Useful website and apps for self learning Cantonese
-Cantonese Dictionary and Translator
1. Bing Microsoft Translator
https://www.bing.com/translator
Bing Translator is a really good website for translating Cantonese to English. They don’t have jyutping provided but it is really accurate in a strange way. Most of the foul language here is translated perfectly.
2a. Pleco –Phone dictionary for learning Mandarin and Cantonese
Pros: Pleco is useful for learning the pronounciation of Cantonese. Also they will teach you how to write Chinese character in correct order. For Cantonese it is free. You have to go to the setting and change it to ” Enable Cantonese”. Cons: They sometimes mix up mandarin and cantonese vocabularies. Which is quite confusing for learners.
2b. CC-Canto beta
A fast, free online Cantonese-English dictionary from Pleco
This is the website version of Pleco. It is much more easy and user friendly then the phone App.
3. ABC Cantonese Dictionary – Plug-in of Pleco $29.99USD
https://www.pleco.com/2017/06/25/abc-cantonese-dictionary-now-available/
Pros: If you are advance level student. ABC dictionary would be useful for learning slangs. Cons: It is not useful for beginners. And it cost money.
4. CantoDict – cantonese.sheik.co.uk
http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/
Pros: CantoDict is more useful than Pleco. As you can use google search directly to get an accurate answer. You just need to put “keyword + sheik” in google and they will show you accurate result. Cons: The vocabulary in sheik is not as much as Pleco.
5. Learn Cantonese! – Useful information and phrases
http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/
You can get more information of learning basic Cantonese here.
6. 粵音資料集叢 (For Advance Level Learner)
粵音資料集叢適合粵語水平比較高的學習者，這個網站記錄所有繁體中文字的粵語發音方法，而且註有來源，非常適合教育界或新聞界人士使用。
粵音資料集叢的網站簡介:
《粵音資料集叢》旨在將年代久遠、罕見或是具參考價值但已在市面絕跡的粵音文獻在數碼世界重現。
狹義而言，《粵音資料集叢》專指本網站（https://www.jyut.net）。廣義而言，也包括典籍專頁及寄存在其他場所（例如 Github、Google Sheet）的資料。
Cantonese Input Apps, software and websites
1. Online Cantonese Input Method
http://www.cantoneseinput.com/?lang=en
Pros: You can use this tool to type Cantonese without installing any software or apps. Cons: Chinese character only. No English translation is provided.
2. Google Cantonese Input in Gboard
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin&hl=en_US
Gboard settings -> Languages -> Add Keyboards, and look for Cantonese.
Google Cantonese is a very strong typing app for typing Chinese. 4 ways are provided for both native Cantonese speakers and foreigners. You can also do writing and voice typing. And the voice typing is super fast and accurate. If you want to use voice typing in Cantonese, you have to change the phone setting in your google voice input.
3. Google Chrome Cantonese Input Plug-in
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-input-tools/mclkkofklkfljcocdinagocijmpgbhab?hl=en
This is an useful Cantonese Input Plugin which only be used at Chrome. Please enable typing Cantonese in the setting.
How to install this plug-in in google Chrome:
Cantonese Reader
4. Cantonese Reader Online & Cantonese To Jyutping Converter
https://www.cantonesetools.org/en/cantonese-to-jyutping
According to the introduction from this website:
This app is designed to help you convert Cantonese text into jyutping, which is the romanized phonetic writing system for Cantonese. To use this app, simply type in the Chinese text that you want to convert into the left box and then click on the “convert” button. You will then see the corresponding jyutping for the Chinese text appear in the right box.
5. Realistic Cantonese Text to Speech Service Online
Text to Speech Voices – Chinese Cantonese Female voice
https://text-to-speech.imtranslator.net/speech.asp?dir=g_zh-HK_f
This website can read Chinese characters in Cantonese. The female voice sounds native and useful for self learning. You just need to put the Chinese text in the right hand side and click “say it” to generate the sound.
6.Whatsapp Cantonse Speech to Text Tool: cantonese.ai
This is a very useful APP to save your time from voice message in Whatsapp. Just one click to convert Cantonese voice message to Chinese traditional character text.
Here is the introduction from their website:
Are you tired of spending valuable time listening to long audio messages on messaging apps like Whatsapp, Telegram, or WeChat? Our Speech to Text tool is here to help. With just a few clicks, you can effortlessly convert any Cantonese audio into written text. No more struggling to catch every detail or worrying about missing important information.
7. TypeDuck 打得粵拼輸入法 (Available on iOS and Android)
https://www.typeduck.hk/TypeDuck
TypeDuck is very useful for foreigners who can read and write Jyutping fluently.
Introduction from their official website:
TypeDuck is a Cantonese input keyboard that allows you to type words with Jyutping , a standardized romanization scheme for Cantonese. You can enter Chinese characters based on the way they are read! Not sure about the right characters? English, Hindi, Indonesian, Nepali and Urdu word translation prompts can help. You can turn your thought into text , and the process is under your control.
Cantonese Practicing / Self-Test App or Website
1. AnkiApp
AnkiApp is a really convenient tool if you are really lazy to make your own flash card. There are many languages you can learn from AnkiApp. Users can make their own Anki flash card and share their own card to other users. You just need to search Cantonese flash card and download them for your own use.
2 .Cantonese Pronunciation App (For beginners)
Apple User Download Here
Google User Download Here
CanPro (Cantonese Pronunciation App) is a mobile language app for practising Cantonese pronunciations and learning common Cantonese expressions. In this app, users need to match the Chinese characters in a Cantonese expression with their respective romanized forms after listening to the pronunciations. The expressions of CanPro were selected, on the basis of usage frequency, from a digitized Cantonese language database with around 800,000 characters (https://hkcc.eduhk.hk/). This beta version has 99 expressions. More expressions will be added later.
To Improve your Cantonese Listening Ability
1. Cantonese Audio Book – Little Prince (For advance level)
Please click “聲之書” to listen the Little Prince story in Cantonese
Little Prince is a really good book for learning languages. A well- known Chinese KOL in Weixin QQ own a website. And he create a set of audio book for learning the Cantonese version of Little Prince. This is a really useful website for advance level foreigners or native Chinese kids to learn Cantonese.
2. Cantonese Class 101 Youtube Channel (For beginners and advance level)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUSDi1a8z_zh9BKrg8VMNGA
Cantonese101 is not free but their Youtube Channel is free! Lots of useful daily use Cantonese phrases in their Youtube Channel. You can watch it for free. But if you pay for their course. You can discuss with the teacher in Cantonese 101 about your grammar mistake and problems.
3. Cantonese Podcast – Chatty Cantonese (For advance level)
Chatty Cantonese is a free Apple Podcast. They discuss about Cantonese and languages phenomenon in society in the Podcast. It is suitable for advance level learner. They didn’t speak too fast.
4. HK Anime (For advance level)
There many Cantonese Animation in this website. You can find a Cantonese animation here and find the English subtitle from the other website to practice your Cantonese listening skill.
Here is one of my favorite Japanese Animation with Cantonese Dub and English Sub:
Rent a Girl Friend ENGLISH SUB:https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/2002492461
Rent a Girl Friend Cantonese DUB : https://www.hkanime.com/animal/623x1x1
5. 冚唪唥粵文讀本 Hambaanglaang Cantonese Graded Readers (For Beginners)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNKyBXronmLoYlja3VZG6AQ
(Useful For children and Cantonese Beginners)
Hambaanglaang Cantonese Graded Readers is a very good channel for children and Cantonese beginners learner to study Cantonese online. They have a lots of interesting cute Cantonese stories with illustrations designed for English learners.
6. Viu.tv 香港粵語電視台 Cantonese TV channel in Hong Kong (For advance level)
Viu TV is a local TV channel in Hong Kong. Most of their TV programe are in Cantonese but no English subtitle is provided. Chinese subtitle is provided so it is a great place for Mandarin speakers to improve their Cantonese listening skill.
7. The best animation for Cantonese beginner: Peppa Pig (For beginners)
https://www.netflix.com/hk-en/title/80025494
Peppa Pig is the best animation for learning Basic Cantonese. They speak very slow and clear in the animation as it is designed for kids and babies. Don’t feel embarrassed to watch it! It is now on Netflix and both English Sub and Cantonese Dub are available !
Self-Learning Tool for Learning Traditional Chinese Character
1. Transitional Characters Learning: Lexical items with English Explanations for Fundamental Chinese Learning in Hong Kong Schools
https://www.edbchinese.hk/lexlist_en/index.jsp
This website is really useful for both expat and Chinese speakers to learn traditional Chinese characters. They provide all both speaking Cantonese expressions and written Chinese expression in this website. And they have animations for you to learn the traditional Chinese characters.
2. Cantonese Font 粤語字體 from Visual Fonts
Cantonese Font is a new Cantonese font that can tells you the Cantonese pronunciation of the traditional Chinese characters. It can visualize the tones and the tone mark and the accuracy is more than 99%.
Check it out from the below link:
https://visual-fonts.com/
——————————————————————————————
Online material for building up Cantonese vocabulary
- 街市常見的食/用品及服務行 Common Food / Goods Items and Service Trades in Public Markets
https://www.fehd.gov.hk/english/pleasant_environment/tidy_market/market_goods.pdf
This is a online pdf booklet includes 600 common goods in 10 different languages . You can download the whole booklet from above link. If you want the hard copy of this booklet, you can go to government public indoor market to look for it. This book is useful for foreigners who cannot speak Cantonese. It is published in 10 different languages. It includes over 600 different common goods in wet market.
2. 兒童英漢圖解常用1000字 (1000 useful WORDS)Traditional Chinese Character Version
ISBN：9789620871306
Introduction of this book from:
https://seeds.com.hk/zh/products/1000-useful-words?activeTab=exercise-books
About 1000 Useful Words This picture word book of 1000 first words will broaden young children’s vocabulary and strengthen their early reading and writing skills.