i think there is benefits definetely in learning canto - as an analogy, I went on a tour to Europe with a group that was 95% chinese, non-english speakers.
We toured Olympia in Greece with an english-speaking, Greek tour guide who gave a fascinating commentary on the ancient civilisation.
The Chinese speakers in the group had to rely on the Chinese tour guide to provide the commentary. I was later told by one of the english/chinese speakers in the group that he had only bothered to translate a 3rd of what had been said by the native guide.
Yes you can get by with just English, even out in the boonies where I live, quite a few expats here and dont speak a word of Chinese.
All you need are the basics to survive
Delay No More
Pok Gai
Sik See
The point is- knowing your address and 'thank you' is useful.
Being so good that you can read menus and chat to your security guard about squid fishing is nice.
There is no middle ground. Being able to say 'how much is that? ' or 'I don't want it' or 'bloody hell it's hot' isn't actually very useful because chances are they would understand you even if you said it in english. And if not, you could make yourself understood with gestures etc if needed.
Canto is a nightmare to learn- so if you don't use it at work and you don't plan on shacking up with a local, for most people it's not worth spending the time- it would be years before you really saw any benefit.
The fact that you can't understand Joey is just an added bonus.
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.
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:
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 :
In this thread he is getting all uppidy about how important Cantonese is, learn the local language, embrace etc etc..
http://hongkong.geoexpat.com/forum/7...ml#post1971677
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.