United States Foreign Service Institute
   Chinese Cantonese Basic Level I

Learn Chinese Cantonese - Speak Chinese Cantonese

Developed by the Foreign Service Institute for teaching diplomatic personnel, this book and audio course are perfect for independent or small group study. FSI courses are thorough, comprehensive, and widely regarded as the best available.

Why You Need To Use FSI Language Programs

FSI, or the Foreign Service Institute has been producing government sponsored language programs for over forty years! Developed as a tool in training the United States Government’s top agencies, the programs expansive coverage has provided the much needed tools in educating some of today’s most esteemed government leaders. Ambassadors, Diplomats, and CIA Agents have all agreed that FSI’s programs for language learning are second to none!

FSI’s success in educating top officials and agents is now available to you! Whether you are a beginner or just brushing up, the courses offer a proven and time-tested methodology for discovering your language potential! These audio courses offer a learn at your own pace developmental system that will have you well on your way to speaking any language within weeks of purchasing your’ program!

Educators agree that FSI’s language programs provide the necessary tools in effectively educating the second language student or business professional! Whether you’re a recent high school graduate on your way to Europe or a CEO leading your company into the next great marketplace you will be amazed at how effective FSI programs are at releasing your language abilities! With just a few dedicated minutes a day you can be on your way to enjoying your new language!

Don’t Settle For I,II,III programs! Start learning your next language with the complete power of FSI! Unlike most language programs, FSI is packaged to give all materials to the customer at the time of purchase. This means once you buy an FSI language program you will never have to return to the site to buy subsequent programs within the same language! All the materials are provided for you to develop a complete and comprehensive knowledge of your’ selected language.

About The Foreign Service Institute

As any seasoned vacationer, jet-setting businessman, soldier, diplomat or weekend warrior will tell you, traveling to a foreign country is a truly exhilarating experience. From the moment you first set foot on foreign soil, you're surrounded by a new, exotic world, full of unique sights, sounds, tastes and adventures. Your senses are in overdrive as you feel both excitement about what awaits you, and anxiety about adhering to local laws and customs. It is at this moment--when you desire to make the very most of this experience--that you realize your true barrier to this new world is not a cultural one, but rather one of basic communication. Learning the local language can be the difference between frustration and relaxation on a vacation. It can spell success or failure in a business meeting. It can help insure a safe, fulfilling and enlightening trip for virtually anyone, anywhere. The family of language courses assembled by Learn How To Speak.com is the answer.

Learn-How-To-Speak.COM has been granted exclusive access to the original language courses developed by the Foreign Service Institute the United States Government's primary institution for training diplomats and other officials for assignments in foreign countries. Now you can benefit from the very same programs that America's most distinguished foreign servants have trusted for decades.

Learn-How-To-Speak.COM's exclusive foreign language courses are designed for individuals who desire to learn, experience and enjoy foreign cultures. They are comprehensive, in-depth and most importantly, proven. If you are considering a trip to another country, aiming to strengthen business relationships with foreign counterparts, or just wanting to learn something new, then our courses are for you. Don't just be another tourist; travel with respect, style and the peace of mind that only comes from knowing you can accurately communicate in any situation.

About the Chinese Cantonese Language

Cantonese (also known as Yue) is one of several major languages in China and has approximately 64 million speakers (Grimes 1992). Of those 64 million, there are more than 46 million speakers in southern China and over 5 million in Hong Kong. Cantonese speakers are also found in Malaysia (750,000), Vietnam (500,000), Macao (500,000), Singapore (33,000), and Indonesia (18,000). Smaller communities (less than 30,000 speakers) also exist in Thailand, New Zealand, Philippines, Costa Rica, Brunei, and Nauru. Sizeable Chinese communities use Cantonese in Canada (several hundred thousand), the United States (for example, 180,000 in San Francisco), Australia, the United Kingdom, Panama, the Netherlands, and some other European countries.

The various Chinese languages are often referred to as dialects because they have in common the Chinese writing system. Thus, an educated speaker of any of the language varieties recognizes written Chinese, but may pronounce it in his or her own "dialect." These "dialects," however, are not mutually intelligible. Hence, from a linguistic point of view, they are not considered proper dialects but rather as separate languages (Norman 1988). The term language is used here to refer to the major distinctions within Chinese (for example, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Wu, and Min) and the term dialect to refer to further distinctions (for example, Toishan is a dialect of Cantonese).

The term Cantonese comes from the name of the place called Canton, now known as Guangzhou, the port city in southeast China and capital of Guangdong province. However, recent studies (China Encyclopedia Publishers 1988) reveal that Cantonese is exclusively used in less than half of the areas in the province. It is the only or major language in forty counties and cities of the province. It is also spoken in sixteen other counties, co-existing with other variants of Chinese. In the neighboring province of Guangxi, it is used in twenty three counties, usually together with other varieties of Chinese.

Chinese Cantonese Reference Links

» Pimsleur Language Programs from Plurality Language