Can a Cantonese speaker read Mandarin?

According to my Cantonese-speaking friends, when they encounter structures that only exist in Mandarin, they read in Mandarin. (I’ve heard that when the characters are written in traditional/simplified form, native Cantonese speakers tend to read them in Cantonese/Mandarin.

Can someone who speaks Mandarin read Chinese?

No, they are completely different languages. Although Cantonese and Mandarin have many similarities, they are not mutually intelligible. This means that, presuming one has no significant exposure or training, a speaker of Mandarin will understand little to nothing of Cantonese and vice-versa.

How do you ask Mandarin or Cantonese?

If you want to ask “Do you speak Chinese?” in Cantonese, you ask Chinese (中文), not Cantonese. I really don’t understand why one would think Cantonese is not Chinese. So ask for 中文 not 廣東話. If you want to ask if someone specifically can speak Cantonese, then use 廣東話.

Is Cantonese harder to learn than Mandarin?

Cantonese is a language which has retained many more of the complexities of Middle Chinese — the ancient ancestor of many modern Chinese languages. This means that Cantonese is more complex, and is typically considered to be much more difficult to learn than Mandarin, even by speakers of other Chinese languages.

What is the difference between Chinese and Mandarin?

This is one of the most common questions we get. Here’s the short answer: Mandarin is a form of the Chinese language. Some call it a dialect. Chinese is an umbrella language term that encompasses multiple dialects/languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, and more. When you look at it closely, there are actually over 200 dialects of Chinese!

Is the term “Chinese language” offensive?

The term “Chinese language” did exist back in Qing dynasty (1644–1912), referring to combination of Manchu, Mongolian and Mandarin (Dulimbai Guruni bithe). It is not offensive. Mandarin is the recognized official language of Chinese. So when someone says they speak Chinese it is assumed to be mandarin.

Is Cantonese the most important language in China?

That is not to say that Cantonese is any less rich or important, but should serve to give an idea of the distribution of each language. Cantonese is a language which has retained many more of the complexities of Middle Chinese — the ancient ancestor of many modern Chinese languages.