The Straits Times discusses the rise of grassroots initiatives to learn and preserve Cantonese language, amid concerns about its decline in Hong Kong. The article explores how Hong Kongers abroad are using innovative tools like apps, videos, and social media to maintain their cultural identity.
Synopsis: The Straits Times chats with ST’s global correspondents about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises.
Want to pick up Cantonese? Some Hong Kongers - from a software engineer to a playgroup teacher based in Britain - have created new ways of learning the Chinese dialect such as through apps, videos and social media accounts. This surge in a grassroots effort is coming at a time when many Hong Kongers are feeling unmoored by the political turbulence of the past decade. As more migrate to non-Cantonese speaking societies, they are holding fast to their identity and language in a foreign environment.
There are also growing fears that Cantonese in Hong Kong and Guangdong is a dying language with people abandoning it for English or Mandarin. In this episode, ST’s foreign editor Li Xueying speaks with Hong Kong correspondent Magdalene Fung on how true such concerns are, and her assessment of these new Cantonese-language tools.5:20 How these new tools are different from traditional methodsRead Magdalene Fung’s article here:
Cantonese Language Hong Kong Identity Diaspora Language Preservation Digital Learning
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