mantilo: a miscellany

Although I was in Hong Kong for a month this past spring, my speaking abilities didn’t improve the usual .005% when I’m there. Mildly appalled, it was enough to encourage me to become more active about practicing. The following are websites I find helpful/motivational.

I’ll be updating this regularly, so be sure to check back often. If you have other resources you find useful, please let me know of them.

.::Listening::.
Blog of a guy living in Hong Kong who is learning to speak Cantonese. Transcripts in English, Chinese, and romanized Chinese accompany downloadable sound recordings on miscellaneous topics. The recordings rarely pass the two minute mark, but they’re interesting. I listen to the same recording multiple times until I know them by heart. Then I try to use particular words or grammatical phrasings in my own conversations.
http://cantonese.hk/wp

Links to a bunch of YouTube lessons
http://cantonese.hk/wp/?p=40

RTHK Children’s Programs Archives. They usually stick to one topic, speak slowly, and play a lot of classical music. Topics usually revolve around what constitutes as being a good child by Hong Kong standards. Sometimes it feels like they’re beating a dead horse, but repetition is good! Repetition is good!
http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/radio4/children/

Slangy, re-dubbed Beauty and the Beast with English transcript. A little on the crude side, but hilarious.
http://theabc.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/08/new_beauty_and_.html

.::Blogging about learning Cantonese::.
Culture/language blog with a focus on Hong Kong. Contains only romanizations.
http://daisann.com/

Interview with a guy who learned to speak Cantonese in 6 months and was able to phone into radio shows and talk.
http://cantonese.hk/wp/index.php?paged=5

.::Resources::.
A Chinese-English dictionary online. Searchable with multiple Cantonese romanization systems. I like it.
http://chinalanguage.com/dictionaries/ccdict/

Long running, website for learning Chinese characters with an emphasis on Cantonese pronunciation. Flash cards available. Also includes a slow-moving forum.
http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/

Popularity: 7% [?]