Quick question about the language

[flameproof]

All you need are the basics to survive

Delay No More

I disagree. But it's quite amazing how some locals can put it into every sentence they speak. Ever listened to the guy driving the minibus?

[emx]

http://nawcom.com/swearing/cantonese.htm

Ah the joys of colourful Cantonese, combining two phrases together:

Pok gai + Haam ga chan

This was first first Cantonese I learnt, many moons ago.

[Trebor]

Same situation in my local wet market in Causeway Bay at the back of Time Square. The majority of the stall holders, meat, fish, fruit and veg all speak a little English, and if I want something particularly exotic like beef bones or a particular cut of meat, I ask a local friend to write it out for me, something that Proplus has admitted even he is unable to do.

TB you forgot to put at the end of your post"look in the mirror if you want to see arrogant, then you GTFO"

Bowrington Road?

Walk through it pretty much everyday.

OP - I've been here a year and a half. The Taxi Translator App will get you around no problem.

The only reason to learn cantonese that I have come across so far is if you want to eat really cheaply in the local restaurants that don't have English on the menu (i find these places dont have many english speaking staff).

I would love to be able to understand the language and maybe i will learn one day.

[HowardCoombs]

Not a surprise to many who have been here but for those newly introduced to our local boiler, this is a demonstration in his logic:

In this thread he is getting all uppidy about how important Cantonese is, learn the local language, embrace etc etc..

I find learning cantonese open many doors for me. Thank you very much.

And not too long ago, he was telling everyone, dont send your kids to Cantonese schools, its too hard and you wont need it anyway. Send your kids to English only schools :
http://hongkong.geoexpat.com/forum/7...ml#post1971677

I am assuming you are planning to place your kid in the school system once you moved here? If so perhaps it's not such a good idea to put your kid into typical local school, they do teach in Cantonese which will be hard for your kid to follow.

And the coolest part is yet to come : he will start foaming at the mouth and insult everyone in sight all the while claiming that he didnt mean it that way

I'll go back to my popcorn now.

[HKITperson]

There is no way that any foreigners coming to HK will be able to learn Cantonese from scratch. Having a grasps of the basics is all that is needed. I say this in due respect that Cantonese is something that needs to be instilled from birth in order to get the proper tones. Unlike English, cantonese words cannot bw pronounced with different accents.
Take for example gau. Phonetically speaking coukd mean dog, but in another tone could mean 9 or even mean your dick.
After a certain age, people develop their own accents and parts of their throats become solid and hence our accents stays with us.i
To say learn cantonese like a local is near impossible.
Even some people who have been here a majority of their lives still have not mustered the tones.
I suggest just learn the basics to get by.

[HKITperson]

Bowrington Road?

Walk through it pretty much everyday.

OP - I've been here a year and a half. The Taxi Translator App will get you around no problem.

The only reason to learn cantonese that I have come across so far is if you want to eat really cheaply in the local restaurants that don't have English on the menu (i find these places dont have many english speaking staff).

I would love to be able to understand the language and maybe i will learn one day.

The way to do this is just to take a copy of the menu and get a friend to phonetically translate it for you

[Trebor]

There is no way that any foreigners coming to HK will be able to learn Cantonese from scratch. Having a grasps of the basics is all that is needed. I say this in due respect that Cantonese is something that needs to be instilled from birth in order to get the proper tones. Unlike English, cantonese words cannot bw pronounced with different accents.
Take for example gau. Phonetically speaking coukd mean dog, but in another tone could mean 9 or even mean your dick.
After a certain age, people develop their own accents and parts of their throats become solid and hence our accents stays with us.i
To say learn cantonese like a local is near impossible.
Even some people who have been here a majority of their lives still have not mustered the tones.
I suggest just learn the basics to get by.

So if you want to get sucked off 9 times by a rough looking hooker all you need is one three letter word.

[Trebor]

The way to do this is just to take a copy of the menu and get a friend to phonetically translate it for you

How would i know what i want translated

[HKITperson]

Adding to what I said, there is a lot of local colloquialisms and local slang which would be challenging to someone who has not engaged the local population as you won't find these taught anywhere.

[jw1701]

There is no way that any foreigners coming to HK will be able to learn Cantonese from scratch. Having a grasps of the basics is all that is needed. I say this in due respect that Cantonese is something that needs to be instilled from birth in order to get the proper tones. Unlike English, cantonese words cannot bw pronounced with different accents.
Take for example gau. Phonetically speaking coukd mean dog, but in another tone could mean 9 or even mean your dick.
After a certain age, people develop their own accents and parts of their throats become solid and hence our accents stays with us.i
To say learn cantonese like a local is near impossible.
Even some people who have been here a majority of their lives still have not mustered the tones.
I suggest just learn the basics to get by.

I'll respectfully disagree with you on that - it is, so to speak possible to teach an old dog new tricks