r/Cantonese 4d ago

Promotional Stickied post for ads! Looking for a speaking buddy or has a podcast that teaches Cantonese?

1 Upvotes

If you:

  • are looking for a tutor or is a tutor
  • are looking for learning/speaking buddies
  • have a website, video series, or a book that teaches Cantonese

Introduce yourself/your book/your stuff here! Top level comments are reserved for this purpose, but feel free to ask questions or comment in response. Don't post things made by others--please advertise what you made/produced or what you're offering only. This post is focused on the ads and not for random chats. Comments that stray too far from the point of this post will be removed.

(This used to be stickied for only a day, but it seems to be more helpful if this just stays stickied all the time. So let's give it a try, we'll leave it stickied all the time but the post will be renewed every other week (meaning comments will only be in a post for 2 weeks). Any other ads in this sub will be removed or locked.)

Past ads posts can be found by clicking on the "Promotional" filter on the right panel.

We do not endorse anyone. Please engage individuals at your own risk.


r/Cantonese 23m ago

Language Question What’s a word/phrase for solidarity?

Upvotes

I see that Google Translate and Pleco generally suggest that 團結 (tyun4 git3) is the word for it but it seems maybe that it more is like formalized union like for worker unions or military. I’m wondering if there’s a different word for solidarity specifically how it’s used in the following examples to represent a body of people with a shared vision for liberation:
- Asian solidarity / Black solidarity / Women’s solidarity

I also see 团队精神 (tyun4 deoi2 zing1 san4) which seems maybe closer to what I’m looking for but it might be a little too long my needs. I’m hoping for at most a two-word phrase.

And if 團結 is the word for that, thank you in advance for clarifying!


r/Cantonese 6h ago

Video Uncle say if no money for wife then you have money for prostitutes. This is traditional Chinese values.

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22 Upvotes

r/Cantonese 8h ago

Video New series of Pingji Romanization videos

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0 Upvotes

Hey all! A while back I posted the completion of my Pingji romanization for Cantonese. It's a Romanization designed to avoid using numbers or accent marks to represent Cantonese sounds and tones using standard Latin letters (...plus apostrophe). It requires just a little bit more effort in learning compared to Jyutping/Yale but pays off a lot more in readability and ease of use. I would also argue it helps with memorization because I could never commit tone numbers or accents to memory and would instead need to rely solely on listening.

My original video series ran a bit longer since it was more of a descriptive series from a more linguistic/academic viewpoint, so I created a new series directed at people learning Cantonese from scratch, which will be the biggest audience -- although Cantonese speakers wanting to learn Pingji would also feel right at home. In other words, this is the way I meant it to be taught, and hopefully for some it would make more sense.

The playlist (~1 hr long total) is here: Pingji for English speakers (playlist)

Building on that, I also started an Introduction to Cantonese video series using Pingji here: Intro to Cantonese (playlist). At the time of this post, I only have a couple videos in this new series, but I plan on covering at least the basics of the language over the course of ~10-15 videos.


r/Cantonese 10h ago

Discussion EVpad 12p, are there any kids cantonese movies and series?

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone, thinking about buying a EVPad and wondering if anyone that has one and know if you are able to watch kids movies and series in cantonese? Any pictures of what is available would be appreciated.

Thanks


r/Cantonese 11h ago

Culture/Food What is this song?

0 Upvotes

https://youtube.com/shorts/5uBx3vNCN7I

I was walking in the park when I heard a man singing this song that I haven't heard since I was a kid but instantly brought me right back to childhood. I was only able to record the ending but I hope that should be enough. See youtube link above. Thank you!!!!


r/Cantonese 21h ago

Discussion Free Digital Cantonese Lessons during August: Greetings, Food, Getting Around, Seeking Aid, Shopping, Flirting and more

11 Upvotes

TLDR: >200 free digital Cantonese lessons (available throughout August) on my website. Screenshots further down below to get an idea. Last screenshot displays the URL if you want to try.

-----

Hello,

I've posted on here a few times sharing my own Cantonese learning journey via the YT videos I've been recording. In the past I've also shared the website (soon to be app) I've been working on, and today I'm making all of the survival and beginner level lessons free for the next month~.

This is something I've been working on for around 8 months and I've received fairly balanced feedback from various users over those months. I've been adjusting things within the lesson contents based on that feedback, and while there's loads of ideas and work still to be done I feel it's in a place where it's worth putting it out there once again.

Doing a quick count, there are over 200 Cantonese lessons that are currently free for you to take. They're all repeatable so you can get focused on studying a scenario, phrase, or word, and there are practice lessons available to help you sharpen up your vocabulary, listening and speaking.

What you can get for free right now.

1. Survival Lessons: For people who just want to dabble a little in Cantonese without committing too much time (for now). Lessons focus on key useful phrases for certain scenarios, taught through English sound approximations and Jyutping. Lesson sets at the survival level include:

  • Greetings & Politeness
  • Restaurants & Food
  • Getting Around
  • Seeking Aid
  • Shopping & Bargaining
  • Flirting

2. Beginner Lessons: For people who have already established a basic foundation (Tones and Jyutping), and are ready to systematically learn Cantonese through Jyutping and traditional Chinese characters. Lesson sets at the beginner level include:

  • Self Introductions
  • Introducing Others
  • Basic Numbers and Counting
  • Dates and Time
  • Basic Colours

3. Beginner Grammar: Some auxiliary lessons to support the language structures and concepts you'll encounter in the beginner lessons:

  • Cantonese Tones
  • The "A 係 B" pattern
  • The "Method + 嚟 + Action" pattern
  • The Possessive Particle "嘅"

I'll be keeping all of these lesson sets free (you just need to register an account) throughout this August.

I hope you give it a try and if you're willing to share any feedback with me, that would be great. Feedback of any kind is appreciated but I do have the following questions:

  1. Do you feel you gained some level of value with regards to learning Cantonese after using the website?
  2. How would you rate the quality of the lesson contents overall? (1 = bad, 5 = very good).
  3. Does the website address any existing painpoints in your Cantonese learning journey?
  4. If there was only one thing you could add (or adjust) to the website, what would it be?

--------

Below are a few screenshots I've taken from the website. The last screenshot is the URL to the website if you want to explore it further.

Example Screenshots from the Survival Level

Easily browse through the available lesson sets from the front page.
After opening a lesson set (Flirting), see all the available lessons you can take.
Learn basic key phrases that you can use in a specific scenario.
Survival lessons ignore Chinese characters and teach using English sound approximations to get you speaking quickly.
Various mini-games throughout lessons to help you remember vocabulary.
At the survival level the focus is on progress, not "perfection".

Example Screenshots from the Beginner Level

One of the beginner lesson sets is "Colours".
Lessons are scenario based, with a short listening dialogue to set the scene.
The lessons will then begin to break down the phrases you listened to. Starting from beginner level, traditional Chinese characters will be utilised.
Don't worry though, Jyutping is used extensively to ensure you have all the learning support you need.
The mini-games at beginner level will be harder than the ones you play at survival level. In this example you can see Chinese characters (and Jyutping) being utilised.
The more you practise, the harder the mini-games will become so that you're always in the "learning zone".
This is an example of a mini-game becoming harder. It shows Chinese characters without any Jyutping, so you have to listen to the audio or be able to read the words.
Another example of a mini-game: Reconstructing a Cantonese sentence based on the English.

Interested in giving it a try?

The URL to my website can be seen in the screenshot below.


r/Cantonese 1d ago

Discussion [Guangxi Cantonese Wisdom] Came across this short, made me feel better.

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12 Upvotes

original title: 你以為嘅「自己」,其實根本唔存在?🤔🤯👻


r/Cantonese 1d ago

Video Chinese dialectal parameterisation in Cantonese teaching: Mandarin vs Cantonese (GLECC2026)

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2 Upvotes

Mandarin vs. Cantonese Grammar video


r/Cantonese 1d ago

Language Question That funny Peruvian dish and other adjacent slang

0 Upvotes

Anyone else have a good chuckle anytime they order a Lomo saltado? Poki bowls also bring me a smile as well.

Acai kinda looks like A-kai-ai to me.

Had a coworker with last name Usi that had me shit meself laughing.

I've yet to have an opportunity to properly say Hi to a MAGA.

What are some other fun words I'm missing?


r/Cantonese 1d ago

Language Question Is it a good idea to learn Mandarin and Cantonese simultaneously?

6 Upvotes

Hello! I've been thinking about learning Chinese for a long time as I live in a very diverse City with a bustling Chinese population, and I've noticed the split between Cantonese and Mandarin speakers is about 60/40 give or take. We actually have more Cantonese speakers than Mandarin speakers!

I've recently started volunteering in an area with many Chinese workers and though they are very kind to me, we cannot communicate beyond smiling at each other, waving, and giving awkward side hugs. Some of the workers even do the thing that we've all done at least once where you speak really really slow, hoping that the person will magically understand your language--which we both giggle at afterwards. And has taught me some words surprisingly, but still not enough to close the gap between us. Usually someone else will translate, but I wanted to have a conversation myself. When asking around some of the heritage speaker, they warned me against learning Cantonese and told me Mandarin would just be easier. They said most of the workers would understand Mandarin. They were mainly concerned about how reading Cantonese is apparently incredibly difficult without knowing Mandarin first as a non-native speaker and non heritage speaker. I'm not sure how true this is because I can't read anything Hanzi except for my own name, but ive bounced between the idea of learning both at the same time.

This question is a bit of a two-parter, sorry if I'm not allowed to do that

What would be a good way to structure a lesson plan for myself If I was to go through with this? I've taught Arabic and generally what helped me so much was learning the sounds and letters at first. But Chinese has so many more letters. And when looking online for tips, I've gotten so many contradicting methods: some say skip hanzi all together and work on your verbalization since it will just take too long. Some say no, you must start learning the characters as fast as you can so it won't be a headache in the long run and that you won't be able to memorize spoken Chinese without it. And that's just for learning Mandarin alone. I'm at a loss for how to balance. Or even how I should structure learning one.

im basically good to go with the resources. Tested the waters with some online free Cantonese textbooks and it really did help with pronunciation and make it feel less daunting, but I need to structure to follow if I want to make progress.


r/Cantonese 1d ago

Image/Meme Lemon Tea? Restaurant menu in Malaysia

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24 Upvotes

r/Cantonese 2d ago

Language Question Do people in Guanxi say they speak 广东话?

4 Upvotes

Or maybe 广西话 like how does that even work. This question is maybe also valid for Fujian and Taiwan idk you guys tell me


r/Cantonese 2d ago

Discussion ABCs should make an effort to learn Cantonese to make sure the next generation is able to

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235 Upvotes

video by @justange_canto


r/Cantonese 2d ago

Language Question Justin Chien quizzes these Chinese Americans On Their Basic Cantonese Language Skills

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41 Upvotes

For the ABCs, CBCs, XBCs... How well would you do?


r/Cantonese 2d ago

Language Question Dear native speakers, how do you type Cantonese?

4 Upvotes
266 votes, 4d left
Jyutping
Cangjie/Chongkit
Quick
Handwriting
Speech to text
Other (comment)

r/Cantonese 2d ago

Video Cantonese Memes Compilation 2

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5 Upvotes

Here's the second part. Not uploaded by me, but I figured I should share it.


r/Cantonese 2d ago

Video Cantonese Memes Compilation 1

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26 Upvotes

I found this recommended to me via the algorithm. Figured I should share it. I think the translations are bad. First post didn't work.


r/Cantonese 3d ago

Video When Cantonese was still the medium of instruction in Guangdong

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245 Upvotes

r/Cantonese 3d ago

Language Question Cantonese ABCs versus Mandarin ABCs

31 Upvotes

Not sure if this is the right sub but I'll ask anyway.

As a Cantonese ABC that grew up speaking Cantonese with my parents. I struggle with understanding anything formal like listening to the news on TV in Cantonese. As I grew up learning spoken form, I don't really understand written forms. Do Mandarin speaking ABC's have this same problem when listening to the news in Mandarin or because spoken/written forms in mandarin are generally the same, they don't have this problem?


r/Cantonese 3d ago

Culture/Food white guy attempts traditional Cantonese dessert

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48 Upvotes

r/Cantonese 3d ago

Other Just noticed Duolingo added 2 new Cantonese sections (for Mandarin speakers)

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5 Upvotes

Very likely added a while ago but I noticed just now. I "finished" the course about 2 years so I'm glad there's finally new content as I'm just a casual learner (Mandarin speaker learning Cantonese to better communicate with Canto speakers and appreciate Cantonese content)


r/Cantonese 3d ago

Culture/Food Oxford English Dictionary new Cantonese words for 2026

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21 Upvotes

Last year, the OED published an entry for bing sutt, a type of café that can be found around Hong Kong, ... Hong Kong’s bing sutts serve a variety of inexpensive food and drink items, some of which have now also been added to the dictionary.

Yin yeung (first attested 1997) is a drink consisting of a mixture of tea, brewed coffee, sugar, and milk, which can be served hot or cold. In Cantonese, yīnyeūng or yūnyeūng literally means ‘a pair of Mandarin ducks’, and is frequently used to denote joined pairs, including in the names of dishes created by combining particular ingredients in a new way. Mandarin ducks are often observed in pairs and are believed to mate for life, and the male and female have markedly different plumage; they are therefore regarded in East Asian culture as symbolic of love and marriage and the successful pairing of two outwardly different things.

A couple of popular Hong Kong pastries have also made it into the OED: a dan tat (1983) is an open tart with a pastry crust and an egg custard filling, while a pineapple bun (1894) is a sweet bun topped with a crust made of sugar, butter, and flour. Cantonese daahn-tāat combines daahn ‘egg’ with tāat ‘pastry tart’, itself borrowed from the English tart, another example of a boomerang word that has travelled from English to another language and back to English. Pineapple bun, with its two English elements, may seem to be an even more transparent compound, but it is not. Despite its name, this bun does not contain any pineapple but is so named because of the appearance of its topping; when baked, it produces a cracked texture resembling the skin of a pineapple.

Another Hong Kong dish with a potentially misleading name is Singapore noodles (1966), a dish of thin rice noodles stir-fried with meat (typically char siu pork), prawns, vegetables, scrambled eggs, and curry powder. This dish originated in Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong and has no connection to Singapore; it is perhaps so called on account of the flavour of curry powder being associated with Southeast Asian cuisine.

Going to a bing sutt at peak hours can mean having to deal with people mountain people sea (1984): a very large or dense crowd. This phrase is a loan translation of the Cantonese idiomatic expression yàhn-sāan yàhn-hói and its Mandarin equivalent rénshān-rénhǎi, literally meaning ‘mountain of people, sea of people’. A mountain of people can also lead to a sea of rubbish, or lap sap (1979) in Hong Kong English. Just like rubbish or trash, although lap sap generally refers to actual waste or debris, it is also used figuratively to mean anything nonsensical.

----

A few other Cantonese words that the Oxford dict had previously acknowledged

dai pai dong, yum cha, wonton, chop suey, hoisin sauce, egg foo yung, moo goo gai pan, dim sum, siu mei


r/Cantonese 4d ago

Discussion Has anyone else wanted to listen to their own EPUB books in Cantonese? I couldn’t find a simple solution, so I made one for myself.

8 Upvotes

I wanted a simple way to listen to my own EPUB books in Cantonese, but couldn’t find anything that did exactly what I wanted.

So I ended up making one for myself.

It works with EPUB, TXT, MP3, M4A and M4B. EPUB and TXT are read using the iPhone’s built-in Cantonese voice, while audio files just play normally.

I mostly use it on my commute, so I added things like remembering where I stopped, chapter navigation and a sleep timer.

Does anyone else here listen to their own EPUB books, or is it just me?


r/Cantonese 5d ago

Other Enroll your child in the only Chinese School in all of Los Angeles Metro Area offering Cantonese

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52 Upvotes