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The course aims to enable students to master the sounds of Cantonese and conduct basic conservations in Cantonese. It is suitable for learners of the following 3 categories:
(1) People from Hong Kong who may be expatriates, international students, ethnic minorities;
(2) People from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) who may be expatriates;
(3) People from all over the world who may be heritage speakers of Cantonese, plan to study/work in Hong Kong/ the GBA, tourists… etc.
In fact, anyone who is interested in learning Cantonese are welcomed to join this course!
After a course session ends, it will be archived.
Here describes some characteristics of our course:
- Although there are various free online Cantonese learning resources and videos available, most of them are loosely organized and not as systematic as a university credit bearing course. The proposed MOOC will be designed in a way that help learners acquire the language step by step, following the scientific findings of second language acquisition.
- The comparable existing certificate programmes or credit-bearing courses such as those offered by the Chinese Language Centre of The University of Hong Kong and the Yale-China Chinese Language Centre of The Chinese University of Hong Kong as well as by the overseas universities mentioned above are delivered in the traditional mode, which are bound by various practical limitations. Therefore, the proposed MOOC, which goes beyond time constraints and geographical barriers, will be the first ever delivered on such a platform, attracting global learners.
- Cantonese, unlike many other languages/dialects, cannot be written verbatim, nor does it have an officially recognized romanization convention. This makes Cantonese learning difficult. The proposed MOOC will use the Jyutping system to teach Cantonese. Jyutping was proposed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong, and is one of the two commonly used conventions for Cantonese romanization in academic publications.
- As a MOOC from Hong Kong, some aspects of the Hong Kong culture (especially food) will be introduced.
- Verified Certificates will be issued for paid participants who completed the course and passed all assessments.
Below are some intended learning outcomes for the 4 modules:
Module 1
Know basic greetings and essential daily expressions
Know the phonological structures of Cantonese
Know basic Jyutping, including initials, finals and tones
Module 2
Know some Cantonese food’s names (when eating in a Chinese restaurant)
Know how to make request to a waiter/ waitress e.g. ordering food, add water, pay the bill
Know basic numbers and measure words
Module 3
Know how to ask simple questions using “what”, “when” and “where”
Asking for price and discount
Asking for time and date Module 4
Know how to introduce oneself e.g. name, origin, etc.
Know the name of some cities and countries
There will be 4 modules in the course, namely:
Module 1: Cantonese sounds (廣東話語音) & Greetings (打招呼)
Module 2: Eating & drinking (飲食)
Module 3: Asking: what, when and where (詢問)
Module 4: Self-Introduction (自我介紹)
- Training content and the materials were quite helpful to improve the Cantonese skills of learners as beginners
- The facilitator was quite knowledgeable and he explained each question patiently and as best as he could
- I would like to take this opportunity to thank the facilitator for her excellent instruction and passionate way of delivering. Meeting her each Monday and learning not only Cantonese but the culture behind is very enjoyable!
- I hope there would be more Cantonese courses, longer and deeper if possible. This could help non local staff (at PolyU) a lot. Thank you.
- [T]hank you very much for sharing your passion for Cantonese with us, and motivating us learning a language online even through these difficult times :D
- Thank you so much for the lecture and for guiding us! (^v^)
MOOC Course Leader & Principal Lecturer • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Lecturer, MOOC Deputy Course Leader & Programme Leader of Minor in Chinese Language & Culture • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Lecturer • The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
(1) Who are the targeted learners for this course?
Our target learners include non-native Cantonese speakers from the following three categories:
•Hong Kong: Expatriates, international students, ethnic minorities
•Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: Expatriates
•World: Heritage speakers of Cantonese, people who plan to study or work in Hong Kong or in the GBA, tourists, and anyone who is interested in Cantonese
(2) Is this course also suitable for students under 18?
Yes, actually anyone who wants to learn Cantonese can join, no matter they have learnt it before or not.
(3) Which pinyin system of Cantonese is this course using?
This course adopts the LSHK (Linguistics Society of Hong Kong) Jyutping system because it is comparatively widely used in Hong Kong, particularly in the academic field.
(4) Does this course require payments?
For most content, no, but if learners want more personal and specific feedbacks from professional teacher, they may pay $99 for the last assignment, which is a self-introduction of themselves. This would be marked by one of our instructors if they have paid. They will be given a verified certificate for the course as well.
(5) Can I have credit transfer in PolyU HK after finishing this course?
No, this course is non-credit bearing. However, if you want to come to PolyU HK to study, joining this course can give you a taste of it in advance because there will be shots taken in the PolyU campus.
Knowing some basic Cantonese language and culture first will make your life here easier and more fruitful too!