A two-week Cantonese conversation class held by the Hong Kong and Macau Student Association ended successfully last Friday. Over 70 people joined the class learning not only about the language but also the cultural differences among HK, Macau and Taiwan. Chien Chen-rong, the organizer who is a student of the Department of History was pleased to able to converse in Cantonese and play the role of a cultural facilitator.

The teachers of the course come from HK and Macau and they chose a popular movie, “Disciples”, as their teaching material. They selected vocabulary, dialogue and grammar from the movie for students to practice on, and did a comparative study between Mandarin and Cantonese syntax. With the help of the movie, it was much easier for the learners to grasp difficult linguistic concepts and able to pick up slang which made learning much more fun than regular classes.

Lee Chih-chuan from the Department of Accounting, who attended the class for the first time, regarded her experience favorably. She had been watching and listening to Cantonese TV and songs and had managed to pick up some Cantonese here and there through subtitles. However, this class has sped up and consolidated her learning. Chien Chen-rong wants to remind everyone that it is a fantastic deal to join their Cantonese class as it only costs NT$ 100 for two weeks of valuable lessons in Cantonese language, culture, and friendship! ( ~Ying-hsueh Hu )