Re: should I learn Cantonese or Mandarin?

Barky Bark wrote:
> Hi, I'm an American studying law with an emphasis in international business
> law in china. I'm going to be learning chinese so that hopefully by the
> time I graduate I can at least tell employers (here in California) that I'm
> reasonably proficient in the language.
>
> My questions is: should I learn Mandarin or Cantonese? I need a language
> with the widest potential application. I hear that Cantonese is the trendy
> language to learn and of course it's used in Hong Kong but should I stick
> with Mandarin which I'm leaning toward?
>
> Thanks very much for any input you might have!

As others have suggested, who you hope to speak to would seem to be the
most important point. But if for some reason that does not settle the
issue, here is another consideration: the availability of learning
materials. The following observations apply here and many other parts
of the UK. Elsewhere may be different but I think that the situation
is common.

Cantonese

Pro Much more opportunity to meet native speakers for practise.
Cantonese speakers are much more common here than Mandarin speakers.

Con Much poorer instruction material for English speakers. Good
books on Cantonese are quite hard to find. Even in HK, there are more
books aimed at teaching Mandarin to English than Cantonese (if you
exclude the silly, useless phrase books). Transliterations seem to be
inconsistent making it difficult to switch between books. Courses on
Cantonese for English speakers are hard to find. I have seen courses
on Cantonese advertised in the UK but they appear to be aimed at
children from the Chinese community. They may not suit you.

Mandarin

Pro A huge range of books, CDs, etc is available. They use a
consistent transliteration (pinyin). In some areas at least, courses
and instruction aimed at English speakers are available. In particular
circumstances, e.g. a university with many foreign students, Mandarin
speakers may be easier to find than Cantonese.

Con Unless you are lucky (e.g. my university example), you may
struggle to find people to practise your Mandarin with.

So, I think it would depend on how you like to learn. If you prefer a
more formal approach then go for Mandarin. If you prefer a less formal
approach by immersing yourself among native speakers then go for
Cantonese (or even another Chinese language if it is commonly spoken
near you).

I have tried to learn a Chinese language just for the fun and
challenge. I chose Mandarin since I wanted the better materials. It
was also fun to think that this would maximise the number of new people
that I could take to (in theory but maybe not practise). I need to
practise by accosting Chinese tourists that I meet. This happens
surprisingly often. I even met some in Cumbria recently which is a
fairly remote of England. By luck extra practise opportunities have
become available since my nephew has married a native Mandarin speaker.
Unfortunately, they don't live anywhere near here so I don't see them
often.

--
Seán O'Leathlóbhair

.

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