Written Cantonese is not a new thing. However, it was only in the last few decades that written Colloquial Cantonese was used more widely, mainly due to the increasing popularity of messaging and chatrooms. There has been varying levels of acceptance and adoption for written Cantonese. Learn about the arguments for and against and make your own decision. Read More
Category: Adults
What You Need To Know About Cantonese: the Vernacular and the Formal
Cantonese is not a straight forward language. What you read is not what how you speak. Linguists refer to this as Diglossia, where two languages are used under different conditions within a community, often by the same speakers. Learn more about Colloquial Cantonese, Formal Cantonese, Written Cantonese, and Standard Written Chinese. Read More
Free Online Cantonese Literature
Recent years have seen a rise in (Colloquial) Cantonese literature, both online and in print. These are very helpful for learners of Cantonese who wish to have more material to improve their Cantonese. Check out what free ebooks are available: Story Collections: Cantonese Learning Centre (CLC) EBooks Recommended for Beginner and Intermediate Levels. Read More
Free Online Resources for Learning Cantonese
Learning Cantonese does not have to be expensive. Here are a comprehensive list of free online learning resources for Cantonese, mainly for beginners and intermediate learners. Videos, podcast, grammar lessons, language tips and more to start you on your Cantonese learning journey. Read More
Cantonese Flashback: Readings In Cantonese Colloquial (1894)
While researching Cantonese literature to improve my Cantonese, I stumbled upon a century old book, Readings In Cantonese Colloquial: Being Selections From Books In The Cantonese Vernacular by James Dyer Ball (1894). Amazingly, the most of the text still makes good reading today. Download a free copy today. Read More
Colours in Cantonese 顏色（粵語）: Vocabulary lists and worksheets
Do you know all your colours in Cantonese? Download our free vocabulary printable including Cantonese onomatopoeic expressions such as 黃黚黚 (wong4 gam4 gam4 ) and 紅卜卜 (hung4 bok1 bok1 ). Also, worksheets with stroke orders are available for free download. Read More
Online Cantonese Tools
Regardless of your level of Cantonese, if you are learning or teaching or working with Cantonese, these are some online tools that would make your journey an easier one. Ranging from romanisation converters to Cantonese text read aloud, worksheet creator with stroke order for Cantonese, etc. Read More
Review: How to Study Cantonese 粵塾
Spoken Cantonese or Colloquial Cantonese has its own grammar and vocabulary. Many of us who have learnt to speak it at home, but not formally in class, would have internalized the grammar from exposure from an early age . Yet when asked to explain or describe the rules, it becomes hard as this knowledge is Read More
Cantonese Dictionary and Translator Mobile Apps
When you search for Cantonese apps within the Google Play Store and the Apple store, you will find a a wide selection. Some however will disappoint, as they are merely Mandarin apps with Cantonese pronunciation thrown in, and reads like a textbook in Standard Chinese. Please don’t learn Cantonese from those, as you will sound Read More
Cantonese Online Dictionaries
Learning Cantonese today is much easier than in the past with so many online dictionaries and online tools Here I list a few Cantonese dictionaries, because I recommend checking multiple sources to confirm the accuracy of each translation since most of these dictionaries are crowdsourced. Also, there are limitations to each dictionary, and often may Read More
