Literacy for Native Speakers

[kawaiiryuko]

Hi guys,

When I was in California, many of the unis there offered programs for native speakers of Mandarin to learn how to read/write Chinese. I was wondering if there were any similar programs here or possibly private tutors/academies that might provide those kind of services? I'm a native Mandarin speaker but now find that I want to be able to read much better (it helps that I can't speak Canto, so reading the subtitles for Chinese programs have gotten a lot more important :P). I can make my way through a newspaper slowly and pick up enough to understand what's going on, but I'd like to get my vocabulary to a point where I can do it much faster.

Any advice welcome!

Cheers.

[carang]

are you saying that you want to increase literacy in Cantonese or English?

[TheBrit]

He wants to be able to read Chinese better - pretty clear isn't it?

[carang]

no it isn't.. he doesn't actually say for which language he wants to improve his literacy skills. he implies that it might be "cantonese" but Cantonese isn't really a written language... it just uses traditional characters. so, is he trying to improve his simplified character reading skills, or his traditional character reading skills? or does he mean English (more unlikely as he doesn't really mention English at all)?

hence my question...

[kawaiiryuko]

Apologies if I wasn't clear. I'm seeking greater literacy in Chinese (given that there is no written Cantonese) and, in HK, my understanding is there most Chinese language courses are teaching HK traditional characters.

[z754103]

Apologies if I wasn't clear. I'm seeking greater literacy in Chinese (given that there is no written Cantonese).

I can totally understand that you're looking to acquire greater literacy in Mandarin Chinese, and agree this choice makes complete sense.

However - at the risk of starting a flame war - written Cantonese exists, albeit mainly in the informal sphere these days. Many Cantonese characters and phrases are very ancient. Their usage is archaic in modern written Mandarin Chinese, and for those who are interested in language, understanding how Cantonese words are written and their history, can help us understand how the Chinese language evolved. On a tangent, ancient Chinese poetry works better read aloud in Cantonese - the rhyme and metre usually doesn't work very well in Putonghau.

There is Cantonese literature (primarily via Cantonese opera lyrics). For those who don't require 'literature' to be defined as part of high culture, at least one of HK's best selling newspapers contains articles written partially or entirely in Cantonese. Shun Pao's weekly "Investors Diary', which was a 'must read' for locals interested in finance, also had significant chunks of Cantonese, and was a striking example of how some of the brightest and best of HK deftly moves between elegant Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese in the way that best makes their point.

Not suggesting you don't learn the formal written form of Mandarin Chinese, just a gentle reminder that there's a rich seam of regional culture and literature around as well.

[matthewtylam]

It's June now. Have you found the right tutor or course to help you improve your Chinese literacy? If you haven't, I would like to recommend myself to be your tutor. You can find information about my background in the list of Tutors Available in the Classifieds section of this website. If you are interested, you are welcome to contact me for details.