Should I learn Mandarin or Cantonese?

[Guest PeterJJ]

I am starting to do business with companies in China through and agency in the Guangdong province. My main contact in China speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and several other dialects in addition to English, French and German...(I'm jealous too!) so we are arguing about which form of Chinese would be most useful for me to learn - Mandarin or Cantonese. Although Cantonese is prevalent in the locality of our offices in China, we would look do business with companies throughout China.

Peter, UK

[Guest Emerald Eye]

You may find more material to read and more Cantonese people to practice with in England, but in the future the bulk of your business might be done with firms in the mainland.

I would say try Cantonese first as you already have contact who can be your Mandarin translator.

[skylee]

Learn Putonghua (i.e. Mandarin). It is the national language. If you speak the language you will be understood in most parts of China (including Guangdong). And it is easier to learn because it only has four tones whereas Cantonese has nine.

[pazu]

If you're not going to spend much time in other parts of China, learn Cantonese. Most overseas Chinese know nothing about Mandarin. Mandarin is definitely more useful than Cantonese in terms of population advantages, but it really depends on where you are and what people you're dealing with.

I would learn Finnish if I go to Finland, though there're far more Hindi speakers in India. ;)

[Quest]

Learn Mandarin. As Skylee said, mandarin is understood throughout the country including Guangdong, but Cantonese in China is only a local dialect.

[cuthbert]

Mandarin is first,in shanghai u can talk with everyone by it,even the old.

[cuthbert]

I would learn Finnish if I go to Finland' date=' though there're far more Hindi speakers in India. ;)[/quote']

they are different concepts,they are two countries,but in china cantonese only dialect,one kind of dialect,which coveres only a small part of china

[Guest Billy]

To be frank, I speak dailect. It influence my life and work. So I must try to learn Mandarin. Communication becomes very impotant in business and work now. You would find a wide field market if you can communicate with Chinese and think in our sides.

Mandarin will become the common language in Chinese people. Guangdong people will use mandarin as thier spoken language in the future.

[Quest]

Guangdong people will use mandarin as thier spoken language in the future.

I will resist that change.

[benotnobody]

And it is easier to learn because it only has four tones whereas Cantonese has nine.

Does canto actually have nine tones? I've friends from HK from which I learnt Cantonese, and I could only pick out about six tones. But then again, I've never been formally educated in the dialect.

[calibre2001]

Learn both. To know more languages is to widen one's mobility, to know less languages is to be disadvantaged.

[skylee]

Does canto actually have nine tones? I've friends from HK from which I learnt Cantonese, and I could only pick out about six tones.

This is from one of my previous posts -

The tones of the following numbers represent the nine tones of Cantonese -

394052786

The last three tones (7th-9th tones) are rusheng. They are similar to the 1st, 3rd and 6th tones, respectively, (which is perhaps why some people can recognise only 6 tones) but they always end with p, t, or k.

[geek_frappa]

a lot of good advice here, but be sure to listen to skylee.

learn mandarin first. learn it well.

then it will be easier to learn God's language.

cantonese shorten/abbreviate everything and use creative puns for discretion. if you are too mechanical when speaking cantonese, it may hurt you more than help. cantonese is evolving, as well.

learn a little cantonese and let them know that you are trying to learn.

but learn mandarin first. and relax... southern China is more laid back... oh... and don't forget to smile! get a tutor in GZ, many people here on the forum from GZ.

Does canto actually have nine tones?

it depends. if you are manager is yelling at you, he or she may develop some new tones...

I will resist that change.

thank goodness. guangdongwaa is one of the best languages of earth, if not the best.

with a sprinkle of taiwanese here and there, it's wonderful.

[geek_frappa]

If you're not going to spend much time in other parts of China, learn Cantonese. Most overseas Chinese know nothing about Mandarin. Mandarin is definitely more useful than Cantonese in terms of population advantages, but it really depends on where you are and what people you're dealing with.

absolutely.

pazu? did you travel through Guangxi on your way to Vietnam? not many mandarin speakers there right? the further away from cities you get, the more you need to learn new dialects, i think. is that true?

[Haoqide]

geek_frappa, I totally agree with almost every word of your big post there! Well said!!! The only place where I differ is that I equally adore both Cantonese and Mandarin, for 2 totally different reasons:

Mandarin to me sounds much sweeter and kinder, the kind of language that sounds great in a song or love poem.

Cantonese sounds more laid-back and common, and it's much funnier sounding. All jokes in the world should be told in Cantonese, as it makes everything sound more amusing. And it sounds more expressive over all.

Just my opinion, tho.

[benotnobody]

Mandarin to me sounds much sweeter and kinder, the kind of language that sounds great in a song or love poem.

I think this is highly subjective; it depends what accent you're talking about. Beijing Mandarin sounds very choppy, kind of harsh. Not exactly sweet...

[sheik]

I am learning Cantonese in order to speak with my family.

When I last spoke with my family in Hong Kong though, they told me that most business people there are starting to speak more Mandarin in order to do business with mainland China.

All things being equal, Mandarin is likely to be more useful to you in the future.

It is worth pointing out that Cantonese and Mandarin share the same written language though (certainly for anything formal anyway) so if you learn how to read and write it will be doubly useful! (forgetting about the slight complication of simplified versus traditional characters).

/dam

[SAINT]

Well, Cantonese is more ancient than Mandarin and the choice is obvious.

[Claw]

Well, Cantonese is more ancient than Mandarin and the choice is obvious.

Not exactly... Cantonese shares more characteristics with Middle Chinese than does Mandarin (notably the tones and the retention of the final consonants and rhymes), but you can't say one is more ancient than the other. Both are modern languages that decended, but are different from Middle Chinese.

[grasshopper]

Quite happy to see this small exchange of idea's on mandarin and cantonese.

I'm considering on taking lessons in mandarin myself and was looking for such a comparization as in this topic ! So thank you for sharing your opinions, it makes my decision a bit easier.

From the chinese people here i understood cantonese is moe spoken here than mandarin is, but they understand mandarin as well, at least the old folks do ;)