| I'd say that long-term and short-term may not have so much importance on adults as these things move slowly. I'd say that more important is whether you expect to focus on Hong Kong or China as a whole. If you live in Hong Kong and spend most of your time here, I'd say Cantonese is your choice. But if you are here just temporarily and may even move on to live in Mainland China later, or at least visit there very often, Mandarin may be your choice.
You can also opt to learn both, perhaps not exactly at the same time but this is the choice for many that (try to) learn the written language as well, as the written language in Hong Kong resembles spoken Mandarin much more than Cantonese. |