Which one should i learn? Who speaks what where?

3/10/2012 11:18:39 PM

I stared on a Mandarin program a while ago and then quit. Here are the arguments I got for Mandarin:

- It's used by more people
- It's easier

Pretty convincing.

3/10/2012 11:20:24 PM

Mandarin, there's a class that takes place really close to NCSU on Saturdays. Gary Wilson that works in the library teaches it. I highly recommend it.

http://www.ncsu.edu/directory/moreinfo.php?username=gwilson

3/11/2012 12:03:00 AM

3/11/2012 12:17:25 AM

Mandarin. It is spoken by pretty much everyone on mainland China and is one of the official languages of Singapore.

Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong (which people in Hong Kong can speak English, so you're covered), Macau and Southern China (mainly Guangdong Providence), but they also know and speak Mandarin.

3/11/2012 12:31:50 AM

^ so all of the cool places in China speak Cantonese, and all of the horrible places speak Mandarin

3/11/2012 12:41:16 AM

3/11/2012 1:04:52 AM

Unless you were living in Hong Kong and doing lots of business with HKers or folks in Guangdong Province, you would get more out of learning Mandarin. Like everyone has said it is spoken much more widely in China and is on it's way to becoming the de facto language in many Chinese communities around the world. There are tons of people all around the world learning Mandarin as well, much more than are studying Cantonese. Also, Mandarin just passed English as the number 2 most spoken language in Hong Kong.

3/11/2012 7:18:07 AM

Teochew beats either of those

3/11/2012 9:21:57 AM

this is america, just stick to speaking american

3/11/2012 10:00:33 AM

Cantonese

3/11/2012 10:14:30 AM

There are 4 tones in Mandarin. Majority of people have trouble saying just those 4.

There are 9 tones in Cantonese. Can you pronounce "ma" in 9 different ways?

3/11/2012 11:07:49 AM

Mandarin. It's definitely more popular.

3/11/2012 11:15:31 AM

I was born in Cowloon Bay!

3/11/2012 11:19:57 AM

3/11/2012 11:22:12 AM

I heard all of the Chinese people outside of China (ie america) speak cantonese.

3/11/2012 12:17:22 PM

^^ wow, that is complicated

3/11/2012 12:22:38 PM

^^ And they also speak English, so who fucking cares? Mandarin is far more practical.

3/11/2012 12:24:30 PM

^^^ This is true but becoming less so, plus many Cantonese speaking Chinese living abroad also speak Mandarin

http://pixti.me/chinese-shi-story.html

3/11/2012 8:32:33 PM

I speak a little Mandarin, I learned at Zhejiang University when I did the summer abroad program in Hangzhou. One of my master's thesis was regarding Chinese political economy as well. Regardless, I would definitely encourage you to learn Mandarin just as mrfrog says. From what I understand, Cantonese is used widely in the rural (poor) areas, although it is spoken in Hong Kong. In Beijing, Shenzen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, etc. they mostly speak Mandarin. It's kind of like going to Spain where they speak Catalan in Barcelona, but if you speak Spanish most people will be able to understand you - same for Mandarin.

You should check out http://www.ltc.chass.ncsu.edu - Mandarin is offered for State students in the summer in a super-intensive program, but you'll come out pretty fluent - the goal is intermediate high to advanced on a standardized test. The LTC is currently offering courses in six different languages at Fort Bragg for special forces soldiers. The LTC is similar to Project GOLD or project GO that NC State ran previously.

Highly, highly recommend you check it out if you're serious - Mandarin can be a very valuable language to know in many sectors.

3/11/2012 9:12:43 PM