Learning Cantonese/Mandarin Here

1)Let’s continue to compare Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciation
B)There are some Cantonese sounds that do not exist in Mandarin.
e.g. Sounds with the ending ‘m’: saam1 三(three)/衫(clothes) caam3 杉(fir) sim4禅（Zen)
In Mandarin, they are pronounced as: san1三 shan1衫(clothes)/杉(fir) chan2禅(Zen)
From the above, you know that the different characters with the same pronunciation with the same tone in Cantonese may pronounced very different in Mandarin and vice versa. This causes mistakes for Cantonese and Mandarin-speakers trying to speak the other language.

By mistake, Mandarin-speakers may say saan1 ger3 instead of saam1 go3 for 三个（three items)
and Cantonese-speakers may say cen4san1 instead of chen4shan1 for 衬衫 (shirt).
In many of the cases, these Northern and Southern accents can be understood.
Sometimes, it causes lots of misunderstanding or discomfort for the listeners.
Note that we do not have zh、ch、sh、r、x in Cantonese while
in Mandarin there are no ending m (aam, am) p, t, k or initials m and ng or the following finals (added initial g, s, f to make examples):
goe鋸 soeng商 soek削 seoi需 seon詢 seot摔 syu書 syun孫 syut雪, fui 灰(no. It is not the same as ‘ui’ in Pinyin for Mandarin)

Some may want to say the Cantonese Jyutping ’s’ is the same as ‘x’ in Pinyin. No, there is a little difference.
e.g. The Cantonese syun1孫(grandson) is not the same as xun1熏(smoked) in Mandarin
The Cantonese si1gwaa1丝瓜(Luffa) is not the same as xi1gua1西瓜(water melon) in Mandarin

Maybe the subtle difference is hardly noticed for beginners.
Any feedback or correction is welcome.

Please bookmark this series for more updates soon.
We use Jyutping for all examples of Cantonese words, and Pinyin for Mandarin.

 

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The Cantonese vs Mandarin or Mandari vs Cantonese Series (1)
Although Cantonese use the same set of Chinese characters (almost… maybe 5% difference), there are a lot of differences between Cantonese and Mandarin. Not just the differences in pronunciation, but also in grammar and word usage.

Today, we are starting a series to show the differences for those who are interested.

For beginners of Chinese, we do not encourage learning both Cantonese and Mandarin at the same time. You need to learn the one that you think is the most useful for you currently for one or two years and master the basic before you move onto the other.

I hope this series is useful for those Mandarin-speaking and Cantonese-speaking learners who want to learn the other one.

I can’t stress it enough: do not learn both languages at the same time. Master one first.

1) First major difference is pronunciation between Cantonese and Mandarin
A)Cantonese has at least 6 tones (some said 9 tones) while Mandarin has only 4 simple tones plus a neutral tone, which does not exit in Cantonese
e.g.
Here’s the tone comparison between Cantonese and Mandarin:
Cantonese:fu1夫 fu2虎 fu3富 fu4扶 fu5妇 fu6负 (click for details)
Mandarin: fu1夫 fu2福 fu3斧 fu4富/负 xing4fu 幸福=happy/happiness
Note that Mandarin xing4fu幸福 is pronounced as hang6fuk1幸福 in Cantonese
Any Mandarin word with tones from 1 to 4 may become a neutral tone (some mark it with 5) when it is the 2nd character of word. e.g. 欺负 qi1 fu5 = to bully

Cantonese tones become one of the hardest thing to learn for Mandarin-speaking people, but if enough listening and practice are done, it can be overcome more easily.

Please bookmark this series for more updates soon.
We use Jyutping for all examples of Cantonese words, and Pinyin for Mandarin.

 

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Now the 2nd way to say “Will you marry me?”

This is used by a lady to ask a man:

nǐ     yuànyì        qúwǒ     ma
ni3  yuan4yi4 qu2wo3 ma?
你   愿意      娶我     吗？
you be willing  marry  me question?  (= Are you willing to marry me?)

yuan4yi4 愿意= to be willing
qu3 娶 = to marry a girl/lady   (in this sentence, changed to 2nd tone because of wo3 is 3rd tone)
ma 吗 = a question that changes a statement to a question.

 

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In Mandarin, there are two ways to say “Will you marry me?”

The first one is for a man to say it to a lady:

jia4 gei2 wo3 ba, hao3 ma?
嫁 给 我 吧，好 吗？
Marry to me question, good question? (Marry to me, will you?)

Want to know the 2nd way? See you next time.

 

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This song is about a classmate who shared the same desk.
Some think it is a love song.

Tong2 Zhuo1 de ni3 ( You who once shared my desk at the class)
by Lao3 Lang2 (old wolf), a famous singer.

It starts like this:
Ming2 tian1 ni3 shi4 fou3 hui4 xiang3 qi3
(Tomorrow will you remember …)
zuo2 tian1 ni3 xie3 de ri4 ji4
(yesterday you wrote diary : the diary you wrote yesterday)…

2-minute Mandarin Lesson One: Talking about food.

 

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According to Shanghai Daily (2/11/2008) , HANYU Pinyin, the Chinese phonetic system, celebrated its 50th anniversary in Feb, 2008. About one billion Chinese have used it to learn Mandarin since the first edition of pinyin was issued in 1958.

“Pinyin is useful … it helps us to learn Chinese characters … thanks to pinyin, we learnt how to read,” said 92-year-old Chen Douxiang from Wanrong County, northern Shanxi Province, who still remembers the pinyin poem she learned 50 years ago.

The first edition of pinyin was adopted at the Fifth Session of the First National People’s Congress on February 11, 1958. It was then introduced to primary schools, and used to improve literacy among adults. By the end of 1959, two-thirds of residents in Wanrong County had learnt Mandarin by using pinyin. ( More )