How to Use My Channel to Improve Your Cantonese
Introduction
If you’re reading this article, it means you’ve decided to improve your Cantonese. Great decision! Try to remember why you made it so that you’ll stay motivated along the way. When it comes to language learning, nothing happens over night and nothing comes without hard work! But don't worry, language learning can and should be fun too!
Step 1 - Identify your level
First, we need to determine your level so I can find the right practice material for you!
Please watch these two videos:
How did it go? Was the first one too easy? How about the second? Too hard or just right?
If you’re an absolute beginner, start at the beginning with Episode 1.
If you think you’re a beginner or aren’t sure, save this beginner playlist for later.
If you think you’re an intermediate, save this intermediate playlist for later.
Step 2 - Learn Jyutping
I’ve written in another article why I think heritage speakers should learn Jyutping. Here I’ll just say that it’s one of the main two romanization systems for Cantonese and the one I use on my own YouTube channel. Many other Cantonese resources use it too so it’s definitely worth learning! I think you’ll get a lot more out of my videos if you can read and write it.
If you watch a handful of my videos, you’ll get the hang out of it pretty quickly. It’s pretty similar to standard English except for a few tricky consonants (C, J, Ng, Z). I made a video on my Patreon explaining them all in detail (paywall).
Now we can’t forget about the infamous tones! Watch these two videos to learn and practice the 6 tones used in Jyutping romanization:
Step 3 - Find enjoyable study material
A great place to start is with the playlist you saved in Step 1 above! Once you’ve watched all the beginner ones, move on to the intermediates!
And make sure you don’t miss these intermediate videos for ideas on fun practice material:
There’s some great recommendations in the comments to those videos as well so check there too!
And here are some personal favorites from my own channel:
Tip: watching each video multiple times helps reinforce new words and structures!
Step 4 -Establish a realistic study routine
Language learning is a marathon, not a sprint! It's better to practice a little everyday than to have sporadic but marathon-like study sessions.
I believe that the best thing you can do is incorporate Cantonese practice into your daily routine (e.g. 15 minutes everyday M-F). I think ½ to 1 hour per day is doable for many but just do as much as you can actually stick to!
I give tips on finding time to study and other helpful tips in this video.
One example is how I use my downtime to listen to podcasts (e.g. when I’m jogging or doing errands).
Tip: Write down new words/characters in a notebook. Also look them up on Cantosheik or another dictionary to see other example sentences.
Step 5 - Real life practice
Videos and books are great tools for language learning. But nothing can replace real one-on-one practice with a native speaker. For many of us, the solution is simple: speak more Cantonese with your family and friends in real life or online!
But what if you don’t have anyone around to practice with? I actually book italki lessons a few times a week to practice with a teacher. Sometimes it can be easier asking a teacher than family anyway! (Use my italki affiliate link to get $10 after your first purchase!)
If you find yourself in the camp of heritage speakers with an overreliance on English even when you know how to say it in Cantonese, check out this video where I talk about strategies for dealing with it.
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed my guide! We all have different reasons for wanting to improve our Cantonese. I hope that you succeed for whatever yours are! And please share this guide with any friends who might find it useful!
Good luck and 加油!
Brittany and Jared
