{"id":19428,"date":"2021-11-09T11:03:25","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T03:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=19428"},"modified":"2021-11-11T23:54:40","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T15:54:40","slug":"a-cantonese-fan-from-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2021\/11\/a-cantonese-fan-from-london\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cantonese Fan from London"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Polyglot Grace Njoku learns Cantonese by herself and shares her learning experience on YouTube.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Winkie Ng<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many Hongkongers, Grace Njoku falls in love with celebrity Anson Lo, member of a Cantonese boy band Mirror after watching Hong Kong drama Ossan\u2019s Love<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 17-year-old Irish girl living in London has been learning Cantonese for four years. She can understand many slangs and jokes in the popular drama about gay love. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI actually watched Ossan’s Love<\/em> without any English subtitles. I was so proud because I actually understood it. (It was the) first drama I have watched without English subtitles,\u201d the high school student says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Njoku\u2019s passion for Cantonese was first ignited when she heard her Chinese friend\u2019s mother speaking Cantonese in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to feel a bit left out. I never really understood what was going on. If her mum spoke to me, my friend had to be the middle person to translate. I just really hated that,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like learning languages, so I was like\u2014Why not just try learning Cantonese? I just thought it will be fun and I will be able to understand,\u201d the Irish girl adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Njoku, who is now 17-year-old, can speak six languages: English, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, French and Igbo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt (Cantonese) is always very expressive and passionate, so I quite like that,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Njoku is especially fond of the pronunciation of Cantonese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt sounds really funny. It is like singing songs\u2026Even now I have been learning for so many years, whenever I watch anything in Cantonese, I really like the way it sounds,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Bumpy Cantonese Learning Journey<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Njoku finds speaking Cantonese difficult at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t pronounce the tones. While I was listening, I couldn\u2019t hear the difference between tones. Everything just sounded the same. It was really hard to pronounce and to understand people,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Grace Njoku takes note of the tones when she learns Cantonese vocabulary. (Photo courtesy of Grace Njoku)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Lacking resources to learn Cantonese in London is another difficulty she encountered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI went to a book shop and tried to look for books. Everything was (for learning) Mandarin and Chinese. There was nothing for Cantonese,\u201d she sighs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Njoku manages to overcome many obstacles and picks up Cantonese by watching different Cantonese videos and dramas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like watching YouTube videos because they are really easy and short. But recently I just finished a drama, which was Ossan\u2019s Love<\/em>. I think it is really good so I want to watch more (Cantonese) dramas,\u201d the polyglot says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Njoku believes Cantonese can be mastered with ease once a person learns the tones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the grammar is too complicated. When you are able to pronounce the tones. Everything then is not really too difficult,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also discovers the beauty of Hong Kong culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWhen I first learnt Cantonese, I knew nothing about it\u2026It was the real learning when I found out it was spoken in Hong Kong. Then I started to know about Hong Kong culture and I fell in love with that as well,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Njoku has not been to Hong Kong, she loves the Hong Kong dishes at London\u2019s Chinatown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would say (my favourite foods are) dim sum and desserts like pineapple buns and egg tarts,\u201d she says<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Grace Njoku loves making Hong Kong dishes such as scrambled eggs with tomatoes at home. (Photo courtesy of Grace Njoku)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Helping Other Cantonese Learners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Njoku launched her YouTube channel<\/a> two years ago to share language learning tips. She has about 36,300 subscribers and over 70 videos as of early November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly a quarter of her videos are about enhancing Cantonese learning and exploring Hong Kong culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her most popular video Black Girl Orders Dim Sum in Perfect Cantonese<\/a><\/em> published last November has garnered over 527,000 views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI realised that there might be people like me who are looking for people (who share their Cantonese learning experience) on YouTube, but there weren\u2019t many. So I want to become one of those people and help any other person who is learning Cantonese,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a YouTuber also helps Njoku build a network and reach out to people who speak different languages including Cantonese around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore YouTube, I barely had anybody to speak to. Now, it\u2019s nice that I have people to practise with,\u201d Njoku says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides Cantonese learners, many native speakers also find Njoku\u2019s YouTube videos appealing and follow her on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I have questions about Cantonese, I post it on my Instagram. Immediately, I get responses because I have many Hongkongers following me,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Grace Njoku learns Cantonese idioms and phrases from her Hong Kong friend. (Photo courtesy of Grace Njoku)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Njoku is happy to see many positive comments on her videos, praising her great effort and accurate pronunciations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing those comments makes me believe more in myself. It gives me motivations\u2026(and makes me feel) like I am doing really well now,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes there are a few negative comments, criticising her Cantonese is not impressive enough. Njoku just deletes them and keeps working hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Njoku loves Cantonese a lot and wishes there will be more Cantonese learners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will be really sad if it dies and no one speaks (Cantonese) anymore. So I just hope more people can learn Cantonese and people can just continue to speak Cantonese,\u201d Njoku says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Linn Wu
Sub-edited by Kelly Yu<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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