How long learn cantonese

For example:. These sounds are always the same -- not like English. In English, you have soft and hard versions of consonants that usually require context to identify which one is used. You have rules like " i before e except after c " -- and then you have all sorts of exceptions to the rules. Grammar is often the trickiest part of learning any language. Take English, as an example.

You have inflections that distinguish questions from statements. You have verb conjugations and a variety of tenses. There are "regular" verbs and "irregular" verbs.

When you want to pluralize a noun, it's not always done the same way with different words. People who speak languages like French and Spanish also have to have gender agreement with their words. There is no such concept in Chinese. According to the FSI, Group 1 languages closely related to English would take a minimum of to study hours to develop a professional level proficiency - as in, you can perform your job duties - in those languages.

German the sole language in Group 2 would require a minimum of hours. Group 3 languages would take hours; Group 4, hours. As Group 5 languages, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese need a good hours of study to properly learn. For most people, however, the goal is to learn enough Chinese to carry on conversations and read Chinese menus, magazines, and other publications -- which takes a lot less time.

You can learn simple Chinese phrases in a matter of weeks, especially if you can find ways to supplement your learning -- like in the ways we suggest in the next section.

You could very well be on your way to conducting basic discussions in Chinese with confidence within months. Outside of formal classes, there are many things you can do to make the learning curve less steep. The key is how much work you are willing to put into learning Chinese, and of course, your level of determination. The general rule of thumb is that the more you practice, the easier it will be to learn Chinese -- as with learning any new language.

Thankfully, in this age of the Internet, there are many resources and learning materials available online. You have online courses, guides, podcasts, even apps that are designed to optimize language learning.

Of course, you can also find and purchase textbooks and other reading materials in Chinese on online bookstores and platforms like Amazon and eBay.

You can even find and print out flashcards and exercises to help you broaden your vocabulary. A professional language tutor can be a valuable resource when you are trying to pick up a new language. A professional tutor will be aware of your main concern, "Is Chinese hard to learn? Because you are getting one-on-one instruction, the learning program is tailored to your needs and preferences.

You will also get practice face-to-face, which will help a lot with proper pronunciation -- especially if you find it difficult discerning the different tones and inflections -- and familiarizing yourself with the nuances of the language. If you have friends who speak Chinese, try to speak with them only in Chinese. Most friends are happy to help, and it can be a lot of fun. And you thought you were going to get here in two years, ha!

Nice try, but this isn't going to happen. Ho Kwok Wing has been living and working in Hong Kong as a Cantonese speaker for 35 years and he isn't native or truly bilingual.

He's a very humble, lovely person who openly admits that when learning a language, you are ALWAYS learning, so don't expect that you will get here quickly! Tip 5 Reflect often.

You may be happy with where you are as a Cantonese learner, and you should be, but don't forget to keep climbing that mountain! Congratulate yourself for what you know, recognise what you don't and work on that. Quite often, what got you here will not get you there. It may be that you need to develop an entirely new perspective in order to move on to the next level.

You can expect to start off on your Cantonese learning journey relatively quickly and with continued focus and effort, you will start rising through the ranks.

Now crack on and we wish you all the luck and success on your Cantonese journey, but before you go, why not share where you are on your Cantonese journey below? If you are looking for even more resources to get started, check out exactly how Jamie learnt Cantonese below. As well as Jamie's comprehensive video on how he learnt Cantonese, here are some killer Cantonese resources that can get you up to speed in no time.

These links are affiliate links. Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar. Teach Yourself Cantonese. Cantonese Jan 7. Jamie Thorne. What's The Point? Elementary Proficiency Months Elementary proficiency can be easier understood as a learner who is just visiting a new country and has just started to speak a few words and phrases. Limited Working And Social Proficiency Months Limited working and social proficiency describes someone who can handle simple work and social interactions, allowing them to operate independently in basic conversations.

Professional Working and Social Proficiency Years What we mean here is someone who has mastered the basics, can converse with people at a normal pace, has a sizeable vocabulary and feels comfortable in carrying out requests and engaging with people on an everyday social and work level.

Full Professional Working and Social Proficiency Years If you've continued to put the effort in day-by-day, you will become a Cantonese speaker who can hold advanced conversations about many topics both in a professional a social setting.

If you are great at speaking Cantonese only, you are able to not only wow the locals every time you open your mouth, you can also communicate with the natives more effectively. Carlos uses the Yale romanization system which was developed for English speakers and takes into account the sound and the 6 tones in Cantonese. He recommends using a romanization system so you are taking out the guess work and inconsistency of playing it by ear. Imagine learning English without the alphabet and only learning by ear.

Why would anyone attempt to learn a language with 6 tones without a romanization system? Since you have an idea of how the tone and sound works, you can learn the basic sentence structures by practicing your speech with native speakers. Cantonese is not a tense language, which means it does not distinguish past, present, and future in verb forms. There is no verb conjugation chart to study and there is no gender in the language unlike the Romance languages woohoo.

The structure is pretty straight forward and all it takes is practice. The native speaker will understand you even if you are saying it correctly or not. In this way, you are training your listening and speaking skills at the same time.

Once you double check the correct pronunciation and meaning of the words with a native speaker, you can memorize it.

Carlos memorizes new words by writing it down on a piece of paper as a list. You can try this technique as well. Cover all the words except for the vocabulary at the top and move down the list by saying the words and the meaning out loud, one at a time, until the very last word on the list.

Make sure you have the desire and passion and are ready to do what it takes to learn your target language. Speak it. Memorize it. Learn jokes, learn slang, learn by watching movies or reading books and practice with native speakers.

Have fun with it! Imagine you are in a foreign country where nobody speaks your language and all of a sudden, you meet someone who can.