Is my Cantonese Good Enough?

The answer could be both yes and no. If you put in the effort you will undoubtedly learn useful words and expressions. Even a beginner can learn to say thank you and receive a smiling approval from a taxi driver.

Language is all about connecting with others. Sometimes connecting with others is easy and for limited exchanges, your Cantonese might be enough. However, longer exchanges tend to be another matter. To answer the question, “Is my Cantonese good enough” we need to consider your expectations and other people’s expectations.

Recently, I heard a proverb –

“Inch by inch life’s a cinch yard by yard life is hard.” – John Bytheway

Unrealistic Expectations

I think far too many people get discouraged with their language abilities because they are expecting too much of themselves. Of course, a beginner’s Cantonese is not good enough for lengthy dialogs with native speakers and we shouldn’t expect it to be either. So if you mean by “good enough” you mean good enough to meet other people’s expectations. No probably not. Their will always be people out there who expect more of you than you can deliver, but you shouldn’t be measuring yourself against other people’s expectations anyway.

It’s rare to find foreigners who are truly fluent in Cantonese. If they are, chances are either they grew up with it or they spent an extreme number of hours studying it. Still day to day life interactions often call for Cantonese words that are beyond what we have studied. I’m an English teacher at a band 3 school in MaOnShan. For years now, I have been trying to speak English with students who often lack the vocabulary to have a basic conversation with me.

I used to naïvely think that if I could just translate for myself, we would be able to avoid those awkward moments and they would learn English better. A few weeks ago, I proved that theory wrong.

Sports Day Experience

I was talking to students at Sports Day. I always started out with easy questions or comments. How are you? Are you having a good time? Nice weather today. Did you run in any of the races? How did you do? How did you feel? The majority of the students that I talked to were able to give me one word answers after I translated the questions for them. I tried to help them express themselves beyond: good, yes, tired etc… I told them that they could use Cantonese if they wanted. For the most part they just weren’t interested in communicating with me.

It seemed really weird for years I had longed for the ability to communicate in Cantonese, but now that I obtained a higher level, it feels as though the carrot on the stick has moved a little further away. The message I was hearing from the students was, “We don’t care about your Cantonese. We aren’t interested in English and to us you represent English. Leave us alone.” Of course, they weren’t actually saying those words. It’s possible that I am reading into things too much. I can’t know what was truly in their hearts. Was my Cantonese enough? It wasn’t enough to help them with English, but that wasn’t my fault. My Cantonese however was good enough for me to be independent in that situation. I knew what was happening and didn’t need anyone’s help to navigate the conversations.

People are fickle one minute they will tell us that we are wonderful and the next that we are terrible. Our sense of value and worth has to be rooted in something more stable than the opinions of men and women. I regularly tell people that for me Cantonese is not a matter of whether I am smart or not. It’s a matter of connecting with others. Fortunately, I was able to walk away from the sports day experience with a sense of peace. I had done my part. I was not responsible for their part.

Non-Personalized and Personalized Language

Communication is designed to be two way. There must always be a sender and a receiver. In the early days and even still today, I spend a lot of time listening to and practicing with non-personalized Cantonese. For example, I listen to announcements and morning assembly sharings at my school. I studied textbooks. I listen to what others are saying and I listen to YouTube. The majority of my Cantonese was non-personalized. Three plus years ago someone introduced me to a Cantonese tutor. I met regularly with Ms. Chan. This was personalize Cantonese because we interacted back and forth. She allowed me to express myself and corrected many of my mistakes. With time, I developed confidence. Sure there are still people that don’t take me seriously. I will miss a tone and they won’t understand. They will treat me as though I can’t speak Cantonese. I can’t force them to change, but I don’t give them the power to change what I know about myself. Instead I try to spend more time developing myself with both non-personal and personal Cantonese.

A Lonely Road

Today there are still a good number of teachers who have no interest in communicating with me in Cantonese. I think Hong Kong’s work culture keeps me from getting to know many of colleagues more personally. Generally speaking we are colleagues not friends. Therefore we talk only about work related matters. This seems to be a common sentiment for many teachers. Some teachers make it past this barrier with each other, but I think it is harder for NET teachers to get over this hurdle. The language barrier separates us from the other teachers. Hong Kong Chinese are generally right when they assume that their English is better than a NET’s Cantonese. Still I have met people who refuse to speak Cantonese with me. They struggle with English themselves, but it seems that their pride keeps them from stooping to the level of speaking Cantonese with a foreigner. Again not everyone is like this. I have developed relationships with people who regularly speak Cantonese with me at school.

Sometimes It’s About Face

I think some people are afraid of losing face. On the flip side, if these people speak English with me they can gain face and feel better about themselves. Of course, the conversation changes to Cantonese as soon as another Chinese person enters the room. At that point, I am left on my own. Either I understand or I don’t. This illustrates the importance of not placing too much importance on the opinions of men and women.

So is my Cantonese good enough to connect with teachers? I think this is the wrong question to ask. It’s similar to my experience with the students at sports day. They weren’t interested in speaking with me. Teachers live very busy lifes and for the most part we only talk about work related matters. With the exception of a few here and there, I think they see me as an English only person. My not being a native speaker of their language just serves as a barrier that reinforces the Hong Kong work place culture mentioned earlier.

Finding Outside Involvement

As my Cantonese tutor told me a few years back, if you are NET teacher in Hong Kong you need to find meaningful involvement outside of the school you teach at. Hong Kong Chinese people aren’t intentionally ignoring you or trying to hurt you. This is just the way the system works. As far as outside involvement, I am thankful for my small group and my wife. My wife Tracy and I chat together in both English and Cantonese. But back to the original question; is my Cantonese good enough? It’s still yes and a no. I am learning not to let other people answer this question for me. I am learning to be at peace with where I am at. Thanks for reading my sharing. Maybe you have a different experience. Please let me know.