MANDARIN VS. CANTONESE : WHICH ONE DO YOU WANT TO LEARN?

Like most movie fanatics, have you caught yourself both laughing and crying when you saw the recent movie “Everything Everywhere All At Once”? While immersing yourself with the joy of learning Chinese cultures, are you aware that the movie implements both Cantonese and Mandarin? Today, we will explore the similarities and differences between Cantonese and Mandarin.

Mandarin is usually the default language that comes to mind when people hear about the Chinese language. Although Mandarin is the representative Chinese dialect , there are many variations of Chinese. There are over three hundred Chinese dialects! Some dialects might sound completely different from others and they can be mutually unintelligible. Today we want to provide you with another option to choose from when learning Chinese—Cantonese.

Is Cantonese a language, or a dialect? 

Cantonese has been acknowledged by the UN as an individual language but not a dialect. Linguists have argued either statement with valid reasons, and in this blog, we will treat both Cantonese and Mandarin equally, as dialects of Chinese. In this blog, we will compare Mandarin and Cantonese, and which one you should learn. We will discuss both the benefits and challenges in learning these two dialects. Hopefully, this blog can help you decide which one you would be more interested in learning. Or perhaps, it might spark your interest in learning both.

Difficulty

While it does depend on the person, the difficulty of learning Mandarin or Cantonese can be attributed to certain technical differences. Mandarin has four tones while Cantonese has six to nine tones, depending on which romanization system you use. In either dialect, two or more different characters can have the same tone and same pronunciation. At Inspirlang, we use simplified Chinese characters when teaching Mandarin, and we use traditional Chinese characters for Cantonese. Traditional Chinese characters usually have more strokes than the simplified version. However, in terms of sentence structure and grammar, Cantonese is simpler and more straightforward. While Mandarin sentence structure and grammar change depending on the subject and emotional meaning, Cantonese follows a set pattern. Although there are differences in vocabulary and grammar, individuals speaking either Mandarin or Cantonese would not have difficulty communicating when writing standard Chinese. Oral communication is a larger barrier as Cantonese has many variations in saying the same phrase. For someone who is completely unfamiliar to both Cantonese and Mandarin, Cantonese is most likely harder to learn than Mandarin. Once you learn Mandarin, Cantonese will be much easier to pick up. It wouldn’t hurt to learn another language when you have a good knowledge base of a similar language.

Use

Mandarin is spoken as a common language among people who are from different regions in China. There are many Mandarin speakers around the world. Cantonese is the third most spoken Chinese dialect, with around 60 million speakers worldwide. It all comes down to geographical disparity. Most parts of mainland China and Singapore speak Mandarin. Cantonese, on the other hand, is dominant in Hong Kong, Macau, and the Guangdong province. Even though Cantonese might seem to have fewer dominant locations, the places where they dominate are filled with blooming business and job opportunities.

Fun

In my opinion, no language is better than another to learn. Mandarin and Cantonese are both fun and interesting in their own ways. This all depends on personal preference. Both dialects have similar types of entertainment available. For example, there is an abundance of Mandarin and Cantonese dramas and variety shows. If you still don’t know whether you would like to learn Cantonese or Mandarin and had no prior experience with either dialects, we have brief consultation sessions that can help you assess your level of skill and give you a brief experience of either one of them. You can also gain some experience through watching Chinese dramas and variety shows. We will release a blog in the future to recommend some of the classics and our favorite dramas and shows. Stay tuned for more! You can follow us on social media to stay updated for new blog posts.

Whether you want to learn Mandarin or Cantonese, Inspirlang has multiple resources available for you from YouTube videos to books. Taishanese is another Chinese dialect that Inspirlang teaches. We have resources for all levels of learners. Check out some of them below!

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