Laowai Chinese 老外中文

This is part 3 in a series (part 1 here, part 2 here) about learning Mandarin while living in Guangzhou (Canton). One challenge to be aware of is grammar, specifically word order. In Mandarin, the most common way to say “You take a shower first”* is: nǐ xiān xǐzǎo 你先洗澡 [you first shower] However, in Cantonese, […]

In addition to the consonant changes listed in the table in my first post, there are some interesting vowel changes that occasionally occur when Cantonese speakers speak Mandarin. Example 1: “i” First of all, a little review about now “i” is pronounced in Mandarin (sounds from here): “chi” “ci” “qi” As mentioned, the Cantonese (and […]

“Tiān bú pà, dì bú pà, jiù pà Guǎngdōng rén shuō pǔtōnghuà” “天不怕, 地不怕, 就怕广东人说普通话,” “I’m not afraid of the heavens or the earth, the only thing I’m afraid of is a person from Guangdong speaking Mandarin.” That’s often the first thing a Chinese person from outside Guangdong Province will tell me when I tell […]

I am not even close to committing to trying to think about beginning to learn Cantonese. It’s Mandarin all the way for me (for now). But the fact is: I’m finishing my 3rd year in Cantonese Land (where I happily use Mandarin, by the way) and I really should at least know about the báihuà […]