Learn Cantonese Sites

[whykay]

I know Asian Institute now does Cantonese courses (as their flyer on Good World's window advertises... but they seem inept in replying to email enquiries or returning/answering calls).
My BF was interested in learning in a class basis... but I was looking around and found the following:

Learn Cantonese (UK) - http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/
Learn Cantonese (CA) - http://www.cantonese.ca/
HK Language Centre - http://www.language.com.hk/index.php

And yes, just teaching my BF Cantonese is hard. I could have done that. Still sort of trying.

[whykay]

Ok, more info.
Of course, who can leave out linguaphone site as a resource - Colloquial Cantonese (CD) Cantonese for English
I did not even know there are Cantonese meetup days - International Cantonese Language Meetup Day.
Learn tones used in Cantonese - Cantonese Lite - Tone.

[whykay]

I know I posted the link in my first post, but the forum from http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk is very good, and I'm gonna learn alot from it.

Here it is - http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/

Everything from slang, to translate this, to cultural references. You name it, you got it here.

[whykay]

Just to let you know, my BF is enjoying the Cantonese course now at Asian Institute. The course material is quite good. I am even checking on the written stuff, so he's learning to converse with it, while I read the Chinese piece, it's fun!

[Penelope]

Hi,

If you're still trying to learn Cantonese, you'll find some great lessons at http://www.learnchineseez.com/lessons/cantonese/.

They're quite extensive, all online, and no fee. Good luck!

[paulchiu83]

Hi Penelope,

hope you are well and welcome to the site. Don't know whether you have been here before but welcome anyway lol. I just like to introduce myself to you as I am the entertainment rep on this site. I look after meetups and I organise meetings and gatherings with cantonese, malaysian and irish born cantonese/chinese people. I also try to help chinese people get settled here as well if I can help at all. Let me know if anything is needed or if you are interested in meeting up in Dublin

Cheers

Paul

[kiyose]

Hi. I'm a HK born female, who grew up in Sydney and now work in Tokyo. I have never been to Dublin. Is it quite multicultural?

[paulchiu83]

Hi Kiyose,

Welcome. Dublin has become one of the most cultural diverse nation in Europe mainly due to the economic boom and a lot of people came over here in search for a beter job. In one of the shops I work in, there are Hungarians, Polish, Irish, English, Ghanians, Germans, Spanish, Chinese, Finnish! So it is quite culturally diverse I must say. I am sure Sydney is quite similar or even Japan. You thinking of coming over to Dublin? lol

[kiyose]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply. Sydney is really culturally diverse. I had no idea that Dublin was as well. I love the Irish accent. I've worked with quite a few Irish people in Tokyo. I would love to visit one day.

In general, what kind of work are Chinese people involved in over there? Sorry to sound so ignorant, but I really have no clue about the Chinese in Ireland. I have never met a Chinese person from there before. England, Australia, USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia etc etc, yes, but not Ireland.

[paulchiu83]

Hi Kiyose,

don't worry about it. Ok so I am the first chinese person that you will know from Ireland so lol. What an honour lol. Anyway most chinese here work in takeaways and restaurants. You know the drill. And especially ones from HK. But the HK ones would be more owners rather than workers.

I am in the pharmacy field and have never met another pharmacist from HK. But I suppose I only qualified for one year so maybe I will meet more later on. Some doctors here, accountants etc. What about yourself? what do you do? Yeah you should totally give me a buzz when you are over. I show you around

[kiyose]

Hi Paul,

I run my own teaching business in Tokyo. I don't have a school, as it is too expensive to set up, so I teach mostly in cafes and community centres. I also teach English to staff of government organisations.

Sydney has many places with large populations of Chinese people. It is very easy to get authentic Chinese food. We have excellent restaurants. You can basically get any type of food you want in Sydney, Indian, Thai, Greek, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Turkish etc. Tokyo is also great for food, but it's not as varied and authentic as Sydney.

[paulchiu83]

hi kiyose,

That's cool, how did you go about getting into teaching in Tokyo? I bet you like all the Japanese manga and stuff. I used to watch them all the time on tv in HK lol. Did you family emigrated to Syndney like mine to Dublin?

Also to let you know there is IBC on facebook and bebo. You can also get through to the link on mine. Just simply type in Paul Chiu

[kiyose]

My family moved to Sydney when I was five. I came to Tokyo to teach English after doing social work for three years. It was really draining and the pay wasn't that great, so I decided to come here to teach and travel.

It's a pretty exciting city, kind of like Hong Kong in some ways. Lots of restaurants and bars open until 5am, unlike home, where many places close by 9pm on a weeknight. Lots to do and see here. A bit expensive, but if you don't drink a lot, it's possible to save a bit of money.

I used to teach in a school with teachers from all over the world, Canada, the United States, Scotland, England, Ireland and Australia. It was always fun in the staff room when people started using their native slang and then everyone would be like "Huh? What are you on about?" I love the differences in the use of the English language.

[paulchiu83]

hi Kiyose,

Lol, you have a cool job, I would love to meet more people from everywhere. I had friends from every corner of the world when I was in university but then things slowly drift away after we all graduated. Such a shame. I understand exactly what you mean by the different uses in English. I had Malysian friends and they translate chinese sayings into english literally and it is so funny. Guess these ones. "Ice Snow Clever" lol and "Borrow people Cross ideas" lol

[kiyose]

Yeah, a lot of things are totally lost in translation. My students try to do that sometimes with Japanese phrases and I won't understand at all what they mean. LOL.

I've been lucky growing up in Sydney, as it's really multicultural. My friends are from all different cultural backgrounds and in Tokyo, there's a huge ex-pat community, so I get to meet people from all over the world.