How are Mandarin and Cantonese different?
Both the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects are tonal languages where one word has many meanings depending on the pronunciation and intonation. Cantonese has six tones, whereas Mandarin has just four. Cracking the tones are said to be the hardest part of learning Chinese.
Is Mandarin easy to learn for Cantonese speakers?
Mandarin is easier to learn As we covered above, Mandarin is easier to learn in regards to both writing and speaking. Cantonese is seen to be more difficult because it has from 6 to 9 tones, each of which signify different things (while Mandarin only has 4 tones).
How is Mandarin different from English?
The most obvious difference is the written language. Chinese is a language made up of characters or symbols. Each character or word has an individual meaning. English, on the other hand, is made up of 26 alphabet letters.
What is a major difference between the way Mandarin speakers and English speakers express concepts of time?
English and Mandarin talk about time differently–English predominantly talks about time as if it were horizontal, while Mandarin also commonly describes time as vertical. This difference between the two languages is reflected in the way their speakers think about time.
Are Cantonese and Mandarin different languages?
By this definition, Cantonese and Mandarin are separate languages rather than dialects—despite sharing the same written form as mentioned above—because a Cantonese speaker would not be entirely intelligible to a Mandarin speaker.
Can I learn Cantonese and Mandarin at the same time?
If you want to speak Cantonese, you better live in a Cantonese environment for a long time. If you learn Cantonese and Mandarin at the same time, it will double your time and energy, and maybe lower your efficiency. There is a Chinese saying: one mind can’t focus on two things.
Is it better to learn Cantonese or Mandarin?
So it seems as though Mandarin is more practical than Cantonese. That’s not to say that learning Cantonese is a waste of time, and for some people, it may be the better choice, but for most people wanting to speak “Chinese”, Mandarin is the way to go.
How is Cantonese different from English?
Cantonese is a tonal language. This means it uses rising and falling tones to express word meaning. English is different in that changes in intonation produce changes in emotion or to show question/statement. You will need to use diagrams to explain how intonation in English works and then, of course, practice.
What are the differences of the reduplication form between Chinese Mandarin and English?
Reduplicates in Chinese are mainly nouns, adjectives and verbs, and the number of them is not fixed. In many cases, they can be created in a relatively free way. In English, however, most reduplicates are nouns, followed by adjectives, and verbs are very few, which can not be created at will.
Does language shape thought Mandarin and English speakers?
Since Mandarin speakers showed vertical bias even when thinking for English, it appears that language-encouraged habits in thought can operate regardless of the language that one is currently thinking for. These results suggest that experience with a language can shape the way one thinks.
How does language shape the way we think?
The language we speak influences many different things. It can impact the way that we think about time, space, and even colors! People who speak different languages focus on different things, depending on the words or sentence structure available to them. It influences our thought process and our feelings.
Is Cantonese harder to learn than Mandarin?
Mandarin has five tones, while Cantonese has nine different tones. These tones are vital when trying to convey your meaning, making Cantonese harder to learn than Mandarin.
How many Cantonese speakers are there in China?
There are an estimated 63 million Cantonese speakers in China (5\% of China’s population) compared with 933 million Mandarin first-language speakers (67\% of people in China). Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken throughout different parts of China, and where in China you go will dictate which one you will encounter.
Where is Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong?
It’s spoken in Guangdong Province (capital Guangzhou, previously known as Canton, hence “Cantonese”) as well as in southern Guangxi Province to the west, and is also Hong Kong’s main language, as well as Macau’s. In downtown Hong Kong, it’s Cantonese first, then English, then Mandarin.
How well is Mandarin received in Hong Kong?
In the author’s personal experience, as a Mandarin speaker frequently visiting Hong Kong, Mandarin has been received well in scenarios where English was first used to communicate and not understood. As a back-up, and following an apology for poor Cantonese, communicating in Mandarin has then seemed acceptable.