Expat learning Cantonese

I was on the MTR on my way back home from work and an expat sat next to me. then he took out from his suitcase a Cantonese oral exercise book. i asked ask him in cantonese, "nan umm nan" (is it difficult?) He gave me a blank look telling me that he didn't understand a word. I repeated my question in English and we carried on little conversation. I found out that he is only on lesson two and has very limited Cantonese. Yes, he found Cantonese to be hard, especially with the different tones. I shared with him some frustration stories my friend had with learning Cantonese and finding conversational partner. He told me that his greatest enemy is fear of speaking in Cantonese. He told me that it's very difficult for him to understand when people talk to him in Cantonese.

from my experience, not too many expat are interested in learning Cantonese (which I think is a pretty difficult language to learn). But he seems to be a serious learner, or he wouldn't be studying on the MTR. He told me that there are only 4 students in his Cantonese class, so i guess it isn't a popular endeavor for expat. However, i do know of a group of Korean housewives who go to CUHK for Cantonese lesson.

For expat, Mandarin would probably be an easier and more practically language to learn. I wonder why they picked Cantonese instead. But I think it's cool that they are learning Cantonese.

Expatriates in Hong Kong

I think this is a space where I can stretch out more a bit in talking about life here in Hong Kong as a Chinese-Australian-American.

Expat mentality. Many expatriates have an unhealthy mindset that almost everything in Hong Kong is inferior to what they have back home. The exception would be the great transport system and banking system of Hong Kong. It actually the same mentality that Chinese immigrants have when they move to Southern California. Many of these Chinese immigrants would complain about the food, fashion, lack of public transport system, expensive cost of living an etc… That sentiment that the Chinese immigrants have usually start to gradually wear out as they get used to their new way of living while discovering the joy (or benefits) of some of the changes.

The difference here is that many of the expatriates stay long enough in Hong Kong to get use to Hong Kong, and they don’t blend into the mainstream society. They might go see a Cantopop concert and go 'dim sum' every now and then, but most of them are not going to start eating “tea house” everyday for lunch. They can afford not to. And the community they surround themselves with other expatriates.

I have heard that it's hard for expatriates to be at the 'same' level with Hong Kongers and some even blamed the locals for their frustration. I think to a certain point it's true, yet there are only so much you can blame the locals for. Yes, locals are going to behave differently around a 'foreigner.' That's very natural. Take a Chinese guy to Iowa and I am pretty sure most people there are going to treat him a little bit different. We all act differently to different people. We all have our cliches and bias.