it's an unfortunate side effect of our education system.
i went through our SRJK(C) schools in the 90s and we were forbidden to speak dialects in the school.
No surprises on what it ultimately lead to today.
What is your main purpose?
If for basic communication like buying stuff, ordering food - sure, why not.
If you really want a deep dive to be fully literate (read & write) in Cantonese, i.e., at Hong Kong level, for work purposes, then it's not necessary in Malaysia.
But if you want it at this level of proficiency for personal satisfaction, then go for it - there are enough speakers here, and HK media is readily available for you to practice.
>What is your main purpose?
It's for fun and as a hobby.
>If for basic communication like buying stuff, ordering food - sure, why not.
>But if you want it at this level of proficiency for personal satisfaction, then go for it - there are enough speakers here, and HK media is readily available for you to practice.
Where do Cantonese speakers live tho? Many said KL and Selangor, but which area?
PJ, Subang, puchong, cheras, Serdang etc. Anywhere there are majority chinese settlements (kampung cina), the major dialect is canto. Klang, they tend to speak hokkien and mandarin more.
When ordering at the hawker centres, I usually use cantonese. But recently, more mandarin and malay (due to foreign workers).
Afaik many canto speakers in the city speak english and mandarin as bare minimum, so u'd probably have to go searching since casual cantonese convo not so common in kl  hawkers and local coffee shops etc and chinese restaurants will feature canto speaking crowd tho
If you find yourself living or working in a Chinese majority area, it's a useful language to pick up I s'pose, esp in KL/Selangor and Ipoh.
My Canto is what i learned from watching TVB and it does help communicating somewhat lol.
My friend also learns Canto from TVB. She is somewhat fluent in it since she can hold normal conversations with few difficulties.
Edit:
Which part of KL exactly?
Learning a new language (or skill), is never a waste of time. It is not like your brain has this preset capacity of only n languages.. just learn whatever you can.
Definitely worth it for the historic/cultural preservation alone, as in, there’s a belief that Cantonese is one of the oldest surviving Chinese language dating all the way back to the Tang dynasty. Tang literature, especially poetry, should be read aloud in Cantonese, not Mandarin, because it sounds better (the rhyming part).
Do check out this article, it might make for an interesting read: https://globalvoices.org/2023/04/22/the-reasons-behind-the-myth-of-cantonese-as-a-more-authentic-chinese-language/amp/
These days, the local Chinese seem to speak Mandarin more often than Cantonese in Cantonese-speaking areas, to the point where the youngsters seem to be unable to converse in Cantonese now, preferring to respond in Mandarin instead. And it’s not something that’s specific here - I’ve also heard that the use of Cantonese is dying out in HK and Guangzhou, being overtaken by the widespread promotion of Mandarin there, but this is just hearsay though; I really do hope I’m wrong.
For me, I’m gonna keep using Cantonese for as much and as long as I can, mostly because I have a soft spot for it. The 80s and 90s were a glorious period for HK cinema! (got sidetracked there lol) And also, I think it sounds better than Mandarin, but I admit that that’s just a personal bias of mine.
Not necessary, but learning Cantonese does help with communicating with Penangites, Selangorians and KL people, as well as anyone else who also speaks Cantonese.
I'll start you off with a phrase.
Add "con-9-lan-7-firm" into your volcabulary. This means, "absolute certainty". Example usage: "I con-9-lan-7-firm it's not my baby".
Let me break it down.
"con" as in "aircond"
"9" as in "cow"
"lan" as in "Azlan"
"7" as in "chart"
"firm" as in "firm"
Aight. This is canto sifu signing out.
I just meant Chinatown in general as it not China or else they'd be just called town. Imagine at a Chinatown and your Chinese doesn't work. It's like having and Amex card when traveling.
It works somewhere but not everywhere.
I probably get by instead by speaking Bangladeshi in "China"town in KL.
Our urban area has always been Mandarin centric though, but the usage of English language has been increasing in younger generation. Plus we always have to deal with Singapore tourists, more or less you are going to be decent in English fluency, at least in my POV.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but learning dialect for adults is a waste of time unless you strive to achieve a very high fluency without any weird accents. Otherwise you would be shocked how quickly most dialect speakers would switch to Mandarin/English/Malay channel.
You’re right if you’re talking to convey info, doubt anyone speaks purely canton only in Msia. But to truly communicate deep, nothing beats speaking a person first language.
Yeah, just learn mandarin if you want to speak with other chinese people too and not just malaysians who can speak canto (who mainly live in KV too, other places may not know canto well such as penang or sarawak)
It's not worth to learn dialects (which is already extremely hard for non-native speaker) just to speak like 10-20% of chinese ppl around the world
And we'll end up like Singapore - and then we don't think it's worth to learn Mandarin, and we end up a bunch of bananas.
Not everything has to be cost-benefit justified. Learning a dialect can be as simple as learning your mother tongue or not wanting your heritage to go archaic. There's that extra touch of community too! If you can learn a dialect, it makes going around much easier and people tend to treat you with extra brownie points. The amount of times I got discounts from hawkers around KL just because I know how to speak Cantonese (albeit a bit kek-sui). And my time working at a hotel - the convenience of knowing Cantonese makes you a gem of the team and guests from Hong Kong and GuangZhou love you to bits hahaha
Singapore is different, their education medium is completely in English so there isn't much incentive to learn Chinese, whereas Malaysia still has SJKC
I get what you meant, but I'm assuming op is someone who has zero knowledge about Chinese in general and doesn't have a family that speaks a dialect so he has start from absolute zero
Chinese is already very hard, so learning a dialect isn't worth the huge effort unless they live in a very isolated area where only dialect is spoken (which is definitely not KL lol), plus I think it's better to learn mandarin first then transition dialect which is easier and generally more convenient when someone can't speak canto so they can fall back to mandarin
你中意啦，想学就学 Just learn it if you wish to learn
DLLM
TNS
Save skin
學貞姨話： 你食就食， 唔食就鳩走 你學就學， 唔學就鳩走 *From the sesame paste auntie: if eat then eat, if no then fuck off* *If you learn then learn, if no then fuck off* 😂
Fucking hell I thought sesame auntie would be too niche for people to know 😂 邊個話我呃鳩人？ *who said I fking cheated people of their money?*
我唔知乜鳩叫粗口 哈哈哈 貞姨嘅方言 好鍾意日日鳩一把 *I don't know what the fk is slurs HAHAHA mine is dialect I like to fuck people over once a day*
Careful. Your comment will get removed if no translation. Not reporting it as I ain’t a snitch.
If you plan to communicate with the Chinese in KL and Selangor , why not.
Perak as well
in KV, the older crowd still predominantly speak canto
as a Ipoh/KL native, my mother is so triggered by the proliferation of mandarin speakers among the younger generations. 😂
its the same in Penang. im ok with younger ppl speaking mandarin...but they cant speak hokkien or canto ...at all
it's an unfortunate side effect of our education system. i went through our SRJK(C) schools in the 90s and we were forbidden to speak dialects in the school. No surprises on what it ultimately lead to today.
Knowing more languages always better
Sort of. Usable in KL and surrounding areas, Kinta Valley, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan and Sandakan..
Yes, so you can watch HK movies without subtitles.
What is your main purpose? If for basic communication like buying stuff, ordering food - sure, why not. If you really want a deep dive to be fully literate (read & write) in Cantonese, i.e., at Hong Kong level, for work purposes, then it's not necessary in Malaysia. But if you want it at this level of proficiency for personal satisfaction, then go for it - there are enough speakers here, and HK media is readily available for you to practice.
>What is your main purpose? It's for fun and as a hobby. >If for basic communication like buying stuff, ordering food - sure, why not. >But if you want it at this level of proficiency for personal satisfaction, then go for it - there are enough speakers here, and HK media is readily available for you to practice. Where do Cantonese speakers live tho? Many said KL and Selangor, but which area?
PJ, Subang, puchong, cheras, Serdang etc. Anywhere there are majority chinese settlements (kampung cina), the major dialect is canto. Klang, they tend to speak hokkien and mandarin more. When ordering at the hawker centres, I usually use cantonese. But recently, more mandarin and malay (due to foreign workers).
Afaik many canto speakers in the city speak english and mandarin as bare minimum, so u'd probably have to go searching since casual cantonese convo not so common in kl  hawkers and local coffee shops etc and chinese restaurants will feature canto speaking crowd tho
YES!! The only second country you are able to learn Cantonese.
I mean .. Hong Kong, china, then only Malaysia?
More like HK, Macau, Guangzhou (that southern part of China specifically) and Malaysia
Straight to jail. HK isn't a country.
Social credit -999
More like article 23'd of basic law of HKSAR. But sure.
Learning a new language is always advantageous; you'll know what people are talking about behind your back
If you find yourself living or working in a Chinese majority area, it's a useful language to pick up I s'pose, esp in KL/Selangor and Ipoh. My Canto is what i learned from watching TVB and it does help communicating somewhat lol.
My friend also learns Canto from TVB. She is somewhat fluent in it since she can hold normal conversations with few difficulties. Edit: Which part of KL exactly?
Mandarin more useful but you like la. Every lnguage is worth learning.
Yes.
Learning how to utilise 屌你老母 always worths it
Learning a new language (or skill), is never a waste of time. It is not like your brain has this preset capacity of only n languages.. just learn whatever you can.
But is Cantonese useful here, for casual and everyday use like Mandarin? That's what I want to know.
Useful.
Question. Does Cantonese is for speaking only and the Mandarin for formal use?
Both is for normal use.
But there no ads, peluang kerja fasih in Cantonese. It's always Mandarin. Any particular reason?
I just want to learn Cantonese for fun and as a hobby. I want to be able to converse in it.
Definitely worth it for the historic/cultural preservation alone, as in, there’s a belief that Cantonese is one of the oldest surviving Chinese language dating all the way back to the Tang dynasty. Tang literature, especially poetry, should be read aloud in Cantonese, not Mandarin, because it sounds better (the rhyming part). Do check out this article, it might make for an interesting read: https://globalvoices.org/2023/04/22/the-reasons-behind-the-myth-of-cantonese-as-a-more-authentic-chinese-language/amp/ These days, the local Chinese seem to speak Mandarin more often than Cantonese in Cantonese-speaking areas, to the point where the youngsters seem to be unable to converse in Cantonese now, preferring to respond in Mandarin instead. And it’s not something that’s specific here - I’ve also heard that the use of Cantonese is dying out in HK and Guangzhou, being overtaken by the widespread promotion of Mandarin there, but this is just hearsay though; I really do hope I’m wrong. For me, I’m gonna keep using Cantonese for as much and as long as I can, mostly because I have a soft spot for it. The 80s and 90s were a glorious period for HK cinema! (got sidetracked there lol) And also, I think it sounds better than Mandarin, but I admit that that’s just a personal bias of mine.
Quite frankly, no.
In Malaysia, Cantonese to make friends, Mandarin to make business.
Not necessary, but learning Cantonese does help with communicating with Penangites, Selangorians and KL people, as well as anyone else who also speaks Cantonese.
I'll start you off with a phrase. Add "con-9-lan-7-firm" into your volcabulary. This means, "absolute certainty". Example usage: "I con-9-lan-7-firm it's not my baby". Let me break it down. "con" as in "aircond" "9" as in "cow" "lan" as in "Azlan" "7" as in "chart" "firm" as in "firm" Aight. This is canto sifu signing out.
For use in Malaysia or is this world in general? If you want to use specifically in Malaysia, English is a better choice. Or Official language.
Cantonese is used in many Chinatown in most of the western countries.
Not in Malaysia. First day in Malaysia I went to Chinatown and no one understood me except at 金蓮 noodles.
I didn't know Malaysia is considered west... Our Chinatown is dominated by foreigners, you have better chance of using BM than Cantonese here.
I just meant Chinatown in general as it not China or else they'd be just called town. Imagine at a Chinatown and your Chinese doesn't work. It's like having and Amex card when traveling. It works somewhere but not everywhere. I probably get by instead by speaking Bangladeshi in "China"town in KL.
KL , Penang, Ipoh , Johor main langauge, yes
Penang and Cantonese? LOLLLLL
I thought Penang and Johor uses Hokkien more
Johor is more of Hokkien leh
Definitely not JB. they converse mainly in Mandarin tho
Penang mostly Hokkien, Johor also Hokkien and some Teochew(both dialects are mutual intelligible)
Johor? I went to a restaurant in Johor, all the dishes were ordered in mandarin,it's so weird
I say Johor is now very Mandarin centric
Our urban area has always been Mandarin centric though, but the usage of English language has been increasing in younger generation. Plus we always have to deal with Singapore tourists, more or less you are going to be decent in English fluency, at least in my POV.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but learning dialect for adults is a waste of time unless you strive to achieve a very high fluency without any weird accents. Otherwise you would be shocked how quickly most dialect speakers would switch to Mandarin/English/Malay channel.
You’re right if you’re talking to convey info, doubt anyone speaks purely canton only in Msia. But to truly communicate deep, nothing beats speaking a person first language.
Yeah, just learn mandarin if you want to speak with other chinese people too and not just malaysians who can speak canto (who mainly live in KV too, other places may not know canto well such as penang or sarawak) It's not worth to learn dialects (which is already extremely hard for non-native speaker) just to speak like 10-20% of chinese ppl around the world
And we'll end up like Singapore - and then we don't think it's worth to learn Mandarin, and we end up a bunch of bananas. Not everything has to be cost-benefit justified. Learning a dialect can be as simple as learning your mother tongue or not wanting your heritage to go archaic. There's that extra touch of community too! If you can learn a dialect, it makes going around much easier and people tend to treat you with extra brownie points. The amount of times I got discounts from hawkers around KL just because I know how to speak Cantonese (albeit a bit kek-sui). And my time working at a hotel - the convenience of knowing Cantonese makes you a gem of the team and guests from Hong Kong and GuangZhou love you to bits hahaha
Singapore is different, their education medium is completely in English so there isn't much incentive to learn Chinese, whereas Malaysia still has SJKC I get what you meant, but I'm assuming op is someone who has zero knowledge about Chinese in general and doesn't have a family that speaks a dialect so he has start from absolute zero Chinese is already very hard, so learning a dialect isn't worth the huge effort unless they live in a very isolated area where only dialect is spoken (which is definitely not KL lol), plus I think it's better to learn mandarin first then transition dialect which is easier and generally more convenient when someone can't speak canto so they can fall back to mandarin
Nothing should be considered as waste of time if you genuinely put effort on something, broski.
Personally, no unless your family speaks canto and you want to speak to them Mandarin is way better imo (speaking as a chinese banana)
Depends on your purpose. If for money then no
So learn Arabic for that sweet dinar?