I'm glad to say that it's rare that I run into these types of situations. Typically, people who don't know me will compliment my Cantonese, but they'll do so in Cantonese. I live in Shatin and I often go to Ma On Shan, where very few shop owners speak much English.
Is this woman Cecila Guttman from the Naked Cantonese podcasts? Haha! This is video is so true! I remember when I was trying to catch a taxi and I asked the first guy in English to go to the American school. He told me to go to the next cab. So I tried three more, asking all of them in Cantonese. Finally, the fifth cab driver understood my Cantonese perfectly well and answered in Cantonese. If you don't look Chinese, some people get really flustered when you speak it even if they understand.
I am sorry about your feelings. But remember that English is still one of our official language. and sadly hk ppl still feel awkward to speak in cantonese with a caucasian...
@nnokki then we must try to change it. Cantonese is also an important language and there are still people who love to learn it. So try to to understand the feeling of these people who love our language and just help them to speak it. We must be really happy to have such people eager to learn our Cantonese.
it's stupid to categorize cantonese as a 'chinese dialect'. Mr/Ms felicity you may be you are 'cantonese' or 'chinese' but you understand nothing about your language...P.S. I am hongkonger. BTW even on wikipedia it saids '在語言學分類上，中國學者與及西方学者間存在分歧。在中國國內，大多數漢語方言研究者將粵語作為漢語的一種方言看待，並認為現代漢語是單一語言；另一部分中國國內學者和西方語言學學家則認為粵語是一門獨立的語言。兩者各有其語言學的依据
Your Cantonese is very good! Cantonese isn't easy to learn if you speak Western languages, partially because of all the different tones and the different sounds. Love this video!
Hahaha this is so funny!! I'm about 90% Chinese and I speak cantonese fluently.. but because I have some more "western features" and I'm 5'9", this happens to me all the time too!! lol You speak Cantonese very well :)
by the way. norwegian are one of the friendliest ,most polite and respectful people i ever met in my life. have a good life in hk and keep up with the good work at teachign and learning cantonese!
i believe it is hard to learn for foreigners too. because cantonese is a very colloquial chinese dialect. theres no formal way to express it like mandarin or english.
sorry if you feel offended by it. but thats the way it is!
@captainSpacetravel Cantonese is not a "Chinese dialect" but a language. You don't know whether it's difficult for "foreigners" or not but I do. And it's not.
@Cantocourse Sorry, but Cantonese is a dialect. It follows the same written language as Mandarin, but is spoken very differently. I should know, as I'm Cantonese. Look it up on Wikipedia.
@Felicity1247 I don't care what wikipedia says. Hong Kong and China's Cantonese speaking people follow the same writing *style* as Mandarin, but it's not "same writing, different pronunciation." Or would you say 你而家去邊，靚仔 is exactly the same as 帥哥，你現在去哪裡？ Cantonese is a language.
@Cantocourse OK, let's stop before we engage in a huge YouTube battle. Cantonese is a dialect or a language, depending on which way you look at it. Whichever it is, it's a fun language. Agreed?
@Felicity1247 being a speaker of a language and understanding that language are two entirely different things. ask a native english speaker to explain anything at all about english's history or inner workings, and most will embarrassedly stare at you with wide eyes. hell, i'd be surprised if there were many english speakers that knew most of our words come from latin and french!
@Felicity1247 furthermore, the issue of "dialect" or "language" is entirely political. would you call Urdu a language? or do you regard it as the same thing as Hindi, but with a different writing system?
I also hate it when I get replies in English when speaking Cantonese in Hong Kong... except for that one time in a taxi. The driver seemed to be in a bad mood and was speaking to me in Cantonese really fast. My Cantonese sucks so I just said 係呀，係呀！
I can understand this type of situation. My ABC friends and I never speak to each other in Chinese, that would be weird. So we just speak to each other in English, just to make it easier.
In my point of view, language is a magnificent expression, connection of human being. Frankly, I'd like the way you talk in Cantonese, cause you are really bring up the way of the Cantonese speaking spirit! If i could see you someday, I would like to talk to you long enough!
I think the reason why the native Hong kong people really want a English speaking teacher to talk about! On the other hand, during the time, China take over Hong Kong, more Cantonese are learning Mandarin as a survival skill!
if you don't plan on seeing the person again just say that you are german or french and you can't speak english. then they are forced to use cantonese.
I mean, Cantonese people weren't born with the aptitude to speak the English language; they have to learn it step by step, little by little in order to improve. What or who is stopping you from learning Cantonese? No one. What you are doing is awesome. If I ever get the chance to bump into a foreigner that wants to speak Cantonese, I'd do so in a heartbeat.
First off, your Cantonese is amazingly good for a foreigner! You should be very proud of yourself for taking up the challenge of learning a very challenging language. I don't mean to be picky/rude, but your accent and pace of speech is a little off/slower and sometimes hearing this, people may assume that you are just "勉強講廣東話" and would naturally reply in English. Again, I would say that this is a very small percentage of HK people. Just keep it up!
I have spoken with many hong Kong people regarding this matter. Most said they mean no offence when they reply in english, they only wish to impress you or simply to practice their english. Of course there are those who don't like outsiders learning cantonese, however these people tend to be a small percentage. I think its best to take it with a grain of salt and persevere. 加油!!! The video is rather funny though.
hahahhahaa I LOVE ITTTTTTTTTT.l people need to settle down! don't stop what you are doing!!!!!! you make learning Cantonese so fun! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
I think this is kinda exaggerated, but I get her point and it is true to a certain extent. Just one skit may have been better; too many skits will piss the cantos off. Also, if someones canto aint real good, the chances are the locals will speak back in English. Learn that Canto well and you will have less of this.
It's true "to a certain extent"? Try living in Hong Kong as a whitey for 20 years and you'll see it's very true and not exaggerated at all.
It's also meant to be a little bit funny? Not a scientific paper. It's all based on my own experiences but you're right; now that my Cantonese is better, there is indeed less of this. Less, But it still goes on every day of the week. I can have long conversations in Canto with people who suddenly start speaking English because they think I can't understand.
@Wenhuaman Or if you're in the mainland, they'll speak back in Mandarin, which makes it INCREDIBLY annoying! What she is showing here is true most of the time. Once I continue to speak back in Cantonese and show them that my Cantonese is pretty good, then they switch over and we can get somewhere in Cantonese!
I think my Japanese is probably as good as your cantonese. This reminds me of when I first went to tokyo my japanese was terrible and everybody replied to me in english - not at all now though - no one really replies to me in english if i speak japanese first. though i still do get people that are just like absolute robots and think white face = must speak english. I usually just laugh just tell them then that I don't speak english or just pretend not to understand
Charming! "Fuck back to america" - I think you left out the word "off", old boy. But then again you don't need any "fucking white foreign guia lo's" to tell you about the English language, do you? You can just make up your own - and do! But I must take exception (sorry, more than one syllable there, but you can always look it up online) to the word "old." I'm not old, an offensive word, merely someone whose ancestors were matched up slightly prior to yours. Voluntarily.
Now that we've got the "old" slur out of the way, let's deal with "fat." Yes, I admit it! I weigh more than 40 kilos.
"Foreigner" - so true. You are perceptive. "Ugly" - that is clearly a problem. Give me some beauty advice, o sage.
"Chinese wannabe." Right again! All I want is to be Chinese and live in China where there's no YouTube."Bitch" - a female dog? Now you're insulting my dog and I can't stand for that. Nobody insults my dog. Nobody!!!
Oh my f*cking god! Shut the fuck up! I'm Cantonese and I find this rather interesting. Does it seem as though she speaking Cantonese or any Asian language as being a sin? Why is she stupid? Why is she a bitch? Do you know her in person? Why does she have to die? What the fuck is wrong with you!?
It seems that My Suicide Valentine has removed her own comment. Yes, it is a she. A pity, as I thought she did such a good job of digging her own grave.
I think the video speak the phenomena right but it was non-sense as well. if the westerners speak Cantonese as good as her there's no way locals would speak Chinglish to her. i hate it when people milk things like this, just totally stupid.
Oh you do, do you? Well I speak Cantonese as well as that, being the Norwegian in the film, and believe me, I have locals answering me in English every single day of the year. That's why I made the film.
When I ask them in Cantonese why they answer me in English, they say "I was afraid you wouldn't understand." Yes! They are exactly that patronising.
if you speak to people in the bar or friends, i think they should try to speak Cantonese to you too and I usually do it when someone try to speak Cantonese with me. BUT! I totally understand why people in the resturant or taxi have to try to speak EngRish even you were trying to speak Canto - BECAUSE they are WORKING and doesn't want anything goes wrong. as good as your canto is an exceptional case.
2) but normally if the westerners is just a beginner and doesn't pronounce things very accurate they have to make sure if you are really order the food you wants, otherwise they got blame. I used to work as a waitress when I was 16 and waiters have experienced that people order the wrong food and they got blame. you see the problem I'm talking about?
3) It is not just HK, it happens to my Thai friend in Thailand too. the Brit wanted to order in Thai and his Thai GF found he prononce thing wrong and he won't listen. so she just shut up. He then order the wrong food. you see I totally understand how stupid for local laugh at people trying to speak Canto with them, but I also see the problem why they have to make sure it in English. I am not being mean, as most of my friends are not HKese.
of course not. but then if people wants to be an arse just ignore them.
Your Cantonese is VERY good and those who reply you in English when you speak Canto are just stupid. Just I see people who can speak SOME Cantonese only post this on their facebook to generalized every locals are responding EngRish to fluent non-Cantonese speakers and it get to my nerve.
learn in the class and practice with friends. at least this is how I learn English. I'm not saying you are wrong, but to be fair people who working in restaurant and taxi etc want to make sure what the customers really want - u just can't blame them. I know there are local who want to show off their English and wont speak canto, and of course that's stupid. I'm just standing in the middle to c the whole fact. I believe you spent time to learn Cantonese and live in HK would also understand it :)
I didn't really understand this post but I still got your point, hopefully.
But I don't think it's that the people are "stupid" to think that she can't speak Cantonese, or speak it well. But they just don't want to get into the argument or fuss. So they just assume that she knows English well, which I believe she does. So they speak in the language that is considered to be the INTERNATIONAL language. (:
Yes, yes. I'm aware of all the reasons why HK people think it's better for them to speak English than their own language with someone who is speaking their own language in their own hometown.
I never said the Chinese were stupid, by the way. But no matter what, I think it's only polite, especially seeing how HK people think Canto is "the most difficult language in the world" to give the person who's gone through the rigmarole of learning it, a little bit of face.
I didn't really understand this post but I still got your point, hopefully.
But I don't think it's that the people are "stupid" to think that she can't speak Cantonese, or speak it well. But they just don't want to get into the argument or fuss. So they just assume that she knows English well, which I believe she does. So they speak in the language that is considered to be the INTERNATIONAL language. (:
The irony of this video is that the woman's own countrymen, Norwegians, are very bad about answering would be students of their language in English. Quite a few points in the video translate across pretty directly-- "You don't need your language. It's hard for foreigners. You can just speak English." etc...
Speaking English is a point of pride for a certain kind of person, and that kind of person exists in a lot of countries. I've never run into a Spanish speaking place like that, though.
I believe Cantonese is difficult to learn, but it doesn't mean anything to stop learning it. Those people answered to you thinks they are kind to you. It's essential to learn Cantonese, because more mainland low education comes, and they don't speak well cantonese, either English. Go to New Terrorities, you will know what happened.
Speak English in Hong Kong Island and tourist visiting place will only make you feel the same. Because HK ppl are "kind"...!
i can see that it is very frustrating for foreigners to learn Cantonese in HK,i guess it's because English is still a predominant language,people perceive speaking an foreign language as something superior and answering an foreigner in Canto makes them look stupid,or they simply wanna redeem themselves by showing they can manage to speak/understand 2 languages at the same time
This discussion will go on and on as long as there are Chinese people and whitey trying to learn Cantonese. Because I never have this problem on the mainland. Ten minutes ago I had the same old argument with a taxi-driver "Cantonese is so difficult for foreigners" ... in Cantonese. It's brain washing; programming. White face can't learn Cantonese - it's set in stone and nothing can change the programming. It's not rude I think, but just as damned irritating!
hey Cecilie I think your videos are funny! As you may have already figured, most of the people who insisted on replying in English even if you spoke Cantonese to them did not meant to be rude or anything. It's just HKers really do not expect foreigners to speak Cantonese and we often feel lowly of our language because of historical and political reasons. But I'm very glad to see more foreigners are interested in learning the language now :)
My wife was born in Hong Kong, and every time I play your videos she is amazed how well you speak Cantonese. You speak it better and more naturally than she does :D
these videos make me homesick for hk....keep 'em coming.
these videos are excellent for learning cantonese if you already know the basics. your diction is very clear and you say it slowso we can understand... so thank you... or "dorh je."
I also have been wanting to learn cantonese for a long time because it is what my family speaks to which their response is, "learn mandarin, cantonese is useful". How is it pointless to learn the language of the culture I'm surrounded by?!
thankyou so much for this! I had the exact same reaction to why I wanted to learn/why I can speak swedish, "but we all speak english anyway". Needless to say, I went to Sweden last month and managed just fine and not everyone spoke english at all!
Support our mother language ! Don't let the PRC government destroy the real Chinese Language.
bradcto 1 month ago
I'm glad to say that it's rare that I run into these types of situations. Typically, people who don't know me will compliment my Cantonese, but they'll do so in Cantonese. I live in Shatin and I often go to Ma On Shan, where very few shop owners speak much English.
EliteOfTheRad 1 month ago
Is this woman Cecila Guttman from the Naked Cantonese podcasts? Haha! This is video is so true! I remember when I was trying to catch a taxi and I asked the first guy in English to go to the American school. He told me to go to the next cab. So I tried three more, asking all of them in Cantonese. Finally, the fifth cab driver understood my Cantonese perfectly well and answered in Cantonese. If you don't look Chinese, some people get really flustered when you speak it even if they understand.
miriams76 2 months ago
@miriams76 Hallo! Cecilie Gamst Berg, but close! It is I.
Cantocourse 2 months ago
to cantocourse:
I am sorry about your feelings. But remember that English is still one of our official language. and sadly hk ppl still feel awkward to speak in cantonese with a caucasian...
nnokki 3 months ago
@nnokki then we must try to change it. Cantonese is also an important language and there are still people who love to learn it. So try to to understand the feeling of these people who love our language and just help them to speak it. We must be really happy to have such people eager to learn our Cantonese.
SaieyOrZoiying 3 months ago
it's stupid to categorize cantonese as a 'chinese dialect'. Mr/Ms felicity you may be you are 'cantonese' or 'chinese' but you understand nothing about your language...P.S. I am hongkonger. BTW even on wikipedia it saids '在語言學分類上，中國學者與及西方学者間存在分歧。在中國國內，大多數漢語方言研究者將粵語作為漢語的一種方言看待，並認為現代漢語是單一語言；另一部分中國國內學者和西方語言學學家則認為粵語是一門獨立的語言。兩者各有其語言學的依据
nnokki 3 months ago
Your Cantonese is very good! Cantonese isn't easy to learn if you speak Western languages, partially because of all the different tones and the different sounds. Love this video!
Felicity1247 8 months ago
Just say you're not American and don't understand English! I do this when needed and it makes people stop speaking English very quickly.
bokualec 1 year ago 2
your accent is great ^_^! Lol I mean I can understanding it sooo casually xD
oishiininja 1 year ago
:D
chenlung1 1 year ago
Hahaha this is so funny!! I'm about 90% Chinese and I speak cantonese fluently.. but because I have some more "western features" and I'm 5'9", this happens to me all the time too!! lol You speak Cantonese very well :)
duchasheiress 1 year ago
by the way. norwegian are one of the friendliest ,most polite and respectful people i ever met in my life. have a good life in hk and keep up with the good work at teachign and learning cantonese!
captainSpacetravel 1 year ago
i believe it is hard to learn for foreigners too. because cantonese is a very colloquial chinese dialect. theres no formal way to express it like mandarin or english.
sorry if you feel offended by it. but thats the way it is!
captainSpacetravel 1 year ago
@captainSpacetravel Cantonese is not a "Chinese dialect" but a language. You don't know whether it's difficult for "foreigners" or not but I do. And it's not.
Cantocourse 1 year ago
@Cantocourse Sorry, but Cantonese is a dialect. It follows the same written language as Mandarin, but is spoken very differently. I should know, as I'm Cantonese. Look it up on Wikipedia.
Felicity1247 8 months ago
@Felicity1247 I don't care what wikipedia says. Hong Kong and China's Cantonese speaking people follow the same writing *style* as Mandarin, but it's not "same writing, different pronunciation." Or would you say 你而家去邊，靚仔 is exactly the same as 帥哥，你現在去哪裡？ Cantonese is a language.
Cantocourse 8 months ago 4
@Cantocourse OK, let's stop before we engage in a huge YouTube battle. Cantonese is a dialect or a language, depending on which way you look at it. Whichever it is, it's a fun language. Agreed?
Felicity1247 8 months ago
@Cantocourse Thanks so much for supporting our "LANGUAGE". Indeed it is Cantonese a language but it is not derived from ancient chinese?
SaieyOrZoiying 3 months ago
@Felicity1247 being a speaker of a language and understanding that language are two entirely different things. ask a native english speaker to explain anything at all about english's history or inner workings, and most will embarrassedly stare at you with wide eyes. hell, i'd be surprised if there were many english speakers that knew most of our words come from latin and french!
EliteOfTheRad 1 month ago
@Felicity1247 furthermore, the issue of "dialect" or "language" is entirely political. would you call Urdu a language? or do you regard it as the same thing as Hindi, but with a different writing system?
EliteOfTheRad 1 month ago
2:02 the guy with the hat and the lady look so confused you can speak canto so well!! hahaha
HanQ 1 year ago
@HanQ I encounter a lot of confusion in my daily life.
Cantocourse 1 year ago
@Cantocourse how long did it take you to learn?
HanQ 1 year ago
@HanQ About a year. Depends on what you mean by "learn"
Cantocourse 1 year ago
Cantonese > Mandarin. At least in San Francisco.
Japcat21 1 year ago
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1 second ago
I also hate it when I get replies in English when speaking Cantonese in Hong Kong... except for that one time in a taxi. The driver seemed to be in a bad mood and was speaking to me in Cantonese really fast. My Cantonese sucks so I just said 係呀，係呀！
nicknc 1 year ago
Comment removed
nicknc 1 year ago
lol you are funny!!!
weiwei6969 1 year ago
Speak to me then, If no one speaks Cantonese with you.
( Oops I spoke in English ... lol)
kuraku10 1 year ago
Oh, it's the Norwegian, lady.... i love her!!!
djonutube 1 year ago
I can understand this type of situation. My ABC friends and I never speak to each other in Chinese, that would be weird. So we just speak to each other in English, just to make it easier.
kryptonite747 1 year ago
The part I can't stand is when they say to learn Mandarin! Why should you bother learning Mandarin in Hong Kong?
NYC300Z 1 year ago
The part I can't stand is when they say learn Mandarin. Why should you bother learning Mandarin in Hong Kong?
NYC300Z 1 year ago
哈哈。很笑，都是真的！
shont2006 1 year ago
Maybe it's the HK attitude, because even though I could look local, I get replies in Mandarin and English too. Quite frustrating.
bitterlysweetlywtd 2 years ago
In my point of view, language is a magnificent expression, connection of human being. Frankly, I'd like the way you talk in Cantonese, cause you are really bring up the way of the Cantonese speaking spirit! If i could see you someday, I would like to talk to you long enough!
kj336632 2 years ago
I think the reason why the native Hong kong people really want a English speaking teacher to talk about! On the other hand, during the time, China take over Hong Kong, more Cantonese are learning Mandarin as a survival skill!
kj336632 2 years ago
if you don't plan on seeing the person again just say that you are german or french and you can't speak english. then they are forced to use cantonese.
Kiyotaka25 2 years ago
I mean, Cantonese people weren't born with the aptitude to speak the English language; they have to learn it step by step, little by little in order to improve. What or who is stopping you from learning Cantonese? No one. What you are doing is awesome. If I ever get the chance to bump into a foreigner that wants to speak Cantonese, I'd do so in a heartbeat.
roboticjesus 2 years ago
First off, your Cantonese is amazingly good for a foreigner! You should be very proud of yourself for taking up the challenge of learning a very challenging language. I don't mean to be picky/rude, but your accent and pace of speech is a little off/slower and sometimes hearing this, people may assume that you are just "勉強講廣東話" and would naturally reply in English. Again, I would say that this is a very small percentage of HK people. Just keep it up!
hkm91450 2 years ago
I have spoken with many hong Kong people regarding this matter. Most said they mean no offence when they reply in english, they only wish to impress you or simply to practice their english. Of course there are those who don't like outsiders learning cantonese, however these people tend to be a small percentage. I think its best to take it with a grain of salt and persevere. 加油!!! The video is rather funny though.
SiuLuhng1 2 years ago
hahahhahaa I LOVE ITTTTTTTTTT.l people need to settle down! don't stop what you are doing!!!!!! you make learning Cantonese so fun! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!
itr1078 2 years ago
I think this is kinda exaggerated, but I get her point and it is true to a certain extent. Just one skit may have been better; too many skits will piss the cantos off. Also, if someones canto aint real good, the chances are the locals will speak back in English. Learn that Canto well and you will have less of this.
Wenhuaman 2 years ago
It's true "to a certain extent"? Try living in Hong Kong as a whitey for 20 years and you'll see it's very true and not exaggerated at all.
It's also meant to be a little bit funny? Not a scientific paper. It's all based on my own experiences but you're right; now that my Cantonese is better, there is indeed less of this. Less, But it still goes on every day of the week. I can have long conversations in Canto with people who suddenly start speaking English because they think I can't understand.
Cantocourse 2 years ago
@Wenhuaman Or if you're in the mainland, they'll speak back in Mandarin, which makes it INCREDIBLY annoying! What she is showing here is true most of the time. Once I continue to speak back in Cantonese and show them that my Cantonese is pretty good, then they switch over and we can get somewhere in Cantonese!
montblanctins 1 year ago
@montblanctins
Macau is your best Cantonese learning friend!
bweedin 1 year ago
I think my Japanese is probably as good as your cantonese. This reminds me of when I first went to tokyo my japanese was terrible and everybody replied to me in english - not at all now though - no one really replies to me in english if i speak japanese first. though i still do get people that are just like absolute robots and think white face = must speak english. I usually just laugh just tell them then that I don't speak english or just pretend not to understand
james989 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
fucking white foreign guia lo's should just stfu, give up, and fuck back to america. they dont belong no where near asia.
stupid old bitch, i hope she really does die. fucking chinese-wannabe bitch
MySuicideValentinexX 2 years ago
Charming! "Fuck back to america" - I think you left out the word "off", old boy. But then again you don't need any "fucking white foreign guia lo's" to tell you about the English language, do you? You can just make up your own - and do! But I must take exception (sorry, more than one syllable there, but you can always look it up online) to the word "old." I'm not old, an offensive word, merely someone whose ancestors were matched up slightly prior to yours. Voluntarily.
Cantocourse 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
hahaha, go kill yourself you fat, ugly, chinese-wannabe bitch. fucking white people these days :/
MySuicideValentinexX 2 years ago
You're so literate. You should write a book.
Now that we've got the "old" slur out of the way, let's deal with "fat." Yes, I admit it! I weigh more than 40 kilos.
"Foreigner" - so true. You are perceptive. "Ugly" - that is clearly a problem. Give me some beauty advice, o sage.
"Chinese wannabe." Right again! All I want is to be Chinese and live in China where there's no YouTube."Bitch" - a female dog? Now you're insulting my dog and I can't stand for that. Nobody insults my dog. Nobody!!!
Cantocourse 2 years ago
Oh my f*cking god! Shut the fuck up! I'm Cantonese and I find this rather interesting. Does it seem as though she speaking Cantonese or any Asian language as being a sin? Why is she stupid? Why is she a bitch? Do you know her in person? Why does she have to die? What the fuck is wrong with you!?
yondaime297 2 years ago
It seems that My Suicide Valentine has removed her own comment. Yes, it is a she. A pity, as I thought she did such a good job of digging her own grave.
Cantocourse 2 years ago
I think the video speak the phenomena right but it was non-sense as well. if the westerners speak Cantonese as good as her there's no way locals would speak Chinglish to her. i hate it when people milk things like this, just totally stupid.
ladykylie 2 years ago
Oh you do, do you? Well I speak Cantonese as well as that, being the Norwegian in the film, and believe me, I have locals answering me in English every single day of the year. That's why I made the film.
When I ask them in Cantonese why they answer me in English, they say "I was afraid you wouldn't understand." Yes! They are exactly that patronising.
Cantocourse 2 years ago
so you are the lady in the film.
if you speak to people in the bar or friends, i think they should try to speak Cantonese to you too and I usually do it when someone try to speak Cantonese with me. BUT! I totally understand why people in the resturant or taxi have to try to speak EngRish even you were trying to speak Canto - BECAUSE they are WORKING and doesn't want anything goes wrong. as good as your canto is an exceptional case.
ladykylie 2 years ago
2) but normally if the westerners is just a beginner and doesn't pronounce things very accurate they have to make sure if you are really order the food you wants, otherwise they got blame. I used to work as a waitress when I was 16 and waiters have experienced that people order the wrong food and they got blame. you see the problem I'm talking about?
ladykylie 2 years ago
3) It is not just HK, it happens to my Thai friend in Thailand too. the Brit wanted to order in Thai and his Thai GF found he prononce thing wrong and he won't listen. so she just shut up. He then order the wrong food. you see I totally understand how stupid for local laugh at people trying to speak Canto with them, but I also see the problem why they have to make sure it in English. I am not being mean, as most of my friends are not HKese.
ladykylie 2 years ago
They are patronising and overbearing and it would never happen anywhere else.
Cantocourse 2 years ago
of course not. but then if people wants to be an arse just ignore them.
Your Cantonese is VERY good and those who reply you in English when you speak Canto are just stupid. Just I see people who can speak SOME Cantonese only post this on their facebook to generalized every locals are responding EngRish to fluent non-Cantonese speakers and it get to my nerve.
ladykylie 2 years ago
Well how do you think I learnt Cantonese?
Cantocourse 2 years ago
learn in the class and practice with friends. at least this is how I learn English. I'm not saying you are wrong, but to be fair people who working in restaurant and taxi etc want to make sure what the customers really want - u just can't blame them. I know there are local who want to show off their English and wont speak canto, and of course that's stupid. I'm just standing in the middle to c the whole fact. I believe you spent time to learn Cantonese and live in HK would also understand it :)
ladykylie 2 years ago
I didn't really understand this post but I still got your point, hopefully.
But I don't think it's that the people are "stupid" to think that she can't speak Cantonese, or speak it well. But they just don't want to get into the argument or fuss. So they just assume that she knows English well, which I believe she does. So they speak in the language that is considered to be the INTERNATIONAL language. (:
yondaime297 2 years ago
Yes, yes. I'm aware of all the reasons why HK people think it's better for them to speak English than their own language with someone who is speaking their own language in their own hometown.
I never said the Chinese were stupid, by the way. But no matter what, I think it's only polite, especially seeing how HK people think Canto is "the most difficult language in the world" to give the person who's gone through the rigmarole of learning it, a little bit of face.
Cantocourse 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I didn't really understand this post but I still got your point, hopefully.
But I don't think it's that the people are "stupid" to think that she can't speak Cantonese, or speak it well. But they just don't want to get into the argument or fuss. So they just assume that she knows English well, which I believe she does. So they speak in the language that is considered to be the INTERNATIONAL language. (:
yondaime297 2 years ago
Thank you so much！ 是但吖！我 beyond caring 中文點講吖？
Cantocourse 2 years ago
我 beyond caring = I don't care???
"我唔理啦！"或者 "我話知佢啦！" :D
vcchlw 2 years ago
好好笑
Funniest vid ever!
啊，唔覺意講咗英文 :P
vcchlw 2 years ago
This sort of thing happen to me on a daily basis! Great video!
wnee1 2 years ago
The irony of this video is that the woman's own countrymen, Norwegians, are very bad about answering would be students of their language in English. Quite a few points in the video translate across pretty directly-- "You don't need your language. It's hard for foreigners. You can just speak English." etc...
Speaking English is a point of pride for a certain kind of person, and that kind of person exists in a lot of countries. I've never run into a Spanish speaking place like that, though.
xiaoma 2 years ago
I believe Cantonese is difficult to learn, but it doesn't mean anything to stop learning it. Those people answered to you thinks they are kind to you. It's essential to learn Cantonese, because more mainland low education comes, and they don't speak well cantonese, either English. Go to New Terrorities, you will know what happened.
Speak English in Hong Kong Island and tourist visiting place will only make you feel the same. Because HK ppl are "kind"...!
nikitaami 2 years ago
i can see that it is very frustrating for foreigners to learn Cantonese in HK,i guess it's because English is still a predominant language,people perceive speaking an foreign language as something superior and answering an foreigner in Canto makes them look stupid,or they simply wanna redeem themselves by showing they can manage to speak/understand 2 languages at the same time
jeremynobigdeal 2 years ago
Really amusing video Cecilie. You are doing a great job promoting the wonderful language, Cantonese. Chris Lee plays a mean bagpipe by the way.
Best wishes,
Neil Murray (Cantonese learner)
namurray 2 years ago
No Lamgua. It's because they have contempt for non-Chinese who they think are too ignorant to speak the civilised language. It's impossibly rude
eddy2001l 2 years ago
This discussion will go on and on as long as there are Chinese people and whitey trying to learn Cantonese. Because I never have this problem on the mainland. Ten minutes ago I had the same old argument with a taxi-driver "Cantonese is so difficult for foreigners" ... in Cantonese. It's brain washing; programming. White face can't learn Cantonese - it's set in stone and nothing can change the programming. It's not rude I think, but just as damned irritating!
Cantocourse 2 years ago
I stick to my guns on this one. Love to tell you more but there doesn't seem to be room. Do you have an email?
Cheers. Love your stuff
eddy2001l 2 years ago
hey Cecilie I think your videos are funny! As you may have already figured, most of the people who insisted on replying in English even if you spoke Cantonese to them did not meant to be rude or anything. It's just HKers really do not expect foreigners to speak Cantonese and we often feel lowly of our language because of historical and political reasons. But I'm very glad to see more foreigners are interested in learning the language now :)
Lamgua 2 years ago
great videos.thanks for sharing.your cantonese is great..cheers.......ken
moonlighting44 2 years ago
My wife was born in Hong Kong, and every time I play your videos she is amazed how well you speak Cantonese. You speak it better and more naturally than she does :D
chingwa123 2 years ago
Seriously though, It's very very extremely rude not to reply in the same language. I'll never do that to a foreigner aka. 鬼佬/妹 lol
Mokonamon 2 years ago
and If i were you, I would have bitch slapped the taxi driver and jumped off his car immediately
Mokonamon 2 years ago
Welcome to my life! For 20 years ...
Cantocourse 2 years ago
this video is good..it improves my cantonese...even i dont know how to write
saraswed79 2 years ago
these videos make me homesick for hk....keep 'em coming.
these videos are excellent for learning cantonese if you already know the basics. your diction is very clear and you say it slowso we can understand... so thank you... or "dorh je."
raining69 2 years ago
Thank you, I'll do my best. Now there's just that day job to contend with ...
Cantocourse 2 years ago
"cantonese is pointless" that was meant to say
nimuroji 2 years ago
I also have been wanting to learn cantonese for a long time because it is what my family speaks to which their response is, "learn mandarin, cantonese is useful". How is it pointless to learn the language of the culture I'm surrounded by?!
nimuroji 2 years ago
thankyou so much for this! I had the exact same reaction to why I wanted to learn/why I can speak swedish, "but we all speak english anyway". Needless to say, I went to Sweden last month and managed just fine and not everyone spoke english at all!
nimuroji 2 years ago
hahah great!
TezmondUSD 2 years ago
我真係覺得, 哩兩個視頻係你最精彩嘅廣東話視頻之一. 加油呀!
usefulestguy 2 years ago
謝謝哥們
Cantocourse 2 years ago
哎哟，你有冇搞錯呀！你一直怨緊邊個都唔願意同你講廣東話，但重用普通話答我。大感失望！
usefulestguy 2 years ago
我以為你係大陸佬吖嘛
Cantocourse 2 years ago
我係唔係大陸佬同哩件事毫無關係呀! 大陸人亦都有權利用廣東話吖嘛!
usefulestguy 2 years ago
係呀係呀。 冇錯。
Cantocourse 2 years ago
Never give up and pretend you don't speak English, basically.
Cantocourse 2 years ago