there's not really any pinyin available for cantonese? how can you expect people who don't grow up in Hong Kong to have perfect pronunciation when native HKers can't even pronounce words correctly? it's a bit difficult to master pronunciation when there's no one around to correct you.
True say. However, if you check a Cantonese dictionary, there is a pinyin (of sorts) for each word, not that people USE them considering most of their pronounciation are mistaken... In fact, pinyin for Cantonese, even though it is not taught in school, compose of technically the same components as Mandarin: consonants and vowels... But I guess I see your point: If natives cannot speak it properly it is unreasonable to ask the non-native to speak it properly.
Oooh, I was really into Atlantis the first season, then it got a little boring for me. I watch it occasionally now. Don't really follow Galactica. Sounds like you're into scifi. Are/Were you a treky? My fav was Next Generation & Voyager... I see pinyin as a crutch though. When I went to Chinese School, I remember other students would compose an essay half written in Chinese characters and half written in pin yin, and they were given full credit? WTF?! How are they supposed to learn the actual words when they rely on pinyin instead of learning the words? But you are right. Unless you were taught correctly the first time, or there is someone to correct you when you are wrong, it is difficult to learn the correct pronunciation of characters. That's why the HK govt is coming out with public service broadcasts like the ones I posted to help the general public mend their ways. I find that it's mostly the generation born after the 70s who pronounce everything incorrectly because of laziness with their tongues. Majority of people from our parent's generation seem to pronounce Cantonese crisply and correctly.
Oh, just googled up 'pinyin' some of you were talking about and the meaning used on here is actually the same as the phonetic writing? I just call it phonetic Cantonese and never knew there was a standard writing for that, thought it was something only Chinese born outside HK and who never managed to write Chinese would be using that. Like me. -sweat
hahaha i just thought pinyin was just chinglish....like you sayid taxloss.....just chinese but phonetically written
@RIBS: Yeah, SG:A got a little boring lately... BSG is beyond my capability of following (always miss an episode or two each season and that messes up EVERYTHING with a tight plot...) Not a trekkie though -sweat Anyways, the thing with Cantonese pinyin is that it's not a TAUGHT standard. It exists, for sure, but it wasn't taught in school in large part, thus when it's not commonly used, it becomes very unuseful (if such word exist) because no one quite knows how to use it.
i love BSG.. i watched the first episode and i was hooked... its ending next season :( still gotta wait till 2008 for it to even start up again though. can't wait to see more of grace park I think season 3 was kinda boring and disappointing though, but judging by the season finale season 4 should be intense
LOL, had BSG ever be NOT intense??? I just drool after 6's skimpy dress Though I must admit I stopped following the show but wait for the DVD instead @_@bbb Since missing an episode here and there really sucks.
i watched seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, and downloaded all the eps of season 3. there are some really boring episodes in season 3 imo... i felt like they producers were trying to save money by not having to spend on episodes involving action and special effects hahahaha. but overall the series is prime television... prolly the best contemporary sci-fi in a while... although i am still quite partial to ST DS9 V_V unfortunately iv seen every episode of that and it holds nothing more for me.
LOL, another Trekkie. IMO, I think Firefly would have made a GREAT series were it not cut >_<b I loved the set and all... Kind of like Cowboy Bebop life action if you ask me Oh, that and Far Scape... If only I can get my paws on the new Dr. Who...
is dr. who produced in britain? i cant stand british drama, even if its sci fi.... i only like their comedy.
hiake's back! actually, if i were offered a cantonese class like those kids in the video, i'd take it. unfortunately, my only source of correct pronunciation comes from native family, TVB series and music. so don't blame me blame everything that influences me the problem is, no one knows what the real pronunciation is or that they're slaughtering their language? fun fact: around shakespeare's time the common person had a vocabulary (no slang at all) of around 12,000 words (or around there) but now the common person has about a vocabulary of 7,000 (or around there) words.
lol, I always get lost in the series if I miss an episode or two. I try to tape everything or like you said, wait until the dvd comes out and buy the entire season and watch it in a few sittings lol. Didn't know that PinYin was a standard. I still prefer to learn Chinese the traditional way of writing out the actual character and meaning on flashcard and memorizing them. lol, I thought most guys followed BSG because of Park. I watched a couple episodes to check her out, but meh....not my cup O tea lol. I prefer 7 of 9's look on Voyager. That's because in Shakespeare's time, there were mainly white Brits in Britain who only spoke English. During our time, there are so many other ethnic groups & immigrants in any given country that their lack of vocabulary probably pulls down the average number of words an individual knows dramatically, imo
Yup, Brits Sci-Fi. I heard REALLY great things about it LOL, yay I am back Kind of anyways... I wish I have command of a 12 000 words vocabulary too... It's pathetic when people don't speak properly (the word "bunch" is at times my MOST HATED word, as many keeps on saying "a bunch of this" "a bunch of that" and let that be that...) I think that whole hardcore memorization is the ONLY way one can quite learn anything... I would have thought everyone watch BSG for 6's skimpy dress... Apparently guys' brain doesn't work quite the same way as girls LOL, I hope my vocabulary is higher than average then Well, I never see the Westerners cut immigrants any slacks when they grill them for their less-than-perfect English accents. So I don't think it's even a valid excuse.
Blaming who for what? My goal in this thread is to expose as many people as I can to correct Cantonese pronunciation so that the correct language will be passed on for generations to come instead of rubbish like simplified, lazy sounds, and slang phrases. I'm a purist when it comes to language. I'm sure you have command of an adequate sized vocab in your repertoire. You're english and vocab is one of the best I've seen on PA, as well as a handful of others. I also appreciate that you don't use as many internet contractions & slangs as others do.... Yay for oldschool ! *grins* But there must be a more efficient way. I believe in smart work, not hard work *smile* #6 has an OK body, but her face is not up to par. Even though 7 of 9 doesn't reveal much skin, but her outfit accentuates her gorgeous body. I think very few women can wear her costume and actually make it look good *drools* Oh, that's what the poster meant! I agree, if whites can't even master their own language, they have no business criticizing others of how they speak English.
And fearless, I've been meaning to ask you for a long time: who's that cartoon character in your signature yanking on girls panties? lol
