Born and raised in Canada, Allan Lau is a versatile musician, doing everything from orchestrating movie scores to crafting commercial theme tracks for multinational corporations. He is also a voice artist and bass singer, bringing to life video game characters and movie trailers. Duck Lau Cho Tak is an award-winning Hong Kong musician/composer actively engaged in various music scenes. He is also an experienced singer, having served as chorus member and performance director for numerous...

Welcome to Season 3 of Chatty Cantonese! We start things off with a double-interview with two notable figures from the world of Cantopop, Allan Lau and Duck Lau. In addition to talking about their own musical experiences, the pair explain some Cantopop history and how newbies can learn more about the genre and its connection with Hong Kong culture. Link to vocabulary and transcript

Inspired by a listener question, this episode addresses an issue all beginning Cantonese students face: in thanking someone, when should you use do1 ze6 (多謝) and when should you use m4 goi1 (唔該)?  The underlying principle becomes clear with the help of a few  hypothetical situations. Transcript and vocabulary

A discussion about where Hongkongers found cool refreshment in the olden days leads Raymond to share some unique drinks. Wonder what "a monk jumping into the ocean" is? Or how you could drink "veggie honey?" Listen to find out. Vocabulary and transcript

Bernice Chan is a reporter whose career has stretched across the Pacific, reporting for both the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and CBC in Vancouver. She also hosted the award-winning podcast Eat Drink Asia. In the second part of our interview, we talk about our favorite dim sum picks, why Hongkongers love trying new flavors, and where on YouTube you can learn Cantonese cooking. 陳志媺 Bernice Chan 係一名資深記者，佢嘅事業橫跨太平洋，任職於香港嘅《南華早報》同喺溫哥華嘅加拿大廣播公司。 她仲主持過屢獲殊榮嘅 Eat Drink Asia 播客節目。...

Bernice Chan is a reporter whose career has stretched across the Pacific, reporting for both the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and CBC in Vancouver. She also hosted the award-winning podcast Eat Drink Asia. In the first part of our interview, we talk about the trajectory of her career and the influence Hong Kong had on how she learned Cantonese. Be sure to check back next episode for the conclusion of our conversation.  陳志媺 Bernice Chan 係一名資深記者，佢嘅事業橫跨太平洋，任職於香港嘅《南華早報》同喺溫哥華嘅加拿大廣播公司。...

How can this be happening?! In this episode, we dig into SFPs (sentence final particles) useful for expressing surprise, reacting to information that should have been known previously, or relaying sketchy things someone else said that you disagree with. References: Basic Sentence-final Particles in Hong Kong Cantonese, by Yuen-lam Tsang Transcript and vocabulary

A little chat about time in the digital age... How do we stay focused when there are so many distractions out there? And what do you call a "bedside table" in Cantonese? Transcript and vocabulary

This episode features the second half of our discussion with Dr. Gina Anne Tam, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University, and author of Dialect and Nationalism in China, 1860 – 1960 from Cambridge University Press. In this episode, we talk about the relationship between Mandarin and Cantonese in teaching and academia, as well as English’s immense power in the global linguistic landscape. Works mentioned in this episode: Silencing Shanghai, by Fang Xu Gerald Roche (various...

This episode features the first half of our discussion with Dr. Gina Anne Tam, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University, and author of Dialect and Nationalism in China, 1860-1960 from Cambridge University Press. In this episode we talk about the distinction between “dialect” and “language” and what it means for Cantonese. Check back next week for the conclusion of our discussion. 今集有我哋同三一大學歷史副教授，劍橋大學出版社發行《中國方言與民族主義...

More sentence final particles in this episode, this time centering around ones beginning with "z." They can be helpful for talking about quantity, degree, and justification--like when you're talking about that person who's "just" a friend... Episode transcript and vocabulary

Pop quiz: How would you write "Give me that book" in Cantonese?「畀嗰本書我」or 「給我那本書」? The answer is... well, complicated.  But where might you read the former vs. latter? In this episode we chat about the different ways Cantonese is written, as well as the fancy term "diglossia." Don's Snow's Cantonese as Written Language Vocabulary and transcript

This episode features the second part of our conversation with Jade Wu, where we discuss her publishing process and some of the ways her students have taught her over the years. Resources suggested at the end of the episode: Language Reactor Hong Kong Connection Rhapsody in Lingo CantoTalk Resonate Literary Magazine Episode vocabulary and transcript

Part one of our interview with Jade Wu, author, podcaster, and teacher of Cantonese, Taishanese (Toisanese), and Mandarin. She has published textbooks for teaching all three languages, with Learn to Speak Taishanese I having come out just this year. In this episode we talk to Jade about what got her into writing textbooks, as well as some of the differences between Cantonese and Taishanese–she even gives us a little lesson. InspirLang Website Episode transcript and vocabulary

This week we talk about two more important SFPs, gaa3 (㗎) and laa3 (喇). Raymond has examples aplenty, while Cameron seems to have air conditioning on his mind. Vocabulary and transcript

Following up on the last episode about Cantonese stand-up comedy, Raymond challenges Cameron with some Cantonese "爛gag," or anti-humor jokes. Word play and facepalming abound. Vocabulary and transcript

This week features the second half of our discussion with Vivek Mahbubani, a bilingual stand-up comedian from Hong Kong who performs in both Cantonese and English. He has appeared in local film, TV, and radio, and he also co-hosts the podcast Ho Ho Hong Kong. This week we look into Vivek’s tips for learning Cantonese, and the role that humor can play in language acquisition. Vivek's website Cantonese Alliance of North America Cantonese Creators Collective Cantonese Language...

This week features the first half of our discussion with Vivek Mahbubani, a bilingual stand-up comedian from Hong Kong who performs in both Cantonese and English. He has appeared in local film, TV, and radio, and he also co-hosts the podcast Ho Ho Hong Kong. This week’s portion touches on his experience growing up in Hong Kong, linguistic specificity in comedy, and why he never drinks a beer before going on stage. 

In the first of a series of episodes on Sentence Final Particles (SFPs), we look at how just one syllable can change the feeling of a Cantonese sentence. Using aa as an example, we run through how shifts in the tone of that syllable can further impact how the sentence is received. SFPs can be a bit of a challenge, but they are also part of what makes speaking Cantonese so much fun. Link to vocabulary and transcript

Have you ever watched an old movie and wondered if some of the lines might be spoken differently today? This week, Cameron challenges Raymond to a game where he has to take lines from Cantonese movies from the 50s and 60s and update them for a contemporary audience. Some of the lines include phrases that are used less in contemporary Hong Kong, while other phrases are still in use yet also have newer, trendier versions.  If you listen to the episode and think of relevant slang, be share to...

This episode features the second part of our interview with Dr. Lau, Chaakming, a long-term researcher and proponent of Cantonese in Hong Kong, his previous projects include words.hk and HamBaangLaang, and now he's also developing various other language resources. Dr Lau is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies at the Education University of Hong Kong, with a research focus on digital humanities and linguistics. If you did not hear the first part...

This episode features the first part of our interview with Dr. Lau, Chaakming, a long-term researcher and proponent of Cantonese in Hong Kong, his previous projects include words.hk and HamBaangLaang, and now he's also developing various other language resources. Dr Lau is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies at the Education University of Hong Kong, with a research focus on digital humanities and linguistics. Make sure to also tune in next week...

Cantonese is rich with vowel sounds, but some of them can be difficult for non-native speakers. One of the biggest challenges in this realm is differentiating between the "a" and "aa" sounds (with the classic example being gai1 (雞, chicken) vs. gaai1 (街, street)). Luckily, Raymond has three great tips for how to create more distinction between how you pronounce the two. Vocabulary and transcript UBC Cantonese pronunciation modules

Are there any foods that you love to eat when it gets cold out? Today we chat about a Cantonese winter staple, claypot rice (煲仔飯 bou1 zai2 faan6), and the types of Hong Kong shops that specialize in making just one dish. That brings us to the phrase 獨沽一味 (duk6 gu1 jat1 mei2). Episode transcript and vocabulary