The Fastest Route To Linguistic Proficiency EVER
I’ve just come back from a weekend in inner Guangdong province, cradle of Cantonese language and culture, with the above delightful couple, Ah Laan and Ah Gei. I knew they would like the funky and →
You Saw It Here First:
You know how Christmas comes earlier every year? Well, we here in Happy Jellyfish People’s Democratic Language Bureau have beaten off the competition by starting Christmas and the story behind it IN JANUARY! By the →
Today’s Classifier：間
一間茶餐廳 “Yat Gan Cha Chanteng” – One Room of Tea Restaurant. “Gan” 間 is the classifier for buildings and rooms, as in 一間廁所 “Yat Gan Chi So” (One Room of Toilet) – A Toilet, 一間酒店 “Yat →
A Victory
I just have to post this comment from one of my students, ah Laan, here. She, as well as I and everybody who’d ever attempted to take on the Canto, has fought through being answered →
Today’s Classifier
Repeat after me: YAT JEK GAU 一隻狗 ONE DOG That’s right! “Jek” (隻) is the classifier for mammals, things of which there are two (一隻眼睛）yat jek an jeng (one eye), round things, so an eye →
Living The Vida Canto
Every Wednesday I meet these two delightful women, Ah Bek and Ah Wai, plus three others, in a Jau Lau （酒樓，Chinese restaurant) for tea, dim sam and Canto. All the waiters and waitresses love us! →
Learn Chinese Characters Without Really Trying
This is ah-Fa, one of my long-term Cantonese students. You see that piece of paper she’s reading? I wrote that the same morning and emailed it to her. Out of all those Chinese characters, there →
2010 – The Year Of The Canto
Perhaps you’ve made some new year resolutions this year, and broken them already. Here is one that won’t hurt, but on the contrary will enrich you no end for the decades to come: Decide that →
Now I Know How Mothers Feel …
… when their children take their first steps etc. Intense pride! And laughing their heads off. At least I did. This is Kelly, aka Ah-Gei, who has been learning Cantonese for a few weeks. Bloody →
Learn Cantonese – Then Sit Back And Wait For The English
I’ve made a film about my experiences during 20 years of learning Cantonese. Cantonese is a really easy language to learn (contrary to people’s deep-held, sacred beliefs) – it’s just that it’s so damned difficult →