British vs. Australian Cantonese

[wannabeafreak]

How close do these guys sound to native (i.e. you would think they were born in Hong Kong)?

British:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHr_BqYyrPc&NR=1

How does he compare to Ho Kwok Wing?

Australian:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YwgcrSTt4c

Both started in their 20s. Who sounds more pleasant or natural?

[Quest]

Again?

Both are good, I think 河國榮 is more fluent.

[cdn_in_bj]

Steven (British guy) sounds "better" to me, maybe it's the sound of his voice that I like more. I really like it when he switches to putonghua - he sounds exactly like a Cantonese speaker!

The Australian guy seems more fluent in his talking, but his tones/accents sound less natural to me. I'm not saying that he's got them wrong, but they're not quite the same as native speakers I know. And he doesn't enunciate his words as clearly with his tongue and throat. Just compare his style of talking with the host's, or even Steven's. Actually, I am curious if he speaks Mandarin, and if so which dialect did he learn first?

Anyways, I'm picking at straws here - both are darn good.

Note: I don't speak Cantonese myself though I have friends who do, so I do get some exposure to it.

[wannabeafreak]

You can see in this video http://rmwebcast01.isd.gov.hk/webcast/people/selby_e.ram Stephen Selby speaks English similarly, hence, him appearing to be less fluent might be caused to the natural way he speaks his mother tongue.

[skylee]

Selby sounds like a native to me. I wouldn't be able to tell that he is a westerner if I don't see his face. Actually I had never known he was a brit (had only known his Chinese name 謝肅方, which is so very chinese) until I saw the first programme.

Rivers is very fluent, but his tones are a bit off.

[skylee]

Actor Brian Burrell (american) also speaks in Cantonese. Watch -> http://www.tudou.com/search/programs/?posto=%2Fsearch%2Fprograms%2F&kw=%CD%AC%CA%C2%C8%FD%B7%D6%C7%D7+42&nav_search_target=0&comefrom=1

[Quest]

Selby sounds like a native to me. I wouldn't be able to tell that he is a westerner if I don't see his face.

He's close to sounding like one, but if a native is defined as a typical HK人 born and raised in HK, then one can tell after a couple of sentences that he's not a native.

[skylee]

No. Not born in HK. One only has to live in HK for 7 years to become a permanent resident. The first Chief Executive Mr Tung Chee Hwa was born in Shanghai and did not move to HK until he was 10 years old and he has that accent, but he is a Hongkonger.

Faye Wong has an accent too. And I think she is a HKer too (but she seems to think that she is a BJer).

Mr Selby is good enough. So is Mr Rivers.

[Quest]

I agree with you, but saying he sounds like a native, and wouldn't be able to tell, might be misleading, if the OP wanted to know the truth.

[skylee]

Well then maybe I am not native enough to judge.

[Quest]

I think skylee meant that she holds an HK ID card, therefore is a "naturalized" HK人. We should ask wannabeafreak what kind of answer he's looking for, and what he meant by native.

PS: actually he did define it "someone born in HK". then I don't think either of the two men sounds like someone [typically] who was born/raised in HK.

[sandeehoo]

Selby sounds more native than Rivers.

Selby is able to use more sophisticated and formal words than Rivers. Selby speaks more eloquently when describing things.