Booklet Cantonese Vol.1

earwormsM u s i c a l B r a i n T r a i n e r

mbt ®

200+ essential words and phrasesanchored into your long-term memory

with great music

Rapid Cantonese

Your personal audio language trainer

Your personal audio language trainer

earworms mbt® Rapid Cantonese puts the words andphrases you need not just on the tip of your tongue, butalso transports them deep into your long-term memory.

Simply by listening to these specially composed melodieswith their rhythmic repetitions of Cantonese and English afew times, the sound patterns are indelibly burned intoyour auditory cortex. You will have successfully learnedthe Cantonese phrase and have the correct accent ringingin your ears. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing:while jogging, in the car, in the bath, doing the ironing…you can be learning Cantonese at the same time!

earworms mbt® Rapid Languages is the first languagecourse to get your toe tapping.

You know the phenomenon of those catchy tunes or earworms that you just can't get out of your head?Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir? Well, earwormsmbt® has put this phenomenon to positive use. Gone arethe days of learning pressure and frustration at not beingable to remember, the experience of many on conventional language courses. In combination withmusic, the phrases you need are automatically anchoreddeep into your memory, ready for instant recall.

Music is the key

The idea is as simple as it is old. Before the age of writing,ancient historical events were recorded in verse and songform for easy memorisation. In his book 'Songlines' Bruce Chatwin describes how the Australian Aborigineswere able to navigate their way across hundreds of milesof desert to their ancestral hunting grounds without maps.And how? The extensive lyrics of their traditional songswere exact descriptions of the routes!

Rhythm and words i.e. song and verse have always beena very powerful memory aid, and this is supported byrecent scientific research. The advertising industry knowsonly too well how powerful music can be in gettingthe message across with brainwashing-like jingles andsoundbites.

It really works!

Developed and used over years in the classroom, earworms mbt Rapid Languages has shownphenomenal success. In tests pupils using this techniqueregularly get average marks of over 90% compared to lessthan 50% with conventional book based learning.Why hasn't music been used more in education up tonow? Imagine kids at school getting a CD of hip hopsongs with all the historical dates they have to learn, or allthe French verbs they have to learn! Wouldn't that maketheir (and teachers') school lives much easier, muchmore fun, much more successful?

What you get

This volume deals with the essentials for your visit abroad. It looks at typical situations: taking a taxi,at the hotel, at the restaurant, requesting, polite phrases,finding your way, numbers, dealing with problems andso on. Volume 2 will have you talking about yourself andothers, past, present and future, likes and dislikes andgeneral conversational items. The themes follow closelythe Common European Framework for language learning,a recognised benchmark of simple conversational language proficiency, and the emphasis is constantly onusefulness to the learner.

Memory hooks

This booklet contains all the text on the CD, bothEnglish and the written sounds of the Cantonese words.The original Cantonese writing and comments to assistyour memorisation and understanding, can be foundunder 'Extras' on the earworms website, together with alist of memory hooks to aid your memorisation. Memoryhooks are visualisations of words. For example, if youwant to memorise the Cantonese number: eight = baa,imagine eight sheep saying ‘baa’ - and you will easilyremember. Try to make your own memory hooks, it’s fun.

How to use earworms: Don't think, just listen!

Sit back, relax and groove along to the melodies withouttrying to listen too hard. Treat them as songs you hear onthe radio. Our recommendation is that you do familiariseyourself with the written words in the booklet - at least the first time you listen. After listening several times, playfully test yourself - cover up the English side of the phrase book and seehow many words and phrases you remember!

Lastly - a word of thanks

The earworms team would like to thank you for puttingyour trust in our 'slightly different' learning conceptand are sure that you will have the success that manyothers have already had. It's motivating to know thatlearners are really benefiting from our research anddevelopment. Also, as accelerated learning is a rapidlygrowing field, we look forward to hearing yourexperiences and successes - so feel free to visit us on the website:

www.earwormslearning.com


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1. I would like …

I ~ would like …

... a coffee ...

... with milk. (literally: ... and milk.) I’d like a coffee and milk.

and

sugar

tea

Very good!

beer

water / a glass of water

Please, bring ~ a glass of water ~ to me.

Please, bring ~ a coffee ~ to me.

Please, bring ~ a beer ~ to me.

Thank you!

Ngor ~ seung yiu …

... gaa-fe ...

... gaa nai.

Ngor seung yiu gaa fe gaa nai.

gaa

tong

tsaa*

Ho ho!

beh dsou (sounds like ‘bed sow’**)

seui / booi seui

M-goy, bay ~ booi seui ~ ngor.

M-goy, bay ~ gaa-fe ~ ngor.

M-goy, bay ~ beh dsou ~ ngor.

Daw dseh!

* Try to repeat the exact sounds of the words. Going up or down in tone, canchange the meaning: ‘tsaa’ going down in tone means ‘tea’, but ‘tsaa’ going upin tone at the end means ‘bad’! Just as an example: This tea is very bad = Ni di tsaa ho tsaa. Of course a more useful sentence is: This tea is very good = Ni di tsaa ho ho.

** Memory hook: To remember the word for beer = ‘bed sow’ think of a beerbottle label with a picture of a ‘sow in bed’.

For the sake of simplicity we have provided the Cantonese phonetics only.If you want to have the original Cantonese text as well, go to the website:www.earwormslearning.com and look under: Discover earworms > Extras > Cantonese text.

2. To order

giu

yum bun

Ngor seung giu ~ yum bun.

Ngor seung giu ~ dsow.

hong zow

hong*

baa dsow

yat zee ~ dsow

yat booi ~ dsow

Yum** booi!

yat dee ~ mean bow

M-goy, bay ~ ya dee mean bow ~ ngor.

Ho ho.

Daw dseh.

Mm zai ha’*** hey.

to order

drinks

I want to order ~ drinks.

I want to order ~ wine.

red wine

red

white wine

a bottle of ~ wine.

a glass of ~ wine

Cheers!

a little ~ bread

Please, bring ~ a little bread ~ to me.

Very good.

Thank you.

Don’t mention it.

Memory hook: To remember that red is ‘hong’, think of Hong Kong written in red letters!

Memory hook: To remember that ‘baa’ is white, think of the sound that sheepmake. Most sheep are white.

Memory hook: To remember that ‘a bottle’ is ‘yad zee’, think of thousands of bottles floating in the ‘Yangtze’ river.

Memory hook: Oh ‘boy’ is that drink yummy!

* Memory hooks: A useful technique to help memorize the sounds and meanings ofCantonese words is to associate them with familiar English words and images. Often theweirder these visualizations are, the easier it is to remember them. Try making your ownmemory hooks. ** ’yum’ literally means to drink, and ‘booi’ means ‘the glass’. ‘Yum booi’ = ‘Drink the glass!’*** The sound here is a glottal stop. It’s like saying the word ‘hat’ and not pronouncing the ‘t’.

3. Do you have …?

Nay ~ yao / mo ...

... lerng ~ go yang ~ geh toy?

lerng ~ go yang

Yao!*

Mm-hor-yee-see, mo.

Ney seung yiu ~ mutyeh?

Ney seung ~ yum ~ mutyeh?

Ney seung ~ sec’** ~ mutyeh?

tsou mean / won tun mean

M-goy, bay ~ yat’** fun ~ tsou mean ~ ngor.

Ho / mm-ho sec’**?

M-goy, bay ~ go tsa ~ ngor.

Man-man sec’**!

Ho! / Ho ho!

M-goy, my-dan.

Ngor ~ haw / mm-haw yee ~ lo’** card?

haw yee

mm-haw yee

... lo’** card

Haw yee!*

Do you have ...(lit.: You ~ have / don’t have …)... a table for two? (lit.: ... two ~ persons ~ type table’?) two ~ persons

Yes, we have!(lit.: Have!)Sorry, we don’t have. (lit.: Sorry, don’t have.) What would you like? (lit.: You would like to have ~ what?)You would like ~ to drink ~ what?

You would like ~ to eat ~ what?

fried noodles / won ton noodles

Please, bring ~ a portion of ~ fried noodles ~ to me.(The waiter asks:) How is the food?(lit.: Good / not-good food?)Please, bring ~ a fork ~ to me.

Enjoy your meal!(lit.: Slowly eat!)It’s good! / It’s very good!

The bill, please.(lit.: Please, the bill.)Can I pay by card?(lit.: I ~ can / not can ~ swipe card?)can ...

not can ...

... pay by card(lit.: ... swipe card) Yes, you can! (lit.: Can!)*


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* Yes/No answers: In Cantonese the answer to the question ‘Have you …?’ issimply ‘Have!’ (not ‘Yes, I have’). The answer to the question ‘Can I …?’ is ‘Can!’(not ‘Yes, you can’). This pattern is the same for other Yes/No answers. ** These words are pronounced with a glottal stop - indicated by an apostrophe.

4. Please, go airport!

M-goy*, ~ heui ~ see ~ joong-sum.

M-goy, ...

M-goy, heui …

heui

joong-sum

see joong-sum

M-goy, ~ heui ~ gay cheung.

M-goy, ~ heui ~ neegor day-dsee.

day-dsee

M-goy*!

Bye bye!

Ngor seung ~ mai ~ fay.

mai

fay

heui Badgeng ger fay

heui Seung-hai ger fay

Herng Gong

Heui Herng Gong ger fay.

Gay daw ~ tseen?

Ba mun.

To the city centre, please.(lit.: Please, ~ go ~ city ~ centre.)Please, ...

Please, go …

go

center

city center

To the airport, please.(lit.: Please, ~ go ~ airport.)Please, ~ go ~ this address.

address

Thank you!

Good bye!

Buying a ticketI’d like to ~ buy ~ a ticket.

to buy

a ticket

a ticket to Beijing(lit.: to Beijing type ticket.) ‘ger’ = type a to Shanghai type ticket

Hong Kong

A ticket to Hong Kong.(lit.: A to Hong Kong type ticket.)How much does it cost?(lit.: How much ~ money?)100 Mun (HK Dollars).

* ‘M-goy’ can mean ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ or even ‘Excuse me!’ in certain situations. The sense is something like: ‘Much appreciated’.

5. Numbers, days & time

yat

yee*

some

say

mm

loh’

tsud

ba**

gow

sub

sub yat

sub yee

sub some

sub say

sub mm

sub loh’

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16


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ba deem

deem

tsud deem some sub fun

say sub fun

loh’ deem see sub fun

siu djo

yeh man

yeh man ~ loh’ deem

What time? (Gay deem)

8 o’clock (lit.: 8 point)

o’clock

7.30

40 minutes

6.40 (6 point - 40 minutes)

in the morning (AM)

in the evening

6.00 in the evening(lit.: in the evening ~ 6 o’clock)

* yee is the pure number 2. e.g. when giving a telephone number. But when counting things you use ‘lerng’ for 2 (see track 3).

** 8 is ‘ba’ and 100 is ‘ba’ , so 800 is ‘ba - ba’, like saying ‘Papa’

sub tsud

sub baa

sub gow

yee sub

yee sub yat

some sub

say sub

mm sub

loh’ sub

tsud sub

ba sub

gow sub

yat bayee basome ba‘ba - ba’

17

18

19

20

21

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

200

300

800

Now you try filling in the gaps

… deem

… man mm …

say … some … fun

loh’… say sub …

siu djo … …

sing kay yat

sing kay yee

sing kay some

sing kay say

sing kay mm

sing kay loh’

sing kay yat

9 o'clock

in the evening at 5 o'clock

4.30

6.40

in the morning at 7.00

The days of the week

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

As you will have noticed, counting in Cantonese, once you have committedthe first ten numbers to memory is really easy. 11 is simply ‘ten-one’, 12 is‘ten-two’ and so on up to 20 which is ‘two ten’.21 is ‘two ten-one’ and in this way you continue to 99 which is, you guessedit, ‘nine ten-nine’ = gow sub-gow.

After you’ve listened a couple of times, just for fun go through all the numbersfrom 1 to 99 in your mind to see if you can remember them. Better still, recitethem in front of someone.

6. Is there …?


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M-goy!

Tzeng mun* ...

Fu gun yao-mo ngun hong-aa?**

Fu gun …

… yao-mo

… ngun hong?

tiew cub see cheung

tsee saw

yi yoon

Fu gun yao-mo yi yoon-aa?**

Mm-ho-yee-see, ...

... ngor ~ mm ~ tsee-doe.

Ngor tsee-doe.

Excuse me!

May I ask ...(lit.: Please ask ...)... is there a bank near here?(lit.: Nearby ~ is there ~ a bank-qu?**)Nearby …

… is there

… a bank?

a supermarket

a toilet

a hospital

Nearby is there a hospital-qu?**

Sorry, ...

... I ~ don’t ~ know.

I know.

Note: The expression for ‘Is there …?’ is literally ‘Have / Not have …?’. The root meaning is ‘Does this place have?’.

Memory hook: think of a toilet sign showing male & female images balancing ona ''see saw''!

Literal translation:To get a feeling for the language one should appreciate exactly how things are formulated, i.e. the literal translation. For example: 'May I ask?' is translated as 'Please ask?' or 'Is there a bank nearby?' is translated as 'Nearby, there is / is not a bank?'.The word order and sometimes the words used, although understandable, aredifferent to English. Another example in song 3 is instead of saying 'Can I pay bycredit card?' you actually say 'I can / not can swipe card?'.

* When asking for help or information, it is polite to precede the question with: May I ask ...? = Tzeng mun ...?

** At the end of a question you often hear the sound ‘aa’ which just emphasisesthat it is a question, a kind of audible question mark.

How often do I have to listen to the earworms CDbefore I can really remember all the language on it?

With the appeal of the earworms songs we hope that it is not a question of 'having to',it is rather a question of 'wanting to'. But seriously:the memory is like a muscle, it needs to be trainedand exercised. Based on scientific studies, the ideal is listening relatively intensively at the beginning (the learning phase), thereafter listening periodically to review what youhave learnt and refresh your memory.

In practical terms this means listening tothe whole album the first day, in order to'tune your ear in' to the sounds of the language. Then listen regularly, several times, over a period of one or two weeks, making sure that you listen to every song equally as many times. While listening,actually speak the words out loud, when you can, to get a feeling for their pronun-ciation. After this, go through the booklet and test your knowledge, picking out anygaps that you may wish to concentrate on.

Lastly, the review phase. As we all know, memories fade, so it is important to refresh your memory by listening to the CD at your leisure, say, once a week for the following few weeks. Thereafter, monthly. This review phase is crucial as it consolidates your knowledge and transfers it into your long-term memory. Although this demands self-discipline, it is of course without effort, as you are only listening to songs. The result is that you will be able to recall the words and phrases with the same ease thatyou remember your telephone number!


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7. Directions

Ngor ~ hai-doe wun ~ ngun hong.

Ngor ~ hei-doe wun …

Ngor ~ hei-doe dung ~ pung yao.

Mm-ho-yee-see ~ tzeng mun …

… yao go’ ~ hai ~ been doe?

Haang ni tiu-low.

haang

ni ~ tiu-low

herng ~ dsor, herng ~ yao

herng

herng ~ tseen

Herng tseen haang.

Yewn / mm yewn-aa?

Gay yewn?

Haang ~ dai yer ~ sub-fun-jong.

fun-jong

M-goy.

Mm zai ha’ hey.

Soy geen.

I’m ~ looking for ~ a bank.

I’m ~ looking for …

I’m ~ waiting for ~ a friend.

Excuse me, may I ask …

… where is the post office?(lit.: ... the post office is where?)Take (walk) this street.

walk

this ~ street

to ~ the left, to ~ the right

to

to ~ the front / straight on

Go straight on. (lit.: To the front walk.)Is it far?(lit.: Far / not far-qu?)How far?

Walk ~ about ~ 10 min.

minutes time

Thank you.

You’re welcome.

See you again.

Something you are doing now is expressed by ‘hai-doe’.

8. Where & what time ...?

Gay deem ...?

Been doe ...?

Nay-geh hang-lay ~ hai been doe?

hai ~ been doe?

ngor-day-geh hang-lay.

Ngor-day-geh hang-lay ~ hai been doe?

Gor doe! Nee doe!

gaan fong

Hai ~ gaan fong ~ doe.

Gaan fong ~ hai been doe?

Hai ~ yee lau.

yat lau / yee lau

Gaan fong ~ hai yee lau.

Dso-tsan ~ hai gay deem?

Yao tsud deem …

… doe sub deem.

What time ...?

Where ...?(lit.: Which place ...?)Where is your luggage/baggage?(lit.: Your* luggage is where?)is ~ where?

our luggage

Where is our luggage/baggage?(lit.: Our luggage is where?)There!, Here! (lit.: That place! This place!)the room

It’s in the room.(lit.: Is ~ the room ~ located.)Where is the room?(lit.: The room ~ is where?)It’s on level 2. (lit.: It’s ~ 2 level.)level 1 (ground floor) / level 2

The room ~ is on level 2.

Breakfast ~ is what time?

From 7 o’clock …

… to 10 o’clock.

* Note: To get the possessive form, just add geh:I = ngor my = ngor-geh

you = nay your = nay-geh

we = ngor-day our = ngor-day-geh


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9. Problems, problems!

Ngor haw-yee ...

Nay (or Lay) haw-yee ...

Nay haw / mm haw-yee ~ bong gnor-aa?

Nay haw / mm haw-yee …

... bong ngor-aa?

Ngor, mm-geen jaw ...

mm-geen, mm-geen jaw

... ngor geh ~ wu zeeu.

seung gay

... ngor geh ~ ngun bau.

Ngor söi yiew …

… yau piu.

Ngor seung gay ~ nee jeun cart’ ~ hoei yingwar. gay

nee jeun cart’

hoei yingwar

Ngor söi niew …

… gum mou ~ yer.

... yee sang.

Ngor ~ lei doe ~ ho tong.

Ngor ~ lei doe ~ siu siu tong.

I could …

You could …

Could you help me? (lit.: You could / not could help me-qu?)Could you ...(lit.:You could / not could …)…help me-qu?

I’ve lost ...

to lose, lost

... my ~ passport.

camera

... my ~ wallet.

I need …

… stamps.

I’d like to send ~ this card ~ to England.

to send

this card

to England

I need …

… flu ~ medicine.

... a doctor.

I have a lot of pain here.(lit.: I ~ here ~ much pain.) I have a little pain here.(lit.: I ~ here ~ a little pain.)

10. Can you speak English?

Nay ho, ma?

Ngor ho ho, daw dser.

Nay se’ / mm se’ ~ gong Ying-man-aa?(se’ is spoken with a glottal stop)gong

Gwangdongwa

Nay sec / mm sec gong ~ Gwangdongwa-aa?

Ngor mm se’ gong ~ Gwangdongwa.

Ngor mm meng baa.

M-goy man siu siu.

nan / lan

ho lan

mm gandan

gan dan

Nay tsung mm tsung yee ~ Herng Gong-aa?

Nay tsung / mm tsung yee …?

Nay tsung mm tsung yee ~ tsou mean-aa?

Tsung yee! Ngor ho tsoong yee.

Ho sec!

Bye bye. Soy geen!

teng-yad

Teng-yad geen!

Wan dan ~ hoi-sam-dyi!

How are you?

I’m very well, thanks.

Can you ~ speak English?(lit.:You can / not can ~ speak English-qu?)speak

Cantonese

You can / not can speak ~ Cantonese-qu?

I can’t speak Cantonese.I not can speak ~ Cantonese.I (not) understand.

A little more slowly please. (lit.: Please ~ slow ~ a little.)difficult

very difficult

not easy

easy

Do you like ~ hong hong-qu?

Do you like ...?(lit.: You like / don’t like ...?)Do you like ~ chow mien-qu?

Yes, I like it! I like it very much.

Delicious!(lit.: Good food!)Good bye. See you again!

tomorrow

See you tomorrow! (lit.: Tomorrow see!)Have fun!(lit.: Play ~ happily!)

The science behind earworms mbt®

1. How we learn

A large part of learning in general and language learning in particular is to do with the memorisation of words, facts and other significant information. It's a well-known fact that we use only a fraction of our brain power and traditional book learning is now recognised as not suiting every learner.earworms uses simple techniques which open up and exploit more of the brain's native power and come under the heading of 'accelerated learning'.

In a recent issue of the journal 'Nature', researchers at Dartmouth College reported that they had pinpointed the region of the brainwhere 'earworms' or catchy tunes reside, the “auditory cortex”. They found that the sounds and words that have actually been heard can be readily recalled from the auditory cortex where the brain can listen to them 'virtually' again and again.

2. What we learn

earworms mbt® adopts the so-called lexical approach to language. In essence, this means we look at language in terms of whole meaningful chunks, then break these down into their component bite-sized, easily absorbable parts and then reconstruct them. You not only learn complete, immediately useful phrases, you also intuitively learn something about the structure (the grammar) of the language. These 'chunks' which the learner can 'mix and match', gradually build up to cover whole areas of the language.

Other languages available:

Details at www.earwormslearning.com

The Tracks:

1. I would like … 9:00

2. To order 6:03

3. Do you have ...? 10:39

4. Please, go airport! 6:57

5. Numbers, days & time 8:30

6. Is there …? 6:12

7. Directions 7:22

8. Where & what time? 7:23

9. Problems, problems! 7:28

10. Can you speak English? 6:49

Concept & Text: Marlon Lodge, Project Development: Andrew Lodge, Project Management:Maria Lodge, Editorial Supervision: Renate Elbers-Lodge, Music: earworms & AKM, Songs 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 feature samples by www.platinumloops.com, Cantonese Voice: Eva Wan,Design: Jaroslaw Suchorski @ HKP, Special Thanks to: Kwai Mei Tang, Tony Chui, Jan, Evie,Anna, Freddy & Jane.

www.earwormslearning.com© 2010 Earworms Ltd. ISBN 9781905443437Catalogue no. EWB CA1-437


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Booklet Cantonese Vol.1

Documents

Transcript of Booklet Cantonese Vol.1