Cantonese Speakers Worry about Future of Their Language

Cantonese Speakers Worry about Future of Their Language

For years, learning to speak Cantonese was not that hard in San Francisco. It is a place where Cantonese speakers from South China have migrated for over 150 years. But now, there is fear that the Cantonese language and culture might not survive current political and social changes.

Background

Cantonese can be difficult to learn. In writing, Mandarin¹ and Cantonese use the same Chinese characters. But in speaking, the two are different. Mandarin has four basic tones. Cantonese has nine, which can be difficult to differentiate².

Cantonese is spoken by some 85 million people worldwide. In comparison, there are around 1 billion Mandarin speakers. Additionally, the Chinese government is pushing for the wider use of Mandarin as the national language.

This change has affected³ the use of Cantonese from Britain to the United States.

In Britain

In Britain, as in the U.S., most schools that offer Chinese usually teach Mandarin. As a result, many migrant families are struggling to find ways to pass on their Cantonese language and culture.

Ceci Pang⁴ runs classes for children at Rainbow Seeds Cantonese school in London, England. "Many (parents) want their kids to be able to communicate with their grandparents," she said. "It's just so hard here, there are so few learning resources and lots of parents get frustrated⁵ and give up. That's usually the point the parents come to me."

Pang said she has not noticed many direct concerns about Cantonese dying out as a language. But, she said, that may change as more Hong Kong migrants move to Britain.

"I think in a few years when more and more Hong Kong families settle here, there may be more parents worried about their children rejecting Cantonese altogether..." she said.

In China

In China, people have voiced concerns for years about a drop in the usage of Cantonese. The language is spoken in southeastern China's Guangdong area and the cities of Hong Kong and Macao.

Guangzhou, formerly⁶ known as Canton, is considered the birthplace of Cantonese. But today it is a center for manufacturing and technology jobs that bring in Mandarin speakers. Now, many young people can only understand Cantonese but do not speak the language.

While Cantonese is not as important in people's lives as it used to be, it is too early to say the language is in crisis in Guangzhou. Cantonese is still spoken in homes and among friends. There are Cantonese television channels as well as Cantonese announcements on public transport.

In Hong Kong, however, Cantonese remains⁷ the city's top language. It is used by 90 percent of the population. That information comes from Lau Chaak-ming, assistant professor of linguistics⁸ at the Education University of Hong Kong.

While most classes in Hong Kong's schools are still taught in Cantonese, many have added Mandarin to their curriculum as the Chinese government tries to strengthen its hold on the city. The arrival of mainland Chinese for work or education has also increased Mandarin use. In addition, more Hong Kongers have learned to speak Mandarin to do business with the mainland.

But such changes have not destroyed Cantonese, Lau said. "Cantonese has never been stronger in Hong Kong," he added.

In the United States

It is a different story in the U.S. The teaching of Cantonese has decreased somewhat, including in San Francisco, a city that has drawn⁹ many Cantonese speakers over the years. The San Francisco school system has Cantonese and Mandarin programs for younger students. But in high school, Mandarin is the only Chinese language available.

In 1990, when Grace Yu was hired at City College of San Francisco, there were four Cantonese teachers and several Cantonese classes offered each year. But for the past six years, Yu has been the only Cantonese professor, teaching three classes a year.

"Vacancies¹⁰ were not replaced with Cantonese instructors¹². Instead they hired Mandarin instructors," said Yu. She described her situation as "kind of lonely."

This spring, City College approved a document to keep the Cantonese program with at least one Cantonese instructor¹¹. Yu noted¹³ that with the document, "Cantonese classes will not be canceled if I retire."

Meanwhile, independent Chinese schools are helping¹⁴ to teach the language as Cantonese-speaking communities grow.

Aleyda Poe has been overseeing the Cantonese kindergarten at Merit Chinese School in Plano, Texas, for more than 10 years. Poe put her two sons in the school so that they could learn about Cantonese language and culture. Now, she is helping other families do the same.

"I hope it's not a dying language...." Poe said.

Words in This Story

tone – n. the highness or lowness of a spoken syllable¹⁵; the quality of a person's voice

migrant – n. a person who goes from one place to another especially to find work

frustrated – adj. discouraged, or upset because of being unable to do or complete something

curriculum – n. the courses that are taught by a school, college, etc.

vacancy¹⁶ – n. a job or position that is available to be taken

kindergarten – n. a school or class for very young children

1 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

2 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

5 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

12 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

16 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。