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Cantonese vs Mandarin in Hong Kong?
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Young Sing -

Cantonese is a way of life in HK. 100years down the road, Cantonese still prevail. However, I have
to agree that the level of spoken Mandarin has improved over the years since the early 90s.



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Quest -



Quote:

The idea that "Mandarin is a power language" is not really embraced in Hong Kong.

The fact is, Mandarin is not a power language even in the mainland. It's just being forced on
dialect speakers, and helped by the massive migrants who usually speak another dialect at home,
but out of necessity have to speak mandarin in their adopted towns and cities... Most people would
switch to their own dialects whenever possible.

I think some Westerners have adopted/acquired the Beijing centric view, because they take
residence there and watch Beijing centric entertainment. But outside of the Beijing area, few
Chinese people think of the language or the place much, and by no means would they associate any
chicness with Beijing, the opposite is closer to reality.










Young Sing -

put it that way... when 2 chinese meets, the common language is Mandarin.... just like when two
Caucasain meets (one from US and one from Europe).. the common language is English.










Quest -

Or put it this way, Mandarin is a tool not a language of choice.










geraldc -

Written Cantonese is making more and more of an appearance, you won't see it in subtitles of TV
programs (other than the Cable channels, BTW Iron Chef with Cantonese subtitles is a laugh). A
large number of the adverts that now appear on the MTR feature written Cantonese, including the
safety ads for things like holding onto the escalators. Admittedly these adverts are nearly always
humourous, but it's certainly a sign that Cantonese isn't on the way out.










sjcma -



Quote:

On a related note, what do people in HK mean when they say 'Chinese'? When browsing job
classifieds, I was under the impression that it would refer to Mandarin - until I stumbled across
a few that were asking for Chinese AND Mandarin...

The term Chinese or 中文 means different things to different people. Those from Hong Kong often
use it to mean spoken Cantonese and written Chinese. Those from the mainland or Taiwan use it to
mean spoken Mandarin. It was quite interesting to hear some HKers commenting on how a Mandarin
speaker does not know 中文, and then hearing the same Mandarin speaker commenting on how the
aforementioned HKers do not know 中文. I guess everyone is dumb and illiterate!

Things become even more ridiculous when those comments are translated into English. I've heard
many-a-times HKers saying, in English, that so-and-so (from Taiwan or Mainland) do not know how to
speak Chinese. The native English speaker then presents a puzzled look and asks "He doesn't speak
Chinese? But isn't he from China?"

And don't get me started on why Catholics aren't Christians...










atitarev -



Quote:

Or put it this way, Mandarin is a tool not a language of choice.

I think it must be considered an important tool to master, at least in China, am I wrong? And is
Hong Kong - China?










wushijiao -



Quote:

I think it must be considered an important tool to master, at least in China, am I wrong?

I think it is important to master in China, but not that difficult. Since TV and radio are almost
solely in Putonghua and the whole education system is in Putonghua, most young people now speak it
effortlessly (even people from dialect areas).

However, Jive Turkey mentioned that the lingua franca in HK is Cantonese, or 中文 if you will. I
also wonder if English can be a lingua franca for the business community, of sorts. I know that
when I went to HK this summer, my wife did a lot of shopping, finding that the people working in
shops had pretty good English, so they just spoke in English. Of course, the % of Mainlanders who
can speak English is low, but the type who might fly down to HK for business (people fairly high
up in Chinese and foreign companies) might be able to converse in basic English.



Quote:

I think some Westerners have adopted/acquired the Beijing centric view, because they take
residence there and watch Beijing centric entertainment.

Hehe...that was certainly me at one point.



Quote:

But outside of the Beijing area, few Chinese people think of the language or the place much, and
by no means would they associate any chicness with Beijing, the opposite is closer to reality

I think for really cool, trendy people in Shanghai, Shanghaiese is percieved as more fashionable
than Putonghua. At least that's the impression that I get.










Luobot -

The real reason for speaking Cantonese in Hong Kong, even poorly, is because they'll treat you
better if you do. Heck, they'll treat you better if you just speak English, even if they don't
understand you (and most educated HK'ers will). I discovered in HK that no one understood my poor
Mandarin (well, even my tape recorder doesn't seem to understand my Mandarin), but plenty of
HK'ers are studying it themselves. They see the writing on The Wall. I'd like to say, when in
Rome, study Latin (it really is such a beautiful language), but nowadays even the Romans are
studying Putonghua.

So what's your decision ???










atitarev -

Wushijiao, do you reckon English will become the lingua franca between China and Hong Kong? Seeing
that parents in Hong Kong are more eager for their kids to learn English than Putonghua (see my
link), then it is likely to happen. I am not so sure it comes effortlessly for HKers, as they are
much less exposed to spoken Mandarin and to written simplified characters (mainlanders are better
at reading traditional than HKers are at reading simplified).












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