Why Learn Cantonese?
Note: This post first appeared on Jan. 30, 2017 on my tumblog of the same name. They tell me the kids are all on Medium these days! All updates going forward will be cross-posted to both platforms.
I’ve decided to teach myself Cantonese. It’s been a long time coming. I learned “thank you” for my first trip to Hong Kong in 2012 and left it at that. In 2014 I gazed with baffled longing at the papers and sensational books on display at newsstands. I tried to pick up a bit here and there, but it’s hard to learn a language alone and from afar.
Then came the Umbrella Movement, also known as Occupy Central: the 79-day occupation of the city’s major thoroughfares in a grassroots push for universal suffrage. As translations editor at China Digital Times, I did my best to pluck a few choice signs and cartoons from the creative torrent the movement generated. But my team only knew Mandarin, and Mandarin is about as close to Cantonese as French is to Italian — clearly related, but not at all the same. Suddenly, I realized that Cantonese would not just allow me to navigate Hong Kong on my next trip. I could cut the Mandarin and English middlemen and dive into that flood of Facebook posts, those Stand News’ scoops, those TV Most parodies. I could unlock a world of debate about what it means to be a citizen of Hong Kong.
By understanding in depth the struggle for universal suffrage, debates over autonomy from the People’s Republic of China, and preservation of Hong Kong’s linguistic and cultural identity, I hope to contribute important insight into the delicate dance between Hong Kong and Beijing, and through that to throw into relief the identity politics and shifting power structures happening in so much of the world right now.
There is my lofty reason for this project, a long-term goal that I will approach incrementally through 15 minutes of mostly-daily study. There is a simpler goal, too. I love the process of learning language in and of itself. I miss the feeling of strange new vowels on my tongue, the struggle with new sentence patterns, the delight of hard-won comprehension.
So I decided to taste a little bite of Cantonese (almost) every day this year and see how it goes. I’m starting with Complete Cantonese, and have chipped away at two-and-a-half lessons so far. I’ll blog about my progress and experience with Cantonese throughout the year, and hopefully beyond. Sometimes I’ll nerd out about grammar and phonology. Sometimes I’ll connect what I’m learning with what I’ve learned about Hong Kong and Cantonese culture. I’ll be back in a few weeks to tell you about my journey.
