Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself Cantonese Complete Course

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Among the few books and courses available for learning Cantonese, this one is will help you to develop a solid foundation of the language.

If you are absolute beginner, you may want to get Pimsleur's Cantonese I and work with it before moving on to Teach Yourself Cantonese.

This program does contain 2 tapes, but you'll find it easier to step into the waters of speaking Cantonese with confidence if you begin with Pimsleur's program. Learning Cantonese will be million times more easier and more fun, and then you'll find working with Teach Yourself Cantonese much more productive.

If you don't have a friend who can speak Cantonese, then don't buy this book - but do buy the Book + Audio Cassette version instead.

Used on its own, i.e. without the cassette, it provides a good lesson structure which you can follow with the help of a Cantonese speaking friend. I think that knowing a native speaker is pretty much a requirement to learn such a precise language anyway, as a small change in pronounciation makes a whole load of difference to the meaning.

The book uses funny dialogs and cartoons to help you learn, and also has exercises in each chapter to make certain you have understood everything that was taught. For example, making a meaningful sentance out of a 'jubbled up' one. To further check your progress there are revision chapters throughout the book, which are there to consolidate all of what you have been taught so far.

In summary, this book will not do a brilliant job of teaching you to speak Cantonese IF you intend to use it on its own. BUT like I've said, if you have a Cantonese speaking friend to teach you pronounciation then it provides a very good lesson plan for you to work from.

Highly Recommended.

What is good about the book?

1. The 2 CDs that come with the book make learning much easier. In the beginning, I was not used to the Cantonese pronunciation, so it was very helpful to listen to the pronunciation guide section and the new words repeatedly. Once you master the pronunciation of the vowels and consonants from the first few lessons, you should be able to pronounce the new words correctly from its romanization. But if you still don't feel confident, you can always isolate individual words from the dialogue on the CD, and play those words over and over again (very easy with Cd on a computer).

2. The pronunciation on the CDs is authentic and realistic.

3. It uses the Yale system for romanization. Many other books and dictionaries use the Yale system. So, it would be easy for you to cross-reference.

4. Its explanation about grammar and cultural background is excellent. And it really captures the humor of Cantonese people. This is the only book that I have seen that manages to capture the real local flavor.

5. The conversations and new vocabulary are written out in Chinese characters, as well as romanization. Even if you don't read Chinese, this is still very helpful -- when you ask Cantonese people to practice the dialogue with you, it will be much easier for them to read off the Chinese characters than the romanization. And perhaps you will even learn to write Chinese some day.

6. Excellent exercises.

What is bad about the book?

1. They only have English translation of the new vocabulary, but there is no English translation of the dialogue. That means you need to really remember the new vocabulary as well as the words you learned in earlier lessons before you can make sense of the conversation.

(The vocabulary list at the back of the book is helpful if you no longer remember the vocabulary from an earlier lesson).

2 You do learn a lot about the cultural and humor, but that is not immediately useful in daily conversation. What is lacking is the practical vocabulary you would need in daily conversation. For example, in the lesson about eating out I learned how to say four foods -- beef, lobster, soup, and salad. I didn't learn how to say chicken, pork, lamb, fish, shrimp, vegetables, noodles, etc. Also, I did not learn how to say any of the fruits. The lesson on eating out would not be very helpful to me when I eat out. In my opinion, even if the authors could not cover those in the regular dialogue, they should have covered those in the vocabulary section or exercise section for eating out.

Overall, I think the book (with CD) is excellent value for the price!

This is a really rewarding course to study. The authors have done a wonderful job of conveying what devotees of Cantonese (like this reviewer) love most about the language- its vigor and its humor. The tapes are very good to work from, also- the dialogues of the first two lessons are given in what might be called "classroom speed" and then as in the real world so that it's a gentle way for a beginner to get a "feel" for how Cantonese sounds without losing any self-confidence. There are lots of good exercises with each lesson, also, and the review lessons really do review.

I cannot help but complain about one thing, however. The authors have invented a system of transcription that (for me at least) was difficult to learn, confusing, and totally different from any other Romanization of Cantonese that I've ever seen. I don't have any great feelings of loyalty to the Huang-Kok romanization (I'll spend the rest of my life trying to undo the damage by Huang's "Speak Cantonese", Books 2 and 3) but it is in wide use, it's not difficult to pick up, and most of the other books and courses about Cantonese use it (including the good ones). Going back and forth between different systems of transcription is one of the banes of the life of a student of Asian languages, but up until now it is not a problem that most learners of Cantonese have had to deal with. Even though this is a very complete, self-contained beginning course, it's always helpful to cross-reference and compare other material. What were you thinking of, guys?

This course definitely has its shortcomings (not enough examples, not enough English translation in the audio), but overall it's a good course. The romanization method has been improved since the cassette version and is now the best I've seen. They've also included an English-Cantonese dictionary in the new version. There is a lot of material here and you'll do well if you have a native speaker to practice with.

Among the few books and courses available for learning Cantonese, this one is will help you to develop a solid foundation of the language.

If you are absolute beginner, you may want to get Pimsleur's Cantonese I and work with it before moving on to Teach Yourself Cantonese.

This program does contain 2 tapes, but you'll find it easier to step into the waters of speaking Cantonese with confidence if you begin with Pimsleur's program. Learning Cantonese will be million times more easier and more fun, and then you'll find working with Teach Yourself Cantonese much more productive.

The book refers to a tape but didn't come with one. If you know someone that speaks cantonese its a good book, but if not, you will have a lot of trouble sounding out the words by their english equivalant.

This book is the best book I've seen for learning beginner Cantonese! It uses a remarkably simple, yet effective method for teaching the tonal aspect of the language. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to quickly learn the basics.

I have bought most of the books for learning cantonese in the market including the ones with audio input since arriving in Hong Kong. First of all there is no simple or easy way for a foreigner with a language base such as English. One of the main frustration is learning and understanding the various tones. I feel that this is one of the best with a simple to learn and effective pronunciation system (Yale pronunciation)- which can be self taught. However, the input from a native speaker especially with tones is essentialin the beginning.
The chapters are well laid out with new words and phrases as well as a gradual introduction to grammar and language quirks.
The chapters relate to everday situations and are easy to refer back for revisions.
Furthermore once you have mastered the book another chapter on advise in the end does point you the road ahead.

I definitely recommend this book. It contains wide vocabulary and at the same time, does not overwhelm the reader. Exercises (and solutions) are provided to reinforce new learned concepts, grammar and vocabulary. Chinese characters are provided with the Cantonese romanisation and so the sounds between Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese can easily be compared. Best of all, the sample texts and conversations do attempt and succeed in capturing the wit of the Cantonese language. A great read!