SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1977
CANTONESE TONES CAN BE MASTERED *****
TOO MANY EUROPEANS ARE DISCOURAGED FROM LEARNING CANTONESE BY THE WALL OF FEAR THAT SURROUNDS THE THOUGHT OF CHINESE TONES SAYS THE AUTHOR OF A MAJOR NEW ENGLISH-CANTONESE DICTIONARY, MR. SIDNEY LAU.
+THIS IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIER,+ SAID MR. LAU TODAY. +IN FACT THE TONES ARE NOT AS BAD AS MANY PEOPLE THINK+.
MR. LAU HAS LONG EXPERIENCE OF TEACHING CANTONESE HAVING SPENT MANY YEARS WITH THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT'S CHINESE LANGUAGE TRAINING SECTION AND HAVING PREPARED A SERIES OF TEXTBOOKS AT ELEMENTARY, INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED LEVELS.
THE 1001-PAGE DICTIONARY IS NOW ON SALE AT $120 AND IS AVAILABLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE AND LEADING BOOKSHOPS.
MR. LAU'S DICTIONARY GIVES A ROMANISED FORM FOR EACH CANTONESE SOUND FOLLOWED BY AN EXPLANATION IN ENGLISH. THE COMPILATION TASK TOOK 15 MONTHS TO COMPLETE AND THERE ARE SOME 22,000 CANTONESE ENTRIES BASED ON ABOUT 3,600 MAIN WORDS.
+THE ONLY OTHER SIMILAR DICTIONARY WAS 30 TO 40 YEARS OUT OF DATE,+ SAID MR. LAU. +MANY NEW WORDS HAVE ENTERED CANTONESE SINCE THEN AND I THOUGHT IT WAS DISGRACEFUL THAT TEACHERS SHOULD STILL HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH AN INADEQUATE DICTIONARY.
+ORIGINALLY I HAD INTENDED TO PUT TOGETHER A COMPREHENSIVE GLOSSARY FOR MY CANTONESE TEXTBOOKS BUT IT WAS THEN SUGGESTED THAT I EXPAND THIS INTO A PROPER, MODERN, DICTIONARY.+
WHY DO SO MANY EUROPEANS TRY CANTONESE AND RETIRE DEFEATED? +WELL, MANY OF THEM ARE VERY GOOD, BUT THEY ARE FOLLOWING DEMANDING CAREERS AND THEY ARE PROMOTED, WHICH CUTS DOWN THE TIME THEY HAVE FOR STUDY, OR THEY ARE TRANSFERRED FROM HONG KONG. THE LESS-WELL-OFF PERHAPS DON'T HAVE THE TIME, OR THE MONEY, TO PERSEVERE.
AND THOSE TONES? +THEY CAN BE MASTERED. IT'S ALL IN THE MIND,+ SAYS MR. LAU.