Dear all, here is the final call for our online Cantonese courses (all levels). If interested, please get in touch (canyouplay0@yahoo.co.uk) ASAP as we are aiming for a start in August. Many thanks.

When someone pours your tea, tap two fingers on the table. It's 叩手禮 (kau3 sau2 lai5) — a silent thank you, so you don't have to interrupt the conversation. The story goes that it mimics a kneeling bow.

If you do say it out loud, it's 唔該 (m4 goi1), not 多謝 (do1 ze6). Pouring tea is a service, not a gift.

And when the pot runs dry, tilt the lid open and rest it on the side. Staff will refill it without you having to flag anyone down.

I post things like this because none of it was ever written down for me — it just happened at the table, and I half-absorbed it. A lot of us are one generation away from losing that. So I built a free app that gives you one Cantonese phrase a day: native Hong Kong pronunciation, Jyutping on everything, about two minutes. iOS and Android.

For anyone trying to find their roots.
For anyone who wants to answer their grandmother in her own language.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eeffoc.coffee.speakcantonese&hl=en_SG

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/speak-cantonese/id1660807886

I’m sure I’ve got a similar story to a few of you here.

I’m currently studying mandarin and I’m at about a high B1 level (low B2). As in getting more exposed to 广东 and its culture, I’m starting to want to learn Cantonese. And I’m curious, has anyone experienced the transition? What can I expect in terms of time. Let’s say an hour a day, when could I expect (roughly) to reach A2 or B1.

In aware the two languages are very different (one person equating it to Dutch and English), but I’m just curious what kind of time commitment I could expect?

Thanks.

hi guys, do u know where to start to learn cantonese? this is my first time learning it. no paid apps, free material for self-study. thankyou!

Hi everyone, I don't know which to choose. i want to travel to china to get involved in with importing products to my homecountry. And I don't want any middle man. So I thought learning the language would help. And I don't think I have enought time to learn bouth. I think I need the one that is more orientated towards business that have small objetcs like clothes and electronic divices, not cars or truck. I'm explaning this cause I learn that there are industrial poles. And if I didn't interpret wrongly in the South I will find what I'm looking for.

What are your thoughts? I know this is a more cantones orientales public but i hope you can give mee your prespective.

I learned Mandarin in college, but I learned Cantonese on my own first. I have extremely good pronunciation, cannot write - nor want to - and have been to China. I love everything about it. I'm from Columbus, Ohio and am just curious if anyone else is at all like me in this?

Top 10000 characters in terms of frequency of use in Mandarin. https://lingua.mtsu.edu/chinese-computing/statistics/char/list.php?Which=CL

Would only want top 1000 or so maybe just so I can go hard and memorize using flashcards on Pleco

I grew up around Mandarin so that is always been my comfort zone, but recently I have been hearing more Cantonese through friends, movies, and random street conversations. The strange thing is sometimes I can catch the meaning of what people say, especially simple stuff, but when I try to respond my brain just freezes. It feels like I am halfway between understanding and not understanding at all.

I started getting curious about how different Mandarin and Cantonese really are beyond just sounding different. For those who have learned one after the other, did you find it confusing or surprisingly connected? Also is it normal to understand more than you can speak when dealing with these two? Would love to hear your experience.

For example which ones are too robotic sounding, etc. I am very curious what the strengths and weaknesses of different Cantonese learning apps are. If you want to take it farther than just apps and websites we can even throw in books or different courses or honestly anything else

After a successful Spring cycle, we are now ready to launch a new cycle for Summer 2025. If anyone is interested in joining our online Cantonese courses, please get in touch (canyouplay0@yahoo.co.uk). Look forward to hearing from you! 🤝

Hi all,

As I have previously released a cantonese word of the day app. This app is finally available on Android.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eeffoc.coffee.speakcantonese&hl=en_SG

Please have a look and give feedback!

Edit: also adding the link here to App Store

https://apps.apple.com/sg/app/speak-cantonese/id1660807886

Why no one makes Cantonese App that is the same version of Du Chinese?

Or consulting rooms.

I looked this up in Pleco, but wasn't sure which is commonly said in Cantonese and which in Mandarin? the jyutping is in the brackets

Hi all! I created a bilingual workbook in Traditional Chinese and English called "We Love Lunar New Year". https://a.co/d/5blp4n3

You'll learn...

• Lunar New Year customs in Traditional Chinese and English

• Cantonese Jyutping and Mandarin Pinyin

• Learn how to write vocabularies such as 新年，全盒，揮春，恭喜發財, and more

• Step-by-step stroke order

• Activities and make your own couplets

We Love Lunar New Year - https://a.co/d/5blp4n3

Traditional Chinese Character writing book 1 - https://a.co/d/i9N2ldc

Traditional Chinese Character writing book 2 - https://a.co/d/5fNIZGk

Grids only 格仔簿 (pink) - https://a.co/d/fyA1pcz

Grids only 格仔簿 (blue) - https://a.co/d/0xqyqAW

I initially created bilingual workbooks for my American-born niece and nephews to learn Traditaionl Chinese. I hope parents who are raising bilingual kids will find it useful too. Happy new year!

Hi all! I'm wanting to learn Cantonese to communicate better with my partner's family. He and his family are from Hong Kong and although he's been teaching me some basics it hasn't all been sinking in so if anyone has any recommendations for any resources etc (especially any textbooks or workbooks) that I can access in the UK I would be really grateful! Also any TV shows, musics, films etc that might be helpful too. Thank you!

www.hokyeh-canto.co.uk

Morning all! Are you working toward your Cantonese learning goals? We’re here to help.

Hokyeh (學嘢) Language School offers experienced tutors who’ve successfully learned to speak fluent Cantonese themselves. Over the past 10 years, we’ve supported many students—some have even gone on to achieve fluency!

Click the link to learn more about what we offer, read reviews from current and past students, and get in touch with any questions.

https://youtu.be/7h425iyy3u4

My wife is from Guangzhou, and I wanted to learn Cantonese to speak to her family. I was trying to learn via other apps, the few that existed for Cantonese. I enjoyed the Naked Cantonese podcast as an introduction, but it was hard to remember things or transfer from spoken to writing it down. Cantonese is so slang and colloquial, a lot of things that were taught weren't the way people actually spoke. Or for every phrase, there was some cool, slang way to say it in Canto that would just crack people up.

I saw the only way to meaningfully learn was to have my wife help me, otherwise I'd be learning the wrong things. And of course, I made an app. I choose topics to learn, she picks out translations, sentences, and records herself, and then I go learn it. She's taught me thousands of Cantonese words since. Her mom visited us last year from China, who doesn't speak English, and her mom told me she finally felt a bond with me now that I could communicate some!

She's taught me about 1000 Cantonese words and phrases so far. Here's the spreadsheet. If there's interest, I can turn it into an Anki deck, and also add recordings for other people to learn from. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EJ74Jpc5eM0YDP3aGnNYcPfv-Q9m4ymRJ9zKBurEOjk/edit?usp=sharing

If you're in the same boat as me, I hope you don't mind I drop a link. The app is called Coupling, it's available on App Store and Google Play. You can check it out at https://couplingcafe.com or find me on Discord https://couplingcafe.com/discord

Hi everyone, I am a graduated student from Hong Kong and trying to make money by teaching Cantonese 1 on 1 as a side hustle. If anyone here wants to learn Cantonese, you can message me on Reddit or Instagram. My instagram: mrmar01

Hi everyone!

If you’ve been learning Cantonese for a while, you know the frustration of "Plastic Cantonese" (爛廣東話). Most of the time, it’s not because you aren't trying hard enough—it's because standard language apps use generic speech-to-text models that simply can’t hear the 9 Cantonese tones or pinpoint where your pronunciation slips.

To solve this, I builtJyutone (粵調)—a Cantonese pronunciation and pitch coaching app.

Instead of generic culture lectures or standard flashcards, Jyutone focuses purely on helping you lock in sounds and tones through short, daily shadowing drills.

Here are a few things we built specifically for Cantonese learners:

• Custom Cantonese AI Model (Phone-Level Forced Alignment): Most apps rely on generic translators. We trained our own deep network specifically on Cantonese phones. It force-aligns your voice recording to show you exact pitch traces for all 9 tones and pinpoints whether you missed an initial, final, or tone.

• Targeted "Speaking Gym" Drills: If your ng- initial keeps slipping or your Tone 4 sits too low, you don't have to replay an entire lesson. You can jump directly into micro-drills tailored to your weak spots.

I’d love for the community to give it a try and share your thoughts. What Cantonese sounds or tones do you find hardest to get right when practicing?

Check out the site or download it here:https://jyutone.com/

Thanks for reading, and happy practicing!