Introduction by
Beverly Hong-Fincher, Ph.D.
This course takes a holistic approach to learning Cantonese, at a post-elementary level. It is assumed that learners would have learned the necessary tools such as the most important foundation work of pronunciation, an overall grammar of the Chinese language with Cantonese characteristics, such as the abundance of sentence final particles and some basic vocabulary. The discussions contained in these lessons will enable you to intelligently speak and understand what others are discussing in today's Cantonese speaking world. It does not matter in the least what textbooks you've used before or that you've learned it from conversing or eavesdropping in the streets of Guangzhou, Hong Kong,Ho Chi-Min city, San Francisco or other Diaspora communities. You may also have learned these skills from Gongfu classes, watching films or listening to pop songs in Cantonese. So far as we know, there is no research data to show that we must follow a fixed chronological procedure on how to learn a language after one has acquired the necessary tools mentioned above. Take a careful look at how children learn their first and second or third language. They typically first pay attention to the big chunks of speech and then fine tune the subtleties of consonants and vowels, particularly the diphthongs and trip thongs. A full analysis of this is given in my book, Situational Chinese (New World Press, Beijing, 1983). Most of the course consists of discussions on different contemporary topics between two good friends. These topics range from the most familiar, such as going to have a tea brunch, Yam Chah, at the famous Buhn Kai (Ban Xi in Mandarin) restaurant in Guangzhou, to the somewhat sensitive subject of politics among Chinese Twenty-Somethings. However, not all topics concern Cantonese speakers inside China, According to recent estimates, one third of Cantonese speakers are found in the Chinese Diasporas. Thus, some lessons are devoted to discussions of Bill Moyer's TV program "Becoming Americans: The Chinese Experience." After all, the early Chinese who came to Gauh-Gamsaan, the Old Gold Mountain (San Francisco) and San-Gamsaan, the New Gold Mountain (Melbourne, Australia) and elsewhere were solely Cantonese from Sei Yap, the four counties in Guangdong. Included are also global topics such as 9-11, the Olympics, AIDS, SARS and contemporary Chinese musicians in America.
In Lessons 11 to 14 learners will have the opportunity to act out "Mr.
Dong-Guo and the Wolf", an adaptation of a Ming Dynasty play, Zhongshan
Lang. My students in First Year Chinese at the Australian National University
first performed a shorter version on stage. In order to perform well, one
must memorize the lines the way actors do. My suggestion is to select a
few of your favorite lines each day, and practice, practice, practice.
Very soon you'll have built up your own repertoire and be ready to perform!
You will notice that terms of address terms are left out of the conversations.
This is to give learners a choice of usage. Given the familiar relationship
and relative age between the speakers, and also the casual setting of the
conversation, the following are possible choices: 1) Use of the prefix
Ah- to surnames of each other (Ah + Given Name applies to pre-adults, or
used by a much older person toward a much younger person) 2) Use of full
names, i.e. Surname + Given name (particularly prevalent if they had gone
to school of college together). 3) Use of Western Christian names (a sign
of modernity no longer limited to Hong Kong. The use is also a convenient
way to avoid appropriateness in assessing the interlocutor's age or status)
4) For a full discussion on terms of address, please refer to my various
publications on the subject.
