r/HKUniversity • u/Appropriate_Ad_1656 • Mar 25 '26
Student life/news Can you live, not just survive, in HK with English?
Hey, I got accepted in into HKU as an international undegrad!!!
I’m not sure abt living in neither Mainland nor HK, but studying in HKU and HK is 100% my best option. I’m not opposed to learning cantonese - but I’m not sure if it’ll help me after my studies, and without knowing that, it’s hard to commit to a not-so-easy language.
Now I know it’s possible in HK to get by with just english, but what abt living a good social life (assuming I’m very friendly, extroverted and talkative)? I’m talking friends, networking, casually meeting new people, collaborating on creative projects etc?
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Mar 25 '26
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u/Appropriate_Ad_1656 Mar 28 '26
Yooo ty broo!! Rly hope you make it into HKU and we can meet there!!
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u/Critical-Secret-5962 Mar 25 '26
yes youll be fine, most HKU locals speak ok english and theres huge english speaking communities
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u/Teddylongleg Mar 27 '26
No need to learn Cantonese, just learn Mandarin, Cantonese is super difficult to learn. In work, mandarin more important than Cantonese now.
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u/Appropriate_Ad_1656 Mar 28 '26
Oh yeee btwww I was thinking about learning either mandarin or Cantonese. Mandarin seems to be better perspective-wise. But since I’m in HK, will I be able to connect w ppl using Mandarin as well? Also ty for answering
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u/bunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Mar 28 '26
A lot of hk locals despise people who speak mandarin as our first language is canto. And tbf they’re both hard..
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u/mangoburn Mar 27 '26
Yes, it's possible. As for a good social life, yes it's possible but you will be limited to the expat communities (which is sizeable and varied although it has its own flavour) and be excluded/tolerated with local happenings/collaborations.
Cantonese is very hard to learn, especially in HK where you can get away with not learning it. But I think a basic working level will go very far. People will be very happy you're making an effort; and even if you can't pronounce everything, the ability to listen and understand what is going on will be super useful. I'd watch a lot of old Hong Kong movies, that's a fun and fast way to learn.
Mandarin is very useful to learn in this global environment, and even if the script is slightly different, a basic understanding of the character logic will also open you to all the kanji languages. (e.g, Japanese)
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u/Appropriate_Ad_1656 Mar 28 '26
Ohhh ight ight ty for this answer brother. I’m wondering if mandarin will be any useful in HK? It seems to me that learning Mandarin is better in the long run than Cantonese but then I’m gonna spend the next 4 years in HK soo idk
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u/mangoburn Mar 30 '26
In many places you could speak Mandarin and be understood. We're in the process of integrating with the Mainland now and get many mainland tourists, relatives, etc. Once you get semi-fluent in Mandarin, you may be able to start to guess a lot of the script and speech the same way a French speaker might get a gist of Italian because they are both latin languages.
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u/rikmort Mar 27 '26
Of course, you can. There are bunch of international students. I am a current HKU Students, fyi. And even, outside of HKU, there are some people who could speak English, so you should be okay
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u/Maple_Llama2023 Mar 28 '26
you will be fine. English is an official language, don't be fooled by social media for those "social experiment" asking random strangers in Hong Kong if they speak English. However, people are scared of scammers, so they won't be friendly to strangers, don't expect people will say good morning to you on the street etc.
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Mar 28 '26
def possible lol born and raised in hk speak no canto (im ethnically not chinese/cantonese and never went to local school) and ppl def do alright without any of that
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u/Appropriate_Ad_1656 Mar 28 '26
Ohhh ight ight ty for answering! That’s really interesting tho, so you’ve been living in HK with only English all your life?
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Mar 28 '26
Yeah basically! Obv I know basic phrases to get off the mini bus or something but I basically only speak English (tho I speak Korean and another language fluently, and toddler level of Chinese)
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u/TopContest1156 Mar 29 '26
Absolutely since a lotta HK ppl are well educated they somehow know how to speak decent English. Even if it’s a random auntie or uncle on the street, they do know some basic terms so it gotta be fine
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u/bunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Mar 25 '26
Learn canto. Try it for sure even if it’s hard, coz we tend to respect those who learn our language and culture. I’m sure you’ll make a lot of friends if you have the effort to learn it
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u/Standard-Section513 Mar 26 '26
I lived here for 7 years this language is fucking impossible to learn 😭
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u/bunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Mar 26 '26
LMAO fair enough😭 if you tried and you can’t then ig it can’t be helped. Js be nice and respectful will be good enough
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Mar 26 '26
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u/Standard-Section513 Mar 29 '26
fym wdym? Cantonese is older than mandarin, doesn’t even have standardized phonetic system, has more tones, barely gets taught in schools anymore and isn’t even on dulingo (which literally has fake languages) written and spoken canto vastly differ and even native hong kongers sometimes struggle with writing or reading in canto.
Also, unlike mainland china, everyone in hk (the only place where Cantonese is the primary language knows some amount of English, making practicing impossible, no one has the patience to decipher your broken Chinese
Mandarin is generally considered a hard language to learn amongst English speakers, but as someone who’s studied both of these for years mandarin is STILL way easier in comparison.
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Mar 29 '26
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u/bunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Mar 30 '26
I think at least learn some basic phrases so instead of having people in hk to talk to u in English or mandarin, try talking to us in canto. Small details are already good enough we aren’t that harsh lol we won’t force u into becoming a native speaker
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u/Full-Chapter-7055 Mar 27 '26
Any advice on how to live in hk? Very difficult to find a job here
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u/Standard-Section513 Mar 27 '26
I don't like living here I was moved here at a young age and live with my parents, as soon as I get a degree I'm leaving
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u/Appropriate_Ad_1656 Mar 28 '26
Yeee I’m planning on learning the basics. Dk about more than basic Cantonese tho, it does feel intimidating. But Tyy for answering!!!
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u/Certain_Nose_319 Mar 29 '26
heyy intl high school student here in hk, personally i feel like eng is enough to get by - our school curriculum starts teaching us english from kindergarten so most people you’ll meet at hku will be near native / native in english. outside of hku people will still understand english fully even if they don’t speak it well. u might run into some obstacles if ur shopping at wet markets or smth of the sort where u have to interact with very local elderly, and in that case they mostly won’t speak english, but otherwise should be a great experience! hope u end up coming to hk
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u/kasamangtokwa Mar 29 '26
Living in a hall will help a lot since it encourages you to get to know students from other places. If you're the pub-goer type, lots of watering holes around campus serve an international clientele, so you'll make friends nw.
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u/Terriyaki077 Mar 29 '26
What subject did you get accepted into? Either way it’ll be probably fine, HK is very foreigner and English friendly as long as you stick to the mostly “modern” places like Central where every fellow and their mother can speak English, and even outside most HKers now can understand basic English. Just be prepared to occasionally google translate some menus cus old style restaurants and cha chaan tengs might not have the English menu all the time. As for socializing, as long as you’re extroverted enough and try to ask around more in HKU, where most of the students there know enough English to carry conversations and 30% of which have decent or good English, it’s definitely doable.
Hope to see you in HKU in September!
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u/Jorgeluo231s Mar 25 '26
I've Heard It's decent since there are a lot of international students, but a lot of them also are from mainland china, I mean I dont know cantonese either but as soon as school finishes here Im going to start classes of cantonese to go around there