A helpful blog for learning Mandarin Chinese

[jennifer_hk]

Hi there 👋

I have been studying Mandarin for 10+ years and have created a blog which I update very frequently: https://www.jenniferbaccanello.com

Please feel free to ask me questions in the comments section of my blog or let me know if you would like me to create any posts on topics that you are interested in learning about.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Jennifer 

[zhouhaochen]

Thanks and nice looking blog. Do you study Cantonese too? If yes, how does that work with learning Mandarin?

[jennifer_hk]

Hi Haochen,

 

Many thanks for your compliments. If you ever start a blog please let me know and I'll be sure to check it out. 

 

I can't quite say that I study Cantonese formally but I have unwittingly picked up some of the basics since I live and work in a predominantly Cantonese speaking environment (Hong Kong). I think that if one was attending a structured Cantonese course at least on a weekly basis while living in Hong Kong, picking it up while also studying Mandarin would be very doable.

 

I suppose if you were not living in an area where Cantonese is spoken predominantly, you would need to rely heavily on TV shows, movies etc to tune your ear to the tones etc. 

 

I was speaking just yesterday with a friend who grew up in a local school in Hong Kong, born and bred here, however after he moved to the US for university, he said his Cantonese declined rapidly. I suppose it's simply a matter of "if you don't use it, you lose it."

 

Jennifer 

 

[zhouhaochen]

Thanks - I was wondering how learning the two languages compared. There is very little information around about learning Cantonese. Fully understand that you are focusing on Mandarin, which of course is much more widely spoken.

 

Oh and yes we have a blog about learning Mandarin https://ltl-school.com/blog/ Been going for 10+ years