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Hànyǔ 汉语 Learn Mandarin and Cantonese online or in Hong Kong. Critical advocacy, language lessons, reviews, observations, and more
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Learn Cantonese in Hong Kong

Cantonese courses in Hong Kong are surprisingly few, despite it being the main language of daily communication in Hong Kong and spoken by over 90% of inhabitants. Fortunately, a number of new schools/companies are appearing that offer Cantonese courses in Hong Kong.

If you are new (or not so new) and want to learn Cantonese in Hong Kong, this short list will help you find a suitable course.

  • YMCA

  • The Cantonese courses offered by the non-profit YMCA are probably the best deal price wise. There are 3 levels and the cost works out to just HK$50 per classroom hour. Here is a link to a pdf with the information.

  • Hong Kong Language Learning Centre

  • The HKLLC is “a leading language school in Hong Kong which specialises in Cantonese and Mandarin Learning programmes in conversation and Chinese Reading and Writing for expatriates, locals and overseas Chinese”.

    There is not much concrete information on the website, despite quite a few links. To learn how much their courses actually cost, you need to send an email. It took me around an hour to receive a reply.

    They have both intensive and short term courses. The intensive 40 session course has lessons from M to F and consists of a 50-minute teaching hour, a 50-minute conversation hour, and an extra 1 hour language lab. The Course Fee is HK$8,200- (material fee included).

    The short term 10 session Cantonese course is identical to the intensive in its format. The Course Fee is HK$2,300- (material fee included)

    Because it’s not clear how much of the course fee should be allowed for the language lab, we can only come up with a rough figure of around HK$100 per hour for the HKLLC course.

  • Chinese University of Hong Kong

  • The CUHK offers Cantonese evening courses for Non-native Chinese Speakers at 3 levels. These courses are 40 sessions held twice weekly. Each session is from 19.00 - 20.50. Here is a link to a pdf with information on the CUHK’s Cantonese courses.

  • EDC Languages
  • EDC Languages, located in Admiralty, offers both private (From HK$155 – HK$190 per 45 minutes) and group Cantonese lessons. The group course fee is HK$2,940 for 30 hours, (Rate Per Hour HK$98), HK$3,680 fort 40 hours, (Rate Per Hour HK$92) and HK$5,280 (Rate Per Hour HK$88).

  • Global Language Centre
  • The Global Language Centre, located in Central, on Des Voeux Rd has private Cantonese classes for from HK$155-187/Hour and group classes (2-3 learners) for from HK$90-110. The fees vary according to when you study. It’s slightly cheaper during the day than in the evening.

  • Hong Kong Language Training Centre
  • The Hong Kong Language Training Centre offers Cantonese classes ranging from HK$250-/per hr/per class for 1-2 students for 24 or above hrs. to HK$330-/per hr/per class for 5 students and over. There are other rates for fewer students and fewer hours.

    You can find HKLTC’s prices here for their Cantonese immersion courses with rates in USD.

  • International Language Centre
  • Here is a link to a pdf with information on the International Language Centre’s Cantonese courses. Tuition per student for a 36 hour course is HK$4320 for the Beginner Level and HK$4520 for the Intermediate Course.

  • Hong Kong Institute of Languages
  • The Hong Kong Institute of Languages, located in Central, offers a 10 week, 20 hour Foundation course in Cantonese. The course fee ranges from HK$2,388 - HK$ 2,988, depending on the number of students and the time offered. The HKIL also teaches Cantonese courses for companies, schools, teens and children.

  • Chinese Language Professional
  • Chinese Language Professional gives information on their Chinese language courses here. There is only a price for an Intermediate Cantonese Course - a 36 hours Conversation Course for HK$5,398 and a 48 hour Conversation, Reading and Writing Course for HK$6,698.

  • Talking Mandarin Language Centre
  • The Talking Mandarin Language Centre, in spite of their name, also teach Cantonese. To get their rates, however, you’ll need to fill out an online form and give them your mobile number.

  • Christian Action
  • This charity has Cantonese courses for “ethnic minorities”. You will have to figure out if you fit in this category. Here is their brochure.

    http://www.christian-action.org.hk/cdp/Lang_Prog_leaflet_Eng.pdf

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    Learn Cantonese videos

    I haven’t got around to posting much here lately. I’ve been putting most of the Cantonese stuff into the free online Moodle course at http://cantonesecourse.com . I love WordPress - but it wasn’t designed for learning.

    Eventually I’ll have all the 50+ dialogues from the 15 lessons of Cantonese FSI Volume 1 made into YouTube videos. To date I’ve managed to churn out over 20 of them. No claims that these are great videos - just a modest attempt at experimenting with materials for learning a neat language online.

    Hate these rather crass and vulgar efforts at “edutainment” a la YouTube? Question their pedagogical value? Never mind - you can always just download the .zip of the dialogues as mp3s.

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    Learn Cantonese Dialogues Lesson 1

    Dialogue 1

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    Dialogue 2

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    Dialogue 3

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    Dialogue 4

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    Dialogue 5

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    Dialogue 6

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    Dialogue 7

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    Learn Cantonese Book 1

    Learn Cantonese Book 1, published by Hanyu Press, is now available as a free .pdf.
    Learn Cantonese Book 1 contains transcripts in traditional Chinese characters, Yale Romanization and English translation for all the approximately 60 dialogues in lessons 1-15 (originally from the FSI’s Cantonese: Basic Course, Volume 1). It also contains vocabulary lists and a Cantonese - English Glossary. Finish the 15 lessons in Learn Cantonese Book 1 and you should know around 600 of the most basic and daily words and expressions in Cantonese.

    Free pdf of the book and mp3 audio files for all dialogues can be downloaded from http://cantonesecourse.com

    The paperback will be out soon!

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    Learn Cantonese 4: What Time is it?

    This is Lesson 4 in our Learn Cantonese Video Course with simple everyday dialogues. Mr Wong goes to visit a young lady friend (Chan Siuje) in Mong Kok and practices his Cantonese.

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    Here is the dialogue in traditional Chinese characters, Yale Cantonese romanization, and the English translation:
    Read the rest of this entry »

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    How to say “Joe the Plumber” in Chinese (叫阿祖食屎)

    I’m not interested in American politics. Quite frankly, I’m with Stanley Bing at Fortune China. Stanley wrote a piece in Chinese entitled 乔已经够多了 (I’ve had enough of Joe).

    Me, too.

    On a bad day, I’d be less polite and 叫阿祖食屎!

    But, like it not, the US is having an election and the rest of the world has little choice but to watch - if not react.

    So, how to turn all this into a positive learning experience?
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    Learn Cantonese 3: Multilingual Hong Kong

    This is is the third in a series of Cantonese learning videos with simple everyday dialogues. Sound files were extracted and recycled from the US Foreign Service Institute’s (FSI) Basic Cantonese 1. Avatars were made with CrazyTalk. Photos of Hong Kong are distributed under a Creative Commons licence and/or GNU. Songs are copyright of various copyright holders. Everything else is public domain.

    Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

    In Lesson 3, you learn how to say the names of several languages in Cantonese and ask who speaks which language. Mr Hak, an American visitor, meets a local lady in Mong Kok and practices his Cantonese.

    (BTW, the Deng Lijun song is in Hokkien - not Cantonese.)

    Here is the dialogue in traditional Chinese characters, Yale Cantonese romanization, and the English translation:

    A: 李生識係識講日本話呀?
    Read the rest of this entry »

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    Learn Cantonese 2: Getting to know you

    This is the second in a series of Cantonese learning videos with simple everyday dialogues. Sound files were extracted and recycled from the US Foreign Service Institute’s (FSI) Basic Cantonese 1. Avatars were made with CrazyTalk. Photos of Hong Kong are distributed under a Creative Commons licence and/or GNU. Everything else is public domain.

    In Lesson 2, Mr Ho takes a leisurely evening stroll through the streets of Mong Kok, meets a pretty young lady and asks her her name.

    Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

    Here is the transcript in Yale Romanization, traditional Chinese and English translation.

    Síujé gwaising a?
    Ngóh sing Chàhn. Sīnsàang gwaising a?
    Síusing Hòh. Chàhn síujé haih m̀hhaih Gwóngdùngyàhn a?
    M̀hhaih a. Ngóh haih Seuhnghóiyàhn. Néih nē?
    Néih haih m̀hhaih Méihgwokyàhn a?
    Haih a. Ngóh haih Méihgwokyàhn.

    小姐貴姓呀?
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    Learn Cantonese 1: Mistaken identity

    This is the first in a series of Cantonese learning videos with simple everyday dialogues. Sound files were extracted and recycled from the US Foreign Service Institute’s (FSI) Basic Cantonese 1. Photos of Sham Shui Po are distributed under a Creative Commons licence and/or GNU. Everything else is public domain.

    Two acquaintances on their way to computer parts in scenic Sham Shui Po bump into each other outside the Golden Computer Centre.

    Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

    Here is the transcript in Yale Romanization, traditional Chinese and English translation.

    A: Hòh Sàang, jóusàhn.
    B: Léih Táai, jóusàhn.
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