Cantonese

Part of Both, Belonging to Neither It was the first day of kindergarten, and I was already crying. It all started with a simple assignment. “Write a sentence about yourself.” My teacher announced to the class. The room quickly filled with chatter as my classmates talked about possible ideas for their sentences. Staring at the first page of my new composition book, my mind went completely blank, realising that I had no idea what to write. At that time, I was behind on English compared to average kids because I spoke Cantonese at home. Therefore, I was never taught how to read or write. Since I was a naive 5-year-old, I could not comprehend why I was the only one incapable of creating sentences that everyone else was easily doing. Nervously,…

body where its identity is shaping by the worldwide perspective. When there are mixed opinions toward Chinese culture, HK citizens amplify some practices to strengthen their identity as Hong Kongese, also isolate themselves from the mainland. How can the audiences identify Hong Kongese and mainland Chinese? The most efficient way will be study through personal identification documents. Passport is like the character’s costumes, it states the characteristics of a person. With the use of Hong Kong…

Video #6 – “Mr. Baseball This video took a look at the cultural differences that we often take for granted. In this particular scene there was an American sitting on the floor, eating noodles, using chopsticks, in a traditional Asian household. The American is unfamiliar with these customs, and is confused by the chopsticks and slurping sounds. He also has trouble understanding who gets served their beverage first, as well as that it is bad luck to point your chopsticks vertically into the air.…

Thus, there are three types of spoken language. In other words, the Mandarin entered the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as the national language. In Hong kong history, Shandong dialect and Beijing Mandarin also came to Hong Kong in the past. They experienced the deep contact with Cantonese and eventually were absorbed by the Cantonese. But since the reunification, the Mandarin found living space in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. New immigrants from mainland China settled…

Who am I Everyone has their own interests, have their own characteristics. Name is not only on behalf of a person, but also on behalf of the all of things in this person. The article “The Complexity of Identity: ‘ Who Am I?’” said this:“The concept of identity is a complex one, shaped by individual characteristics, family dynamics, historical factors, and social and political contexts. ”(Tatum).Those things are the true representatives of each person. In my mind, I have a lot of things…

Australia • China-born people in Australia predominately speak Mandarin, Cantonese and Chinese at home (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). • The majority of China-born people speak English well or very well (67.1%), whilst approximately 32% do not speak English well or at all (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011). China • Mandarin is the official language of the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan. • Chinese people from Hong Kong and the Guangdong province of the People’s Republic of…

Living Between Two Worlds Dayton Kwok Introduction As an American born Chinese, I’ve always had to switch between using English and Chinese. This is especially exacerbated since I lived in San Francisco, a city dominated by immigrants hailing from Southern China and Hong Kong. One moment I’m using English to talk to my friends, and the next moment I’m using Cantonese to talk to my family. My native language was English, but I also learned to speak Cantonese around the same time I learned to…

More specifically, in terms of the language and interpersonal interaction issue, Jeff has motivation to learn Cantonese and be included in his class and all of his classmates, teacher and the school social worker are willing to talk to him. Also, Jeff is not completely unable to communicate with his classmates because all of them are using Chinese and they are able to write Chinese. Furthermore, in terms of being abused by Jeff’s father, the legal system, including the Compulsory Education Law…

Aquilaria Sinensis appears in thousand years ago, it has special incense smell and it's a medicinal plant which is also a source of fragrant wood, formed under a pathological condition, called agarwood. The writer explained the origin of the name “Hong Kong” at the beginning of the poem. In the past, Hong Kong was transit port of “incense tree, with joss sticks, agarwood and it's scented”. The incense tree produces agarwood, which was a valuable fragrant wood used for incense and medicine. The…

What is diversity? Diversity is understanding, accepting, and respecting that everyone is unique and has his or her own differences. Whether the difference is race, ethnicity, religious beliefs or other ideologies, the concept of diversity is to look at these differences in a positive, safe and nurturing environment. I was born and partially raised in China. At the age of nine, I came to the U.S. along with my family. I had just finished second grade in my hometown, Taishan, where Mandarin was…