<p>There isn't much in terms of (good) teaching materials for Canto, unfortunately. The best/least crappy is probably <a href="http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clc/new/en/" rel="nofollow">CUHK's Yale-China Chinese Language Centre (CLC)</a>'s coursework, but it is not publicly available -- ie you have to attend the classes to get your hands on the books and CDs.</p>

<p>I would anyway recommend against attempting to learn the basics of Cantonese unsupervised. While learning the grammar and vocabulary from a textbook is doable, there's no way you can learn the pronunciation without a (trained) native speaker making your life miserable until you manage to pronounce something that might sound like Cantonese -- and more importantly who'll train you to distinguish the 6 tones. And just be happy that it's only 6 and not 7 like 50 years ago (the high-falling tone, while still mentioned in some dictionaries, has fortunately gone the way of the Dodo).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-22T17:59:48.737Z
As my girlfriend is Cantonese, I have someone that could check my pronounciation. Unfortunately she doesn't have enough time in order to give me a thorough introduction.
zero-divisor
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-22T10:36:22.800Z
2013-01-22T10:36:22.800Z
dda
<p>Some resources for learning Cantonese,</p>

<p>Good starter sites:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>cantonese.ca</strong> - This has a good collections of beginner words in
useful categories.  </li>
<li><strong>cantonesehq.com</strong> - This site has some tips
and tricks for beginner and a collection of mnemonics for absolute
beginners.</li>
</ul>

<p>Best online dictionary:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>cantonese.sheik.co.uk/</strong> - best online dictionary for cantonese learners out there. Includes characters, pinyin, and jyutping.</li>
</ul>

<p>Audio files:</p>

<ul>
<li><strong>forvo.com</strong> - take the characters from cantodict over to forvo to get audio files. Sometimes there are even multiple.</li>
</ul>

<p>Fun and Games:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.tilespeak.com/play_tilespeak.php" rel="nofollow">tilespeak</a> - simple mahjong game that says the words and begins your familiarization with characters.</li>
<li><strong>gooddrama.net</strong> - has some hong kong movies on it. </li>
</ul>

<p><a href="http://www.cantonesehq.com/cantonese-learning-resources/" rel="nofollow">even more...</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-09T00:15:18.463Z
2014-07-09T00:15:18.463Z
LazyKaizen
<p>Hey guys (and gals) learning Cantonese!  </p>

<p>I've recently started a resource on learning Cantonese, and am constantly updating it with more content. Here's a preview of what I have currently: </p>

<p><strong>1. The Complete Guide To Learning Cantonese</strong></p>

<p><a href="https://cantolounge.com/complete-guide-learn-cantonese/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://cantolounge.com/complete-guide-learn-cantonese/</a></p>

<p><strong>2. Cantolounge Jyutping Chart</strong></p>

<p><a href="https://cantolounge.com/jyutping-chart/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://cantolounge.com/jyutping-chart/</a></p>

<p><strong>3. Cantolounge Grammar Series</strong></p>

<p><a href="https://cantolounge.com/cantonese-grammar-series/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://cantolounge.com/cantonese-grammar-series/</a></p>

<p><strong>4. Cantonese resources for intermediate learners</strong></p>

<p><a href="https://cantolounge.com/best-intermediate-cantonese-resources/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://cantolounge.com/best-intermediate-cantonese-resources/</a></p>

<p>and more. </p>

<p>I hope anyone who visits Cantolounge will find it a useful, comprehensive addition to their Cantonese learning repertoire. </p>

<p>Happy learning!</p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Baggio</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-06T07:48:26.340Z
2017-07-11T05:27:05.903Z
2017-07-11T05:27:05.903Z
Baggio Wong
<p>Its probably too late but try CJK Viewer, an Android app that romanizes Chinese to Cantonese. Copy and paste any Chinese text articles from the web and learn to read Cantonese through Jyutping.</p>

<p><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.imxiaowoo.cjkviewer" rel="nofollow">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.imxiaowoo.cjkviewer</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-12T05:54:52.013Z
2015-06-12T05:54:52.013Z
imorochimaru
<p>Surprised no one mentioned Pimsleur ... </p>

<p><a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0743500172" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Pimsleur-Chinese-Cantonese/dp/0743500172</a></p>

<p>I took 1 year of Cantonese at my Jr. College back in 2001.  These audio CD's could help a BIT with pronunciation, but there really is no replacement for native speakers and conversation (over dim sum?)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-02T23:37:31.647Z
2014-04-02T23:37:31.647Z
Erik
<p>Try out <strong><a href="http://www.cantoneease.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.cantoneease.com</a></strong>
Just type the Chinese Characters in Traditional Chinese. The reading will be displayed along with tone contour.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-30T05:00:19.347Z
also learn how to use by visiting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG9OsEVAl0E
Hoy Cheung
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-30T04:55:58.450Z
2014-12-30T04:55:58.450Z
Hoy Cheung
<p>Another Cantonese learning resource you might want to try for building your Cantonese vocabulary from scratch is the Beginner Cantonese app, available at <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shex.beginnercantonese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shex.beginnercantonese</a> </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-26T06:13:40.603Z
2017-07-26T06:13:40.603Z
user3492802
<p>I agree with others who say you should work with a native speaker to help you with pronunciation. However, having a grammar book will be immensely helpful as well, since many native speakers are often unaware of their own language's grammar (many will often say "that's just how you say it" without knowing why; I've also heard native speakers assert that Cantonese doesn't have grammar).</p>

<p>For this, I recommend the series of books by Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews. <a href="http://amzn.com/0415193850">Basic Cantonese</a> and <a href="http://amzn.com/0415193877">Intermediate Cantonese</a> are very good in my opinion. They also have <a href="http://amzn.com/0415471311">a more comprehensive reference</a> that covers almost any question you may have about the intricacies of Cantonese grammar; it would be an excellent study companion.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-22T19:45:03.013Z
2013-01-22T19:45:03.013Z
Claw
<p>I'd like to learn Cantonese. Does anyone know some good resources (books, websites) that provide a thorough introduction into the language? I know that the pronunciation is a lot harder than in Mandarin, so the resource should contain audios as well.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-21T10:49:27.273Z
Zero, you can take inspiration from [this topic](http://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/1120/43) if you want, so it's more organized.
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-22T00:44:01.447Z
It's not often pointed out that the phonology of Hong Kong Cantonese is actually *less* alien to most English speakers than Standard Mandarin. The only sounds which aren't present for many speakers of English are the vowels [y] and [œ], and marginally also syllable-initial [ŋ] (which young HK speakers drop anyway). Standard Mandarin has the retroflex and palatal series, as well as [ɤ], which pose problems for a lot of learners. There are indeed 6 tones in Hong Kong Cantonese, but on the other hand there isn't tone sandhi like there is in Mandarin.
jogloran
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-22T05:01:41.383Z
Actually there are a couple of tone sandhis, but they are not codified and taught formally, alas... eg 廣東話 gwong2 dung1 waa6*2: waa6 to waa2. Happens also with tone 3: 卡片 kaat1 pin3*2, and tone 4.
dda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-22T19:32:43.990Z
@dda: They are tone changes, but aren't considered tone sandhi. Sandhi specifically refers to systematic tonal changes in particular phonological environments. In the case of Cantonese, these tonal changes are morphologically motivated (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changed_tone), and their occurrence is more akin to Mandarin's erhua (兒化).
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-22T21:04:06.517Z
@Claw The article was not particularly clear on what morphological environments trigger it... any resources for someone curious?
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-22T22:26:42.567Z
@StumpyJoePete: The best resource I've found on *pin3jam1*, as the phenomenon is sometimes called, is in Bauer & Benedict (1997) "Modern Cantonese Phonology". To answer your question, it's not regularly triggered by anything. The comparison to *erhua* is appropriate; like it, *pin3jam1* has among its functions a non-productive noun->verb derivational affix, a verb->noun derivational affix and a marker of familiarity.
jogloran
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-23T02:02:28.460Z
(I just noticed, the jyutping should of course be *bin3jam1*...)
jogloran
<cantonese><topolect><learning><resources>
Resources for learning Cantonese
# Resources for learning Cantonese

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-01-21)

I'd like to learn Cantonese. Does anyone know some good resources (books, websites) that provide a thorough introduction into the language? I know that the pronunciation is a lot harder than in Mandarin, so the resource should contain audios as well.

**Tags:** cantonese, topolect, learning, resources

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Zero, you can take inspiration from [this topic](http://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/1120/43) if you want, so it's more organized.  
> **username_2**: It's not often pointed out that the phonology of Hong Kong Cantonese is actually *less* alien to most English speakers than Standard Mandarin. The only sounds which aren't present for many speakers of English are the vowels [y] and [œ], and marginally also syllable-initial [ŋ] (which young HK speakers drop anyway). Standard Mandarin has the retroflex and palatal series, as well as [ɤ], which pose problems for a lot of learners. There are indeed 6 tones in Hong Kong Cantonese, but on the other hand there isn't tone sandhi like there is in Mandarin.  
> **username_3**: Actually there are a couple of tone sandhis, but they are not codified and taught formally, alas... eg 廣東話 gwong2 dung1 waa6*2: waa6 to waa2. Happens also with tone 3: 卡片 kaat1 pin3*2, and tone 4.  
> **username_4**: @username_3: They are tone changes, but aren't considered tone sandhi. Sandhi specifically refers to systematic tonal changes in particular phonological environments. In the case of Cantonese, these tonal changes are morphologically motivated (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changed_tone), and their occurrence is more akin to Mandarin's erhua (兒化).  
> **username_5**: @username_4 The article was not particularly clear on what morphological environments trigger it... any resources for someone curious?  
> **username_2**: @username_5: The best resource I've found on *pin3jam1*, as the phenomenon is sometimes called, is in Bauer & Benedict (1997) "Modern Cantonese Phonology". To answer your question, it's not regularly triggered by anything. The comparison to *erhua* is appropriate; like it, *pin3jam1* has among its functions a non-productive noun->verb derivational affix, a verb->noun derivational affix and a marker of familiarity.  
> **username_2**: (I just noticed, the jyutping should of course be *bin3jam1*...)  

---

## 8 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-01-22. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

I agree with others who say you should work with a native speaker to help you with pronunciation. However, having a grammar book will be immensely helpful as well, since many native speakers are often unaware of their own language's grammar (many will often say "that's just how you say it" without knowing why; I've also heard native speakers assert that Cantonese doesn't have grammar).

For this, I recommend the series of books by Virginia Yip and Stephen Matthews. [Basic Cantonese](http://amzn.com/0415193850) and [Intermediate Cantonese](http://amzn.com/0415193877) are very good in my opinion. They also have [a more comprehensive reference](http://amzn.com/0415471311) that covers almost any question you may have about the intricacies of Cantonese grammar; it would be an excellent study companion.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2013-01-22. Score: 4

There isn't much in terms of (good) teaching materials for Canto, unfortunately. The best/least crappy is probably [CUHK's Yale-China Chinese Language Centre (CLC)](http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clc/new/en/)'s coursework, but it is not publicly available -- ie you have to attend the classes to get your hands on the books and CDs.

I would anyway recommend against attempting to learn the basics of Cantonese unsupervised. While learning the grammar and vocabulary from a textbook is doable, there's no way you can learn the pronunciation without a (trained) native speaker making your life miserable until you manage to pronounce something that might sound like Cantonese -- and more importantly who'll train you to distinguish the 6 tones. And just be happy that it's only 6 and not 7 like 50 years ago (the high-falling tone, while still mentioned in some dictionaries, has fortunately gone the way of the Dodo).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: As my girlfriend is Cantonese, I have someone that could check my pronounciation. Unfortunately she doesn't have enough time in order to give me a thorough introduction.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2014-07-09. Score: 4

Some resources for learning Cantonese,

Good starter sites:

* **cantonese.ca** - This has a good collections of beginner words in
  useful categories.
* **cantonesehq.com** - This site has some tips
  and tricks for beginner and a collection of mnemonics for absolute
  beginners.

Best online dictionary:

* **cantonese.sheik.co.uk/** - best online dictionary for cantonese learners out there. Includes characters, pinyin, and jyutping.

Audio files:

* **forvo.com** - take the characters from cantodict over to forvo to get audio files. Sometimes there are even multiple.

Fun and Games:

* [tilespeak](http://www.tilespeak.com/play_tilespeak.php) - simple mahjong game that says the words and begins your familiarization with characters.
* **gooddrama.net** - has some hong kong movies on it.

[even more...](http://www.cantonesehq.com/cantonese-learning-resources/)


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2017-07-06. Score: 3

Hey guys (and gals) learning Cantonese!

I've recently started a resource on learning Cantonese, and am constantly updating it with more content. Here's a preview of what I have currently:

**1. The Complete Guide To Learning Cantonese**

<https://cantolounge.com/complete-guide-learn-cantonese/>

**2. Cantolounge Jyutping Chart**

<https://cantolounge.com/jyutping-chart/>

**3. Cantolounge Grammar Series**

<https://cantolounge.com/cantonese-grammar-series/>

**4. Cantonese resources for intermediate learners**

<https://cantolounge.com/best-intermediate-cantonese-resources/>

and more.

I hope anyone who visits Cantolounge will find it a useful, comprehensive addition to their Cantonese learning repertoire.

Happy learning!

Cheers,

username_7


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2015-06-12. Score: 2

Its probably too late but try CJK Viewer, an Android app that romanizes Chinese to Cantonese. Copy and paste any Chinese text articles from the web and learn to read Cantonese through Jyutping.

<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.imxiaowoo.cjkviewer>


---

### Answer by username_9 on 2014-04-02. Score: 2

Surprised no one mentioned Pimsleur ...

[http://www.amazon.com/Pimsleur-Chinese-Cantonese/dp/0743500172](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0743500172)

I took 1 year of Cantonese at my Jr. College back in 2001. These audio CD's could help a BIT with pronunciation, but there really is no replacement for native speakers and conversation (over dim sum?)


---

### Answer by username_10 on 2014-12-30. Score: 2

Try out **<http://www.cantoneease.com>**
Just type the Chinese Characters in Traditional Chinese. The reading will be displayed along with tone contour.

> **Comments:**
> **username_10**: also learn how to use by visiting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG9OsEVAl0E  

---

### Answer by username_11 on 2017-07-26. Score: 1

Another Cantonese learning resource you might want to try for building your Cantonese vocabulary from scratch is the Beginner Cantonese app, available at <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shex.beginnercantonese>


---

