a complex and a "fast" language. I've never made it past the first lesson... maybe it's just a lack of dedication.

In comparison I can get to the 7th lesson when I give the Japanese one a go.

[Dreammaker]

A friend of mine used Linguaphone's Cantonese course. I think his pronunciation is very good since I am native speaker.

[jimbob70]

It can be done. Gregory Rivers was an actor on TVB. He actually came to HK 20 yrs ago and decided to learn so all the more impressive...

[Jigs]

It definitely can be done, I know expats who went to University here, and had some of their placements in Cantonese, and therefore needed quite a high level of fluency. I myself, have been learning for a few months, and the other posters are right, you do get approached differently if you do try and speak in Cantonese, even if you get it wrong! Its hard, and its frustrating at times, but that first time that someone understands what you're trying to say, is priceless.......

[Loz_2]

my advice is to go to a face to face class - preferably a small group or preferably one on one with a tutor if you can afford it.
Don't bite off more than you can chew or you may get disappointed with the results. Just focus on learning day to day banter like ordering food, shopping in a supermarket, conversing with taxi driver, greetings, and so on.
go out to a very "local" suburb as much as possible and just practice on them there.
once you master the basics you'll build ur confidence and pick up more and more.
oh, and eavesdropping on conversations on the train or by the watercooler at work is a good way to hone ur listening skills too.
good luck!
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[Liebling]

ive lived in hong kong for 6 years, and taken lessons twice a week for around 4.5 years. When compared to spanish, which i took in school, cantonese is ten times more difficult to learn. within 6 months i was able to speak spanish fairly well and get around. after 4 years of cantonese lessons, i can get around alright (order in restaurants, go to the market, call a repair man to fix something) and generally hold a conversation, but im still not that comfortable speaking. i certainly couldnt do business in cantonese.

cantonese is particularly challenging due to several factors:

1. the wide use of slang - there is so much slang in cantonese it takes years to become exposed to it.

2. the fact that written characters are pronounced differently than when they are spoken - this makes learning to read and write hard.

3. the number of tones is on the high side even for tonal languages. according to my text books there are between 7-9 tones, but in my experience people tend to fudge them and i generally only detect around 5-6 tones. the rest are differentiated on context.

locals reactions tend to progress when confronted with expats who speak cantonese. it varies from person to person, and i wouldnt want to generalize, but for me, it started first with cackles and humour as i tried to speak, which then progressed to amazement as i got better, and the final stage is awkwardness or uncomfortability, as you get closer and closer to fluency.

for locals it can be a bit odd for an expat to speak cantonese very well. i always equated it as if your dog suddenly started speaking english, how would you feel? In the workplace, your coworkers will start to watch what they say around you as well, and given the things i hear, sometimes i wish i couldnt understand it.

to simplify things, with strangers, i always try to start with english, and then switch to cantonese if communication breaks down, unless im being completely ignored by a clerk or whatever.

on hong kong island, most people speak at least a bit of english, and many speak quite a lot of it. in my opinion its better to try english first as its what people expect, and you can give them some face. on kowloon and new territories, the english level drops significantly. if you immediately bust out in cantonese, often times they will just stare, or not understand because they are trying to figure out what you just said in english. my wife is a hong kong native, and when she accompanies me, the rules are also different. if i ask a question in cantonese, people will turn to my wife and answer instead of talking directly to me (because they find it more comfortable), even if she is standing behind me.

learning cantonese can really help make you feel closer to hong kong, but i only view it as a tool to get around and function. Any non chinese who tries to learn it to become accepted in general society and become a true hong konger is in for disappointment.

[timklip]

...amazement as i got better, and the final stage is awkwardness or uncomfortability, as you get closer and closer to fluency.

that's kind of the impression I get from seeing my wife's reaction to very fluent Canto. L2 speakers (I'm NOT one)...interesting since I think most Eng. L1 speakers simply accept an Eng L2 speaker with little amazement or concern...

[jaykay]

It's difficult but not impossible. You do however have to look at different areas of HK to correctly assess the locals reactions. Where I live there are several expat Cantonese speakers so they are not seen as so much of a novelty and certainly all conversation is in Canto. However going into other areas the reactions are different and range from amazement to panic at having to try and understand a westerner to the "well he must be a policeman".