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roddy -



Quote:

How more racist one can get?

Hang people from trees? Force their kids to go to different schools? Not allow them to vote?
There's a few thoughts.



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Quest -

I think it's just so much rarer to see a Cantonese speaking caucasian, and honestly I have never
seen/met/heard a caucasian who speaks Cantonese as well as Sharon Balcombe. I've seen/heard many
non-Chinese but fluent Cantonese speakers, but never one that could speak it flawlessly like Mrs.
Lau. even if they were born in HK. People complain that HK people dont talk to them in Cantonese,
but if they spoke Cantonese like Sharon Balcombe, I think it would be hard not to speak to them in
Cantonese. She sounds culturally, linguistically, totally Cantonese... my mind's still fighting
hard, trying to force an accent on her, but so far failing to find even the slightest hint of
foreigness in her accent.

Sorry, I missed the Indian mother and daughter, they are 100% too, just like Sharon, the daugther
slightly more so. The mother has a bit(0.1%) of country accent.










Ian_Lee -

What is so strange about Caucasian speaking Cantonese?

When I was a kid in 1950s, my neighbor was a family of Britons whose kid spoke perfect Cantonese
(including all the 4-letter words). Their parents could all speak Cantonese, though not as fluent
as their son. But in average, their Cantonese were all much better than my other two neighbors --
Shandongese and Shanghaiese.

Nowadays if you go to the market in Hong Kong, most Filipino/Indonesian maids bargain in Cantonese
with those vendors.










Quest -

Ian_Lee, does your Cantonese have accent? I vaguely remember you said it does? Bauer, who you said
had very good Cantonese, does not really... not orally at least. He's okay, but easily detectable
as foreign.










Ian_Lee -

Quest:

Without comparison, Robert Bauer speaks quite good Cantonese. But of course, he is below average
after you compare all the videos.

Actually I prefer the Harilela most. They spoke unambigously, precisely and clearly. Of course,
they spoke with an accent. But accent is not the point since we (you and I) also speak English
with an accent. The most important point is that you can convey your idea accurately. Just like
Kissinger speaks English, everybody can tell that is not his native tongue but he can convey his
idea to us.

For Balcombe, I am not curious on her accentless since she is just like my neighbor kid -- 100%
native.

In terms of fluency, of course it is the Aussie/New Zealand girl who excels.

Though my father is a Chaozhouese, I speak Cantonese with HK accent -- a lot of "lazy sound".
However, I tell my kid not to learn the horrible Zhongshan-accented Cantonese that her classmate
speaks.










Quest -

I think the Australian girl also was born and raised in HK, but her parents kept her home, she was
a homeschooler, that's why she doesn't really know how to read chinese, and she still has a tiny
bit of an accent.










wannabeafreak -

Quest, how do you rate 河國榮 compared to the above people?


Thanks.










Quest -



Quote:

Quest, how do you rate 河國榮 compared to the above people?

I'd like to change my rating for the Indians (the men), they are actually more fluent than Cecilie
and Bauer. So maybe 75 for the Indian men. I think 河國榮's fluency is like theirs but with a
different accent, so maybe 75-80. Do you have a video of him speaking for a lengthy period of
time, I've only seen him in tvb drama.

Best first:
Sharon Balcombe (native)
Indian Daughter (native)
Indian Mother (native but with slight Indian/乡下话 characteristics)
Aus Girl (near native, miss a tone or two occasionally, fluency slightly worse than the above 3,
she uses 系呀，系嘞 too much)
(some distance)
河國榮 (fluent, but accent is foreign)
Indian Richmen (fluent, accent has heavy 乡下话 characteristics)
(some small distance)
Bauer (relatively fluent, accent foreign)
Cecilie (relatively fluent, accent foreign)










wannabeafreak -

Here is 河國榮 Ho Kwok Wing.

I have cut out all the advertisements and music.

Here is the entire interview:

PART 1: http://cantonese.hk/hkw/hkw-01.mp3 (1.97mb)
PART 2: http://cantonese.hk/hkw/hkw-02.mp3 (648kb)
PART 3: http://cantonese.hk/hkw/hkw-03.mp3 (296kb)
PART 4: http://cantonese.hk/hkw/hkw-04.mp3 (874kb)
PART 5: http://cantonese.hk/hkw/hkw-05.mp3 (992kb)



Please let me know how good you reckon he is compared to the above people. In terms of accent,
fluency etc. He is my idol.

Thanks










carlo -

sorry Quest, I'm curious about the 乡下话 accent. Are you saying that these people sound like
native speakers but with a non-'standard', yet non-'foreign', accent? Is it like, I don't know,
the way Blacks in American movies speak compared to Bostonian WASPs? If so, shouldn't their accent
be considered as native as that of the others, albeit of a non-standard variety? (My Cantonese
wouldn't make it to 5 on that scale, so I have to ask.












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