Cantonese & Mandarin

                                                                                  ------ Dandan

Did you know that there are two major languages of China? Cantonese and Mandarin are not the same languages? Cantonese is a Chinese language spoken in Southern China. Mandarin is the official language of China. Although Cantonese and Mandarin both are native languages in China, they are totally different. They vary in status, grammar and pronunciation.

Firstly, Cantonese and Mandarin have different status. Cantonese is the most popular dialect in China, which is used in most parts of Guangdong, Hongkong and Macau. However, Mandarin is the national language, so it is also very common. It's the official language to communicate with people, and is used in every parts of China.

In addition to status, the grammar of Cantonese and Mandarin are completely different. Cantonese always put the adverb before the noun. For example, people usually say " I go first" in Cantonese. But in Mandarin the adverb and noun are overturn, so it should be " I first go". Also, The object is often contrary to the sentence. For instance, in Cantonese, " give a pen to you" will be " give you a pen" in Mandarin. Sometimes, people will get confused if someone who speaks Mandarin uses Cantonese grammar.

The grammar also effects the pronunciation between Cantonese and Mandarin. In Cantonese, " ZHI or ZI " are always pronounced like " JI ". Also, many people who speak Cantonese can not distinguish " N or L ". So when they speak Mandarin, they can't pronounce well. Mandarin has four tones, different tones has different meanings for the same sound. Like "JUN QIAO", this word has same sound with "JUN QIAO", but it was totally  different word in Mandarin. One is describe mountain, another one is describe person.

There many differences in status, grammar and pronunciation between Cantonese and Mandarin. Speaking Cantonese is harder for foreigners than speaking Mandarin, because Mandarin has four tones and Cantonese has more than six. If you want to learn this two major Chinese languages, you have to first figure out what the differences are between Mandarin and Cantonese. In my suggestion, if you want to learn Cantonese or mandarin, you can listen to music and watch movies or dramas in that language. It's a best way to learn.