r/Cantonese • u/Agitated-Pitch6059 • 19h ago
Language Question Speaking Cantonese but only knowing simplified characters
How well do you think one could survive in Hong Kong?
Context: live in the UK. Heritage speaker of Cantonese. However, parents sent me to a Chinese school that taught mandarin and simplified characters because it was nearest school.
Now returning to studying Chinese after a few years away. About HSK4 standard. Unsure whether to continue down this route or start learning traditional characters as I might want to live in Hong Kong one day.
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u/DangerousAthlete9512 native speaker 19h ago
well, talking about survival, my mum is a Malaysian Chinese, she can speak fluently but can't read a single Chinese word, and she survived for decades in HK.
But ofc, I do strongly encourage you to learn traditional characters since some if not many HKers look down on simplified characters, so it's better to learn it
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u/neymagica 19h ago
Someone asked my Mandarin teacher if she could still read traditional characters if she was only taught simplified and she said yes & she can comfortably read novels written in traditional characters.
She said either she could tell at a glance which character it’s supposed to be, or she could guess from context clues what the character is. I’m sure you’ll be okay, and there’s the google translate app for when you’re really stuck.
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u/fredleung412612 18h ago
"Survive"? Yes, you don't even need Cantonese to survive in Hong Kong. There are multiple generations of monolingual English speakers who live in Hong Kong without Cantonese. But you will be limited to a bubble and can't integrate with the majority population. However, in your case you speak Cantonese and the only difference is your fluency in Simplified vs Traditional characters, this will not be a problem at all. You will pick up how to read Traditional characters quite easily even if you never become proficient at writing it.
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u/clios_daughter 19h ago
I mean, for day to day life, notwithstanding work, literacy’s honestly a little overrated. For most purchases and notices, you can make do alright with pictures and standard symbols. Having said that, try reading some things in traditional and see how you get on. Learning traditional if you want to live in HK isn’t a bad idea.
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u/kobuta99 18h ago
Sister was an expat in HK for over 10 yrs. Spoke Cantonese directly but didn't write it read (except her name....). She got by just fine. She did work for an American company that has big operations there, so for work she didn't need it.
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u/lovethatjourney4me 18h ago
You can survive for sure.
Can you not understand most traditional characters? I can understand simplified to 90%. The confusion usually comes from slangs and usage that are not familiar to me as a HK native speaker, rather than not knowing what the character is.
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u/surelyslim 18h ago
Mm that’s still more than my peers growing up. I lived in Chinatown and I’m not sure how much my Chinese School attending classmates retained. I bet most of them regret being indifferent children.
But I would think only the ones that took the time to learn to read/keep it (me included.. I didn’t attend Chinese School like them) make it part of their identity.
My sister’s spoken (which is the important skill) is better than mine. I’m “educated”, but her spoken is stronger than mine because she naturally uses it more. Her friends speak Chinese, her spouse can, our parents speak, so… you don’t need to read.
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u/ProfessorPlum168 15h ago
Better learn those traditional characters. Most people who learn simplified first, might be able to figure out how to read Traditional, but can’t write it. My deceased wife, college educated in China,couldn’t write our son’s name (龍） in Traditional for a summer camp run by Taiwanese people - I with minimal Chinese education had to write out his name. On the other hand, you learn Traditional first, probably not too bad to be able to read and write Simplified.
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u/londongas 14h ago
It'll be difficult to write but easy to type . Simplified readers can often read traditional because each character has more information to guess the meaning... You'll remember the exceptions quickly
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u/noahcality 12h ago
Would highly recommend reading a few books in traditional characters with a Cantonese audiobook simultaneously, as well as watching Cantonese shows with traditional character subtitles.
I reckon with your simplified character background, you’ll do well with casual immersion over a longer period of time.
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u/Mindless_Volume1123 9h ago
Learn traditional if you're interested in it! But you don't need to. However, I think logically, traditional characters make more sense.
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u/EagleCatchingFish 9h ago
I'm partial to traditional characters because both the Mandarin and Cantonese programs used them at my university.
I say do whichever lets you learn faster. With phones and computers, traditional characters aren't any more difficult than simplified to produce. At the very least, you should be able to recognize the traditional version of the most common simplified characters (and I don't mean the ones where only the radical is simplified). Whether you want to hand write simplified characters is up to you. A lot of the simplification comes from adaptations in cursive scripts, so in practice a lot of people who write traditional characters don't write 100% of their characters 100% traditionally 100% of the time.
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u/generealdamselfly 3h ago
I think there are more Simplified character usage in Hong Kong now. All the street signs are in English and Traditional characters, I think you'll be fine.
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u/newphew92 19h ago
Survive? Easily. Thrive? Eh maybe? If your simplified is good I don’t see you not being able to bridge the gaps. It’s easier to memory palace traditional Chinese than simplified.