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For many foreigners who come to Hong Kong for work, one of the appeals of the city is its widespread use of English, so they never feel compelled to learn Cantonese.
But 29-year-old Australian Jonas Groom has made a splash on social media, posting videos of his Cantonese language-learning journey, with some of his clips garnering hundreds of thousands of views.
Groom moved to Hong Kong a little over a year ago.
He works as a strategy consultant and wanted to learn the language so he could connect better with the local people.
At first, he learned by taking online classes. Now, he mainly learns by talking with friends and people he meets.
“There aren’t a lot of Westerners who learn Cantonese,” Groom said.
“I feel that when there is someone learning Cantonese who doesn’t have a Cantonese background or Cantonese heritage, it stands out slightly ... Therefore, people really appreciate it.”
Challenges of learning Cantonese
Cantonese is a very hard language to learn. It has tricky tones, sounds that are new to English speakers, and its spoken and written forms are quite different.
Many people who want to learn Chinese are not choosing this language any more.
Instead, more foreigners are studying Mandarin, which is the main language spoken in mainland China.
Groom has stuck Post-it notes on various items and pieces of furniture with the Chinese characters and corresponding tones, while the flip side has the English translation.
He also regularly writes down keywords and phrases he wants to practise before heading out.
“My tones are terrible. I don’t think I have any of them correct,” he said.
“But I’m making an effort and that’s what matters.”
Groom said another big challenge was learning the subtle differences between Cantonese and Mandarin, which he studied while living in Beijing.
Language learning journey
A few months into his language-learning journey, he began posting videos on his Instagram account, which quickly resonated with users from across cultures.
In one of his earliest videos, users expressed amazement at how quickly he had been able to pick up the language.
“Your Cantonese is so good already!” one user wrote.
“Keep going! You can do it,” another wrote.
One of his best-performing videos has more than 750,000 views.
It features a comedic interaction where Groom orders a dish from a local restaurant in Cantonese, and the shop owner responds to him in English.
“Uncle speaks English and Jonas speaks Chinese ... The tables have turned!” one user commented.
He has also used his videos as a medium for cultural exchange, with clips showing the differences between how Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong and the nearby mainland city of Guangzhou, as well as teaching his local friends Australian slang.
The positive reception has extended from the online world to real life.
He recalled a particularly touching moment over Christmas when he visited a nearby wet market to hand out chocolates and befriend the local vendors.
Ultimately, Groom said he hoped his videos would encourage more people to learn Cantonese.
“Everyone’s really friendly and outgoing, and when you make a little bit of an effort to learn some Cantonese, even if it’s broken, even if it doesn’t make grammatical sense, it really goes a long way,” he said.
