Comments on: Mandarin and Cantonese in NYC’s Chinatown http://www.jodineufeld.com/blog/2009/10/23/mandarin-and-cantonese-in-nycs-chinatown/ Blogging about life in Barcelona, Catalan and American culture, travel, food, and friends. Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:18:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Terrence http://www.jodineufeld.com/blog/2009/10/23/mandarin-and-cantonese-in-nycs-chinatown/comment-page-1/#comment-882 Terrence Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:22:14 +0000 http://www.jodineufeld.com/blog/?p=1127#comment-882 I obviously don't live in NYC, but this is definitely happening in Vancouver as well. Although I'm not aware of any enclaves in Vancouver where I "can’t even order food", as the one dude from the article suggests; almost no one who owns a business here can't speak English. While Mandarin speakers outnumber Cantonese speakers by over 10:1, I hardly think Cantonese is in any danger of extinction, although you'll probably hear very little of it in North America in a couple of generations. I'm a (poor) Cantonese speaker but no, I have no real intention of learning Mandarin, mostly because I can't really see how it would benefit me (other than the simple satisfaction of learning a new language/dialect). The only place I really use Chinese is in Hong h Kong, where everyone still speaks either Cantonese or English, and will for my lifetime. I obviously don’t live in NYC, but this is definitely happening in Vancouver as well. Although I’m not aware of any enclaves in Vancouver where I “can’t even order food”, as the one dude from the article suggests; almost no one who owns a business here can’t speak English.

While Mandarin speakers outnumber Cantonese speakers by over 10:1, I hardly think Cantonese is in any danger of extinction, although you’ll probably hear very little of it in North America in a couple of generations.

I’m a (poor) Cantonese speaker but no, I have no real intention of learning Mandarin, mostly because I can’t really see how it would benefit me (other than the simple satisfaction of learning a new language/dialect). The only place I really use Chinese is in Hong h Kong, where everyone still speaks either Cantonese or English, and will for my lifetime.

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