So, you want to learn Cantonese and/or other languages, do you? Cantonese is one of the most difficult languages to learn according to the FSI (Foreign Service Institute), according to them, it takes 2200 hours to learn a language like Cantonese. For language learning in general, this seems to be an impossible feat, or does it? Other languages placed in other tiers may take less time for learn for English native speakers (see the above link).
Specific to Cantonese:
This is for native English speakers learning Cantonese so if your native language is closer to Cantonese, such as if you know Japanese then learning Cantonese will be a lot easier.
However, I wanted to start by discussing that Cantonese is a tonal language and it is said that Cantonese has either six or nine tones. In the Jyutping romanisation system, all the tones of the Cantonese language can be split into six tones.
Unfortunately, since it is a tonal language, you cannot forego or do without the tones. Each word can be pronounced with 6 different tones and with each tone comes a different word.
For example, 嗰個 (go2 go3) means that one whilst 哥哥 (go1 go1) means older brother. Of course, context can play a role in this but to be completely accurate the tones are very important.
The 4 skills of languages are reading, writing, listening & speaking. To learn Chinese Cantonese well it is highly recommended to pick up Chinese characters as well. Unfortunately, there isn’t a shortcut to learning how to read and write these characters except repeatedly writing out the characters, spending time exposed to these characters through reading and writing them is the best way.
However, learning the 214 radicals or even the most common radicals will go a long way as all possible Chinese characters can be formed with these radicals.
As well as these 4 skills of languages will all indirectly help each other. For example, a lot of reading will help your speaking, especially with your use of grammar and vocabulary in speech. So picking up the writing system of any language is recommended. However, in Chinese there isn’t an alphabet, so to a lot of people, learning the Chinese writing system can be more tricky.
Tips that can apply to any language:
As an absolute beginner, I recommend following a course of some sort to have a good grasp of the fundamentals of a language. A good textbook or website with a structured Cantonese course would work well. An example of this is the Complete Cantonese textbook or the website CantoneseClass101.com (this website I’ve used personally and have had great results with).
Active study is very important in the early stages of learning a language. Once you reach the Intermediate level in a language or beyond, exposure to the language becomes increasingly important and you will be able to learn more from Cantonese content.
As such you can start immersing yourself in the target language at the intermediate level. This means that you will be able to enjoy TV shows and music in the language, and various other forms of media and eventually when you are at the advanced level this becomes one of the best ways to learn a language.
The most important thing however is that language learning is a marathon, not a sprint so a pace that is reasonable and not too intense is required so that there’s no risk of burning out.
However, it is equally important to make language learning a habit and to do it regularly so that it becomes more natural to do.
Habits:
Habit formation in language learning is very important and can make or break your language journey. It is often said that to build a habit it is good to start small and build your way up, the key being daily consistency in this area.
It is also said that to build a habit; around more than 2 months of that skill/activity every day to build this up.
For example, if you want to build a habit of learning a language why not try 5 minutes every day? Soon it will become a habit and you will want to do more than this.
One thing you can do to help build better habits in this regard is to do something called “Habit stacking”. Habit stacking is a system where you stack a new habit you want to pick up with another habit you already do. An example is if you read before you sleep; maybe you could learn a language before you read.
Goals:
It can also be good to set goals in your language journey, especially if you need the language to immigrate, or for some other functional reason so that you’re able to progress and even if you don’t hit this goal you will know that you will have progressed more than if the goal wasn’t set.
An example of a goal could be:
To be able to speak 5 mins of my target language in a presentation
To be able to know 100 words in my target language
As you can see this is a tangible goal that is more than just “I want to someday be fluent”. This is better than the goal mentioned just now because it is smaller and more manageable and also fluency isn’t something that can be objectively measured (people have different ideas of fluency in a language).
Also, SMART goals are best which are:
Specific: The goal is specific and clear such as knowing 100 or 200 words, or being able to speak for 2 or 5 minutes.
Measurable: You can measure this goal, such as time length or the number of words known.
Achievable: Is this goal realistic?
Relevant: Does this goal align with the other goals that you wish to accomplish or is it relevant to your reasons why you want to learn a language?
Time-bound: Is there a deadline for this goal you want to go for? For example; In 2 weeks I want to learn another 50 new words in my target language.
As you can see these goals being SMART means that you’re more likely to stick to them and not get discouraged by setting yourself unrealistic goals.
Vocabulary & Grammar:
Another thing I recommend you do too is to learn the right words. On average it takes around 1500-2000 words to be conversationally fluent in a language. Often these words are in word lists that are called “Top 1000 most common words” etc. These are a good place to start.
To learn these words it is highly recommended to use a system called Spaced repetition system (SRS) flashcards such as in Anki or Memrise which will allow you to memorise and have more words in your long-term memory.
How SRS works is that if you know a word you review it in 2 days. If in 2 days you remember the word you review it in longer intervals such as in 4 days, then if remembered again in 2 weeks (for example). This way, the constant review means that the word will eventually be in your long-term memory.
However, you will need to learn grammar and structures to piece these words together naturally when writing and speaking.
One way of this is going through a course or textbook that will take you through the stages or levels of the language. Then you can study the vocabulary and grammar together going from the most frequent words and basic grammar structures to harder ones in the intermediate to advanced stages.
See here for how I managed to get into learning languages.
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