Learning Chinese Dialects

[flameproof]

the local universities in the area was able to put in me contact with some advanced English language students from that area.

That is very inefficient if they have no formal teach-xyz-as-foreign-language training. As a minimum requirement you need *FL skills and setup your own learn method, with them as puppets.

This said, it might be the only way due to lack of learning material.

[dengxi]

http://www.cac.edu.hk/new/chi/colleg...anghainese.htm

[dengxi]

香港本土語言保育協會 has some dictionaries and previously ran Hakka classes.

[Gatts]

And that's pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo.

Your very next sentence proves the wisdom of the age-old adage.

Hi, I have an actual master in Oriental linguistics, a copy of the degree in question can always be provided to you.
On a similar note more academic articles can always be provided to you.

But anyway, let's humor you for one second. If, as you say, the Sino-Tibetan languages group would suddenly be "dialects", then for example the Germanic languages like English, German, would also have to be classified likewise. If you'd prefer to call German a "dialect", be my guest.

Secondly, if Cantonese, Shanghainese are dialects but Mandarin would be a language, could you detail which language in common Cantonese, Shanghainese are a derived dialect of?

[imparanoic]

香港本土語言保育協會 has some dictionaries and previously ran Hakka classes.

the hakka pronouncation dictonary is awesome, brush up my hakka skills (actually my mother tongue in uk) which has been neglected for decades in favour of cantonese.

[chingleutsch]

That is very inefficient if they have no formal teach-xyz-as-foreign-language training. As a minimum requirement you need *FL skills and setup your own learn method, with them as puppets.

Depends if you are trying to learn a language for academic purposes or in order to communicate with monolingual native speakers.

Its also possible to find people who are "born" teachers who are a whole lot better at one-on-one instruction than those who have passed exams on how to teach, but I admit that is up to the luck of the draw.

[GentleGeorge]

Secondly, if Cantonese, Shanghainese are dialects but Mandarin would be a language, could you detail which language in common Cantonese, Shanghainese are a derived dialect of?

Well Canto is closer to the original precursor ('latin'?) but since Guoyu has the army, it takes the prize. But they are much more similar than English and German, as they share a written system and are basically mutually intelligible if you listen really, really hard.

[huja]

https://www.economist.com/the-econom...jViv6pipjTI45U

[Gatts]

Well Canto is closer to the original precursor ('latin'?) but since Guoyu has the army, it takes the prize. But they are much more similar than English and German, as they share a written system and are basically mutually intelligible if you listen really, really hard.

Well no, they are many languages which are way closer to each other then, for example, Cantonese and Mandarin. Take Dutch and German as just one example of many.

Secondly, you might not realize this but there is big difference in writing system between Cantonese and Mandarin. If Cantonese was a mere dialect, a difference in pronunciation would not necessitate different Cantonese-only characters. As just a small example: 喺， 冇，乜嘢, etc. A mere dialect would also keep the same word order, but there are many syntax differences which one sees in Cantonese and not in Mandarin, as for example "I give him a book": 我畀本書佢 in Canto vs. 我給他一本書 in Mandarin.

All the above clearly indicate why calling Cantonese (or any of the other Sino-Tibetan languages), as a "dialect" is madness and/or pure propaganda.

[hullexile]

Well no, they are many languages which are way closer to each other then, for example, Cantonese and Mandarin. Take Dutch and German as just one example of many.

Secondly, you might not realize this but there is big difference in writing system between Cantonese and Mandarin. If Cantonese was a mere dialect, a difference in pronunciation would not necessitate different Cantonese-only characters. As just a small example: 喺， 冇，乜嘢, etc. A mere dialect would also keep the same word order, but there are many syntax differences which one sees in Cantonese and not in Mandarin, as for example "I give him a book": 我畀本書佢 in Canto vs. 我給他一本書 in Mandarin.

All the above clearly indicate why calling Cantonese (or any of the other Sino-Tibetan languages), as a "dialect" is madness and/or pure propaganda.

Totally agree with everything you say, except jokingly you said German as a dialect of English. As an Anglo-Saxon I would suggest English as a dialect of German