Non-Chinese Cantonese speakers

[Quest]

Please let me know how good you reckon he is compared to the above people. In terms of accent, fluency etc. He is my idol.

Very fluent, with some accent. I'd still put him where I put him in my last post.

sorry Quest, I'm curious about the 乡下话 accent. Are you saying that these people sound like native speakers but with a non-'standard', yet non-'foreign', accent?

Yes, 乡下话/乡音 is a non standard accent that does not sound foreign.

If so, shouldn't their accent be considered as native as that of the others, albeit of a non-standard variety?

The Indian mother is native as I stated above.

[Ncao]

Actually alot of elderly people in HK speak with 鄉音. HK is an immigrant city.

[Howell Jackson]

I'm curious whether her English has any accent.

[babelpeon]

This Ho Kwok Wing guys sounds very native.

[flameproof]

Kids, there are millions of " Non-Chinese Cantonese speakers". Just remember that most USA, Canada and UK Chinatowns are mainly Cantonese speaking.

[wannabeafreak]

Kids, there are millions of " Non-Chinese Cantonese speakers". Just remember that most USA, Canada and UK Chinatowns are mainly Cantonese speaking.

These people you are referring have Chinese ethnicity, that doesn't count. This thread is about Non-Chinese Cantonese speakers. Not Chinese people born overseas or who have migrated to another country hence losing their citizenship.

[sarahkuang]

Wannabeafreak, I think Robby's nickname should be titled to you, 完美主义者. Go! Wannabeafreak!!!! Be careful don't get lost somewhere, because language is alive. It can be changed from time to time. Especially a language like Hongkong Cantonese influenced by multiculture.

[sarahkuang]

[wannabeafreak]

What do you think of him( an American teaches Chinese in University), Wannabeafreak?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91tZ...arch=cantonese

I wish I had his language skills I know someone who went to one of his lectures and said he has an enormous knowledge of Chinese language both Cantonese and Mandarin, much more than other Chinese lecturers.

However, my wife (native speaker) said he is fluent but speaks like an old person (no offense to anyone).

[skylee]

An RTHK programme about immigrants in HK. With non-Chinese people speaking Cantonese and Mandarin (謝肅方/Stephen Selby, who was not born locally, is good).

Link -> http://www.rthk.org.hk/asx/rthk/tv/hkstories2007/20070304.asx

[wannabeafreak]

An RTHK programme about immigrants in HK. With non-Chinese people speaking Cantonese and Mandarin (謝肅方/Stephen Selby, who was not born locally, is good).

Link -> http://www.rthk.org.hk/asx/rthk/tv/h...7/20070304.asx

I didn't see Stephen Selby at all in that video. Is there another one?

[skylee]

The programme lasts for 20+ minutes. He is in the second half. I think you just have to wait or move fast forward. His part is from 00:59 to 02:10 in the second half.

[wannabeafreak]

The programme lasts for 20+ minutes. He is in the second half. I think you just have to wait or move fast forward. His part is from 00:59 to 02:10 in the second half.

Thanks. Great video.

[Quest]

Wannabeafreak, you didn't post this:

where Sharon Balcombe speaks Mandarin, English and Cantonese. Her Cantonese is the best. Her Mandarin and English have Cantonese accent.

[wannabeafreak]

Wannabeafreak, you didn't post this:

where Sharon Balcombe speaks Mandarin, English and Cantonese. Her Cantonese is the best. Her Mandarin and English have Cantonese accent.

Very unique person, I was the guy who uploaded this video to Youtube. I wonder if there would be others in Hong Kong who are like her.

[Quest]

Did you go to the service/gathering yourself, or did you get the video from somewhere?

[wannabeafreak]

Did you go to the service/gathering yourself, or did you get the video from somewhere?

For many of the videos I did searches on RTHK looking for foreigners who speak Cantonese, and simply did a bit of video editing, Sharon's I got from a few church websites and waited until I saw her speak English and Mandarin.

I have many videos on Stephan Selby speaking Mandarin from CCTV but haven't uploaded them yet.

[Quest]

咁多個我始終最欣賞Sharon Balcombe，佢唔單止冇accent冇懶音，口才仲好好，係一個地地道道嘅香港人。

[zozzen]

I had talked to 謝肅方 on the phone when he worked in the Department of Intellectual Property, but throughout the conversation I just couldn't recognize he's a non-chinese until he gave me his English name for reference.

[Woodpecker]

I don't understand why there is all this fuss about accents. Of course the foreigners have accents! Everyone does, even the natives. My dad (from New Zealand) has a different accent to me (English) even though we speak the same language. Does this mean he is any less fluent in English? Of course not! Heck, England has a wide variety of accents anyway - a person from Surrey has a different accent from someone in Devon, and I've noticed at least 3 different ones in London alone (never mind the more general Northern and Southern accents). Surely as long as the meaning is there and the tones and pronunciation are clear and correct, that is all that matters?

The primary function of language is communication, not producing a perfect imitation of how another person speaks. Of course, I don't mean that people shouldn't work on getting the accent right; everyone wants to sound natural. It's just that when it comes to judging someone's ability at speaking, I don't think it should be so much of an issue. A perfect accent accompanying an unintelligible sentence is no use at all, but when a person produces a perfect sentence with a foreign accent, that is fine: the meaning is clear and they have achieved their main objective.

Incidentally, when I started learning Cantonese, I found a bit of Chinese accent ended up in my voice just by virtue of the tonal system and the way the words are pronounced. Of course I still speak with a foreign accent since I don't know enough to hold a proper conversation, but such is life.

Sorry about the annoyed tone in my post: I find this issue really irksome!