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Cantonese (粵語)
Spoken by: ~ 71 million
Spoken in: People's Republic of China
Language family: Sinitic

Cantonese, one of several major languages in China, is mainly spoken in Hong Kong, Guangdong, the Guangxi provinces, and in most overseas Chinese communities in Australia, Europe, and North America.

Phonology[]

Grammar[]

Orthography[]

Common difficulties[]

The Foreign Service Institute has classified Cantonese as a "Super-Hard" language. It is estimated that learning Cantonese to a Professional Working Proficiency in the language (a score of Speaking-3/Reading-3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale) will take an average of 88 weeks (2200 class hours).[1]

Resources[]

There is an Foreign Service Institute course for Cantonese.

Pimsleur offers courses in Cantonese Chinese.

References[]

  1. U.S. Department of State; FSI's Experience with Language Learning; https://www.state.gov/m/fsi/sls/c78549.htm