[Boneco]

Hi everyone, I've started to tk cantonese lessons maybe like 7 months ago ( well, not real classes as there isnt any language centre here in Portugal, where i can learn it) mostly from my friends,books, web-sites...,lately i've been wanting to enroll in a chinese language course ( mandarin ), but i'm afraid i might start confusing both languages. Is it possible to learn cantonese while im taking mandarin lessons at the same time???

[Vrindavan]

students in Hong Kong have to learn both at the same time

[mil]

students in Hong Kong have to learn both at the same time

Don't confuse a person who already speaks 1 dialect fluently with a person who doesn't have a Chinese foundation. The students in HK can read chinese characters and simply learn Mandarin pronunciation.

On the other hand, there have been quite a few posts on http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/ that state that its a bad idea to learn 2 languages at the same time without developing some decent fluency in 1, as these languages are quite closely related.

[Vrindavan]

>> confuse

no confuse
my statement is just a statement
i did not include any opinion on it

[HKChigger]

I am not sure about how confusing it will be, I never confuse the two (although if I go to China I mix the two languages in convo, but that is because my mandarin sucks, I could stop if I wanted and not mix it up)

The problem is how to learn Cantonese faster if learning two languages at once. Surely it is faster to get good at one first and then work on another.

[freeier]

i found it confusing.
if you speak mandarin, and japanese, cantonese comes right in between the 2 in terms of pronounciation.

so i had tonnes of experience mis-pronouncining words in shops and to taxi drivers...

but again the difference is i did not go thru a course for cantonese. i just use the chinese language and pronounce it in the cantonese way...

[astrofollower]

it may not be that confusing as one would think learning the two languages together. though you might need to do a little more groundwork to start with, my trick is to use cue cards to write down the voacbularies of both language of the same meaning together for contrast and compare.

[Chocoholic]

Hey,
In my opinion, learn either one first and then another would be better. I have a student who can speak mandarin quite well and then she learnt Cantonese. She said that the class actually helps her in mandarin class too. I don't know if that's true, just her comment. However, I really found that's easier to teach a foreigner who can speak (at least understand) mandarin to speak cantonese or a local who can speak cantonese but to learn mandarin. Both are really a lot quicker than the others.
I don't know if anyone with the experience that once learn a new language and then mix it with the second language sometimes.
I did have sometimes confuse to use mandarin and english in some conversations with different people( some speak mandarin/english only but not both). Another student of mine, who speak fluent spanish (he is native english speaker), he said sometimes when he wants to say something in cantonese but the words pop up in mind that's spanish.
I think that's easy to confuse if you learn a few completely new languages at the same time. Maybe at least with good foundation of a new language and then go for another one.
Just my opinion only. And enjoy learning. That's fun.

[CLC]

Interesting topic. We have students asking the question of "Can I learn Mandarin and Cantonese at the same time?" For your reference, the official answer from Chinese Language Center of CUHK is NO FOR TOTAL BEGINNERS. Our experienced teachers found that it would be confusing for beginners if they start to learn these two languages together at the same time. However, it is true that for those who are familiar with either one of the languages already will find the knowledge of one helps in the other. Similar situation for a Chinese who does not speak English but to start learning Italian and Spanish at the same time, right?

[sleepypiggy]

Yeah i agree that u shouldnt learn 2 different languages at one time. I can speak 5 different languages & dialects. I learn one language in one time not all together. It really takes time to speak fluently, we cant rush things out. Watching some movies that entertain u, will actually help u out to be more intrested in the language u'r learning. It brushes me up when there isnt many ppl who's around to help me exercise my new language. Make sure it have sub-titles to tell u wht they r talking bout.