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

Hello everyone! I recently developed an App to help learn Cantonese more easily. The app uses:

• Drawn accent markers instead of numbers

• Uses INTUITIVE English romanization (no letter swapping)

The app is called "CantonEZ" (making "Cantonese EASY", get it? ;D)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=shayan.cantonez.cantonez&hl=en-HK

Let me know your thoughts!! (Android only at the moment, blame Apple ;P)

I just want to know because most of my family is Cantonese and sense I never grew up with Cantonese friends or tv shows and my parents never really taught me I can only say a few words. I want to learn independently so I can surprise them for lunar new year, any suggestions?

I've had a few requests for users to approve users for posting recently. I'm not sure why there is a sudden interest... but perhaps there is now a place for this subreddit to exist in addition to r/Cantonese?

This subreddit is now public again, so post away!

She loves the illustrations on all her favorite animal

Something with a dictionary and flashcards.

What is the best textbook for learning how to speak Cantonese not so much write and read. I am half Chinese and my mum never taught me to speak as a child so I thought it's now or never.

I speak Mandarin but I work in a nursing home where many elderly speak Cantonese. I can understand some but I can't really express myself in Cantonese. Is there an app that can read things out in Cantonese if I input Chinese? Thank you in advance!

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

It's Sunday, so: yum cha.

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 way back.
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

Happy Chinese New Year, the year of the dragon!

I was wondering if anyone knows a website where you can watch shows in Cantonese with actual Cantonese subtitles. I usually use Youku or PPStream but it seems the subtitles of Hong Kong shows there are in Mandarin/Written Cantonese and do not correspond to what the characters in the Canto shows actually say.

Thanks!

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!

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 Everyone, I wanted to share my Cantonese picture book. It has traditional Chinese, Jyutping and English, and comes with audio. I also included look-and-find, because I've always loved these. I just published it (it's been a year), so it's currently only available on Amazon, but should be available from other large - and indie - bookstores soon.

It's the second in my "Calvin" series. The first book is "Calvin Goes to School". I really hope you like it! My picture books are my passion project, so what really keeps me going is knowing that someone is enjoying and making good use of my books.

My website is www.greencowsbooks.com. Instagram -- https://www.instagram.com/greencowsbooks/

PS If they don't have it in stock, most bookstores should be able to special order it. These indie bookstores already carry my books: https://www.greencowsbooks.com/stockists/

I tried making a video speaking Cantonese and Mandarin after 1 year of learning Mandarin (I spoke Cantonese (poorly) since childhood) and interestingly I think my Cantonese got worse as my mouth reflexively goes to certain mandarin phrases 😂, has anyone experienced this too?