Cantonese for Mandarin Learners
orangina
September 23, 2009, 05:24 AM posted in General DiscussionHi all! I am not ready to learn Cantonese by any means, but would like to know a couple useful phrases. I have been told there is no real “pinyin" for Cantonese, at least not as well known, but could someone out there tell me how to say this in Cantonese. Add your own useful phrases if you can think of one that it is indispensable to know.
对不起，我不会说广东话。你会说普通话（国语）吗？
I have Cantonese friends who can help refine my pronunciation, but I like to have multiple sources and not rely solely on them.
谢谢！
sydcarten
September 23, 2009, 11:20 AMMost books teaching Cantonese use Yale pinyin, because it more accurately represents the 7 tones of Cantonese
cjmcjf
September 23, 2009, 12:53 PM广东话很特别 比较温柔的语调
orangina
September 24, 2009, 01:12 AMThanks everyone! I will check out the pimsleur you mentioned, rjberki.
sydcarten
September 24, 2009, 06:29 AMI never thought much of the Pimsleur series.
My first choice would be "A Cantonese Book" by Chan Kwok & Betty Hung, published by Greenwood press.
This may be difficult to get, however, as it was published in Hong Kong.
Alternatively I would recommend Colloquial Cantonese by Ken S.T. Tong and Gregory James, published by Routledge, or Teach Yourself Cantonese by Hugh Baker and Ho Pui-Kei, published by Hodder and Stoughton.
sydcarten
September 24, 2009, 06:29 AMI never thought much of the Pimsleur series.
My first choice would be "A Cantonese Book" by Chan Kwok & Betty Hung, published by Greenwood press.
This may be difficult to get, however, as it is published in Hong Kong.
Alternatively I would recommend Colloquial Cantonese by Ken S.T. Tong and Gregory James, published by Routledge, or Teach Yourself Cantonese by Hugh Baker and Ho Pui-Kei, published by Hodder and Stoughton.
RJ
September 23, 2009, 08:45 AMorangina
pimsleur has a decent set of cantonese CD's. Usually you can find a place to download for free. I have made CD's and have played with it some. I love the way Cantonese sounds. sic m sic tang guangdonghua aaaaaaaaa!
As for pinyin I always assumed it would be pretty much the same. I have seen it written out for Cantonese. Pronounciation and therefore pinyin spelling is different in some cases but the principle is the same.