Should I choose Cantonese or Mandarin?

Question

I love foreign languages and I especially want to learn some form of chinese. So should I learn Cantonese or Mandarin or both and why? Thanks!

Answer 1

i think mandarin is more widely used than cantonese but go with both just to be on the safe side  

Answer 2

Mandarin  

Answer 3

Hi!

I suggest you choose Mandarin. Mandarin is spoken all over the mainland of China. Wherever you go, if you speak Mandarin, people can understand you perfectly. But if you choose Cantonese, a dialect only spoken in Guangdong and Hongkong, people from mainland China can hardly understand you. After all, it's only a dialect.

To tell you the truth, the Cantonese and Mandarin are very similar in writing. When you've learned one, you can very easily learn the other. One of my friends was born and raised in Mandarin speaking area, but it took him only 3 months to speak fluent Cantonese!

Hope this helped and good luck!

Answer 4

Mandarin for sure, especially if you plan on traveling out in provinces. Cantonese is for Beijing and Hong-Kong, and pretty much those only.  

Answer 5

Mandarin, it's more widely used.

I watch Chinese dramas and that's what they always use.