Cantonese Classroom

           In China, the official language is standard Chinese / Putonghua, or named as Mandarin in Taiwan. But in southern part, like Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau, people are speaking Cantonese.

           Unlike other language, the written and spoken systems of Cantonese are different. Written Cantonese is the same as standard Chinese, traditional characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, whereas simplified characters ared used in mainland China. Although spoken Cantonese is rather rude, the wording is more lifelike. And some spoken Cantonese can not be written. There is only sound, but no characters.

         Chinese characters are writing from left to right and up to down.

          There are several kinds of phonetic symbols systems in Cantonses, ie. Yale Romanization System, International Phonetic Symbols and Roman Alphabet. And this website will use the Yale Romanization System.