Cantonese

Cantonese Today Volume 1 - this is a Cantonese textbook compiled by Cantonese teachers in Guangzhou and Hong Kong on the initiative of the TCFL Association in Guangdong Province. It is a Cantonese textbook for non-Cantonese speakers in China and for foreigners who have a basic knowledge of Chinese standard language. Some places, such as Guangzhou and Hong Kong, where people speak Cantonese, have advanced in business and attract a large number of people to study or do business there. Only good textbooks are unfortunately available in small numbers.

This is Book 2 of Cantonese Today, a Cantonese teaching material for learners who want to further improve their Cantonese practical ability. Based on Book 1, this book pays more attention to the cultural aspect apart from teaching vocabulary and sentence patterns needed in daily communication. The texts and dialogues embody heightened situational and cultural properties, exposing learners to the most authentic situational contexts and helping them master the most practical communicative techniques and skills by means of specific real-life situations, characteristic language styles, and all-inclusive communication themes. Besides, this book has some additional contents such as “Cantonese culture”, “kinship diagram and comparison table of kinship terms in Mandarin and Cantonese”, “binding words specific to the Cantonese dialect”, and “lively forms of Cantonese adjectives”, which may deepen students’ learning of Cantonese and their understanding of Cantonese culture. By using this book, learners can not only master the Cantonese vocabulary and sentence patterns essential in communication, but also get a further understanding of the deposits and development of Cantonese culture. We recommend to use this book if you have some preknowledge of Cantonese, like you already worked with Cantonese Today Vol. 1 or some other beginners book. Also please note that the annotations like the vocabulary notes are explaining the terms in the Chinese Standard language putonghua, so you should have the ability to understand these annotations to work with this book.