Cantonese and the uniqueness of Chinese dialects

Podcast

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Jared Turner and John Pasden
You Can Learn Chinese

In this episode, John and Jared respond to a listener question about Cantonese, which leads to a discussion around China’s numerous dialects/languages, which are in fact โ€œtopolects.”

Guest interview is with Daniel Pang, who grew up speaking Cantonese at home, became a doctor, then quit his job to learn Chinese.

Links from the episode:

Jared learned Chinese on the streets of Shanghai after up and moving his family to China. He co-founded Mandarin Companion and is host of the You Can Learn Chinese podcast. He has started a number of businesses, got an MBA, published 17 books (and counting), and delivered 2 babies.

Because his tolerance for pain is so high, after learning Chinese, John went on to study linguistics at a graduate level entirely in Chinese. Today John is knee-deep in learning Chinese and since started Mandarin Companion, AllSet Learning, Sinosplice.com, the Chinese Grammar Wiki, and co-hosts the You Can Learn Chinese Podcast.

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