[fatko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...Shanghainese is not a language; just a different dialect of Chinese (along the same line as Cantonese, which also is NOT a language)..before you know it we would have people speaking Beijingnese, Shezhuannese, and Hongkongnese where do these madness stop...

oh well it is complicated ..
as a native Cantonese speaker, I treat Cantonese as a standalone language, albeit we share the same written Chinese.
It is a political decision rather than a cultural consent...
sorry i am going too far...

 

[Capunk]

Indonesian is my first language, I also can speak a little mandarin and some local dialects, but I'm quite fluent in speaking english, but mediocre in writing

- In this Australian country, many native english speaker mention that I have some American dialect, I don't know why... but I guess I can blame that on excessive watching John Wayne, Rambo, Die Hard, old action flicks movie in my childhood.

 

[shiosai]

Besides English, I speak mostly Mandarin (Hakka, Cantonese and Shandong dialect, which was the home of Confucius), and can speak a bit of Bahasa Malaysia.

 

[RYCeT]

Speak Indonesian & Javanese (native), English fluently (w/ accent though), and bits of Mandarin.
I've learnt intro course of French, German & Spanish. I found spanish is the hardest of the three but that's probably because the teacher sucks. I would like to learn Mandarin, Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Italian seriously.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

I can speak and write some Chinese (Mandarin) (lost interest in it a long time ago). No other dialects though. I can converse and write in English fluently.

Would like to learn German, Afrikaans and French in my lifetime

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatko /img/forum/go_quote.gif oh well it is complicated .. as a native Cantonese speaker, I treat Cantonese as a standalone language, albeit we share the same written Chinese. It is a political decision rather than a cultural consent... sorry i am going too far...

I understand; for that I don't speak English; I speak American! unlike British, Australian, Newzelandian, Singlish, and Canadian, all of which are different, because as a political decision I must declare that American is a different language

who wants to speak the same language as the Canadians and the red coats?

 

[tensaichen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...Shanghainese is not a language; just a different dialect of Chinese (along the same line as Cantonese, which also is NOT a language)..before you know it we would have people speaking Beijingnese, Shezhuannese, and Hongkongnese where do these madness stop...

I have to disagree on Cantonese being just a dialect. I speak mandarin fluently, but I'd probably be as lost as the next white man if I tried to watch Hongkong movies without captions.

Like your example about English being spoken in multiple countries, just because both cantonese and mandarin are spoken in one country doesn't make them the same language either.

 

[Akathriel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tensaichen /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have to disagree on Cantonese being just a dialect. I speak mandarin fluently, but I'd probably be as lost as the next white man if I tried to watch Hongkong movies without captions. Like your example about English being spoken in multiple countries, just because both cantonese and mandarin are spoken in one country doesn't make them the same language either.

His comment was dripping with sarcasm...
Believe it or not I can carry on a conversation with a Kiwi or someone from Singapore. But, I'm not knowledgable enough to know whether the differences between mandarin/cantonese are significant or fatko is just being proud, as chesebert is implying.

 

[That dude]

I speak fluent Singlish, a little English, Mandarin and a couple of dialects. (Cantonese and Teochew)

I took 12 german language course lessons and all I can remember is "Guten Tag, Ich kommen aus Singapore und spreche nicht gut Deutsch" and then "Do you speak english?" afterwards. That's all you need to survive in Germany I think. lol.

 

[Mr. Tadashi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akathriel /img/forum/go_quote.gif His comment was dripping with sarcasm... Believe it or not I can carry on a conversation with a Kiwi or someone from Singapore. But, I'm not knowledgable enough to know whether the differences between mandarin/cantonese are significant or fatko is just being proud, as chesebert is implying.

IMO the difference between cantonese and mandarin are very diffrent say compared to other regional dialects that sound relativity similar but, are rather different. I spend a lot of time hearing various thing in cantonese and when I hear mandarin I find them to be very distinct sounding where as I find something like Taiwanese to sound closer to Mandarin.

Also Hong Kong Cantonese sounds a bit different compared to Mainland China Cantonese.

 

[fatko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Tadashi /img/forum/go_quote.gif IMO the difference between cantonese and mandarin are very diffrent say compared to other regional dialects that sound relativity similar but, are rather different. I spend a lot of time hearing various thing in cantonese and when I hear mandarin I find them to be very distinct sounding where as I find something like Taiwanese to sound closer to Mandarin. Also Hong Kong Cantonese sounds a bit different compared to Mainland China Cantonese.

thanks to the Emperor Qin Shi Huang who unified the written Chinese 2200 years ago.

BTW, Cantonese is a de facto official language in Hong Kong.

 

[warubozu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Tadashi /img/forum/go_quote.gif IMO the difference between cantonese and mandarin are very diffrent say compared to other regional dialects that sound relativity similar but, are rather different. I spend a lot of time hearing various thing in cantonese and when I hear mandarin I find them to be very distinct sounding where as I find something like Taiwanese to sound closer to Mandarin. Also Hong Kong Cantonese sounds a bit different compared to Mainland China Cantonese.

Agreed, my parents and most of my relatives also speak fluent Mandarin. Both dialects sound so different from one another that they usually are considered by many to be two different languages. I unfortunately can't speak Mandarin and can barely understand it. I forgot to mention that I can also speak and understand Hawaiʻi Pidgin English (Hawaiʻi Creole English).

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatko /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks to the Emperor Qin Shi Huang who unified the written Chinese 2200 years ago. BTW, Cantonese is a de facto official language in Hong Kong.

Quotation from Wiki:

"Cantonese, a Chinese language originating from Guangdong province to the north of Hong Kong, is Hong Kong's de-facto official dialect."

Hong Kong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia empahsized for clarification.

Qutation from the U.S. State Department:

"Background Note: Hong Kong ...
Languages: Cantonese (a dialect of Chinese) and English are official. "

Hong Kong (02/08), last updated 02/2008

Quotation from the Hongkong CSB:

"OFFICIAL LANGUAGES DIVISION

(22/F and 23/F, High Block, Queensway Government Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong)

Chinese and English are the official languages of Hong Kong. Committed to openness and accountability, the Government produces important documents in both English and Chinese."

CSB - OFFICIAL LANGUAGES DIVISION, last updated 02/2008.


The last time I checked, this thread was on "what language can you speak" and not "what dialects of the same language can you speak"

 

[fatko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif Quotation from Wiki: "Cantonese, a Chinese language originating from Guangdong province to the north of Hong Kong, is Hong Kong's de-facto official dialect." Hong Kong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia empahsized for clarification. The last time I checked, this thread was on "what language can you speak" and not "what dialects of the same language can you speak"

The Hong Kong Basic Law states that the official languages are "Chinese and English." It does not explicitly specify the standard for "Chinese". While Standard Mandarin and Simplified Chinese characters are used as the spoken and written standards in mainland China, Cantonese and Traditional Chinese characters are the long-established de facto standards in Hong Kong.

btw, as i have said so , it is complicated...

 

[Mr. Tadashi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif Quotation from Wiki: "Cantonese, a Chinese language originating from Guangdong province to the north of Hong Kong, is Hong Kong's de-facto official dialect." Hong Kong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia empahsized for clarification. Qutation from the U.S. State Department: "Background Note: Hong Kong ... Languages: Cantonese (a dialect of Chinese) and English are official. " Hong Kong (02/08), last updated 02/2008 Quotation from the Hongkong CSB: "OFFICIAL LANGUAGES DIVISION (22/F and 23/F, High Block, Queensway Government Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong) Chinese and English are the official languages of Hong Kong. Committed to openness and accountability, the Government produces important documents in both English and Chinese." CSB - OFFICIAL LANGUAGES DIVISION, last updated 02/2008. The last time I checked, this thread was on "what language can you speak" and not "what dialects of the same language can you speak"

Well to quote wikipedia it can be argued that Chinese is a reference to a language family as it can be argued the other way around .

Chinese language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia