How to add Jyutping/Yale Cantonese input to iOS

Starting with iOS 16, iOS devices have had the option for phonetic input of Cantonese. It's a bit of a fuzzy system, allowing for both Jyutping and Yale input, and that makes it accessible to a wide base of users. If you're not quite sure how to enable this extra Cantonese keyboard, then read on below.

First, go to your iOS device's setting and tap "General."

Then tap "Keyboard."

Tap "Keyboards" at the top of the next screen.

The next screen might look a little different depending on how many keyboards you already have enabled. No matter what your list looks like, head for "Add New Keyboard..." at the bottom.

Type in "Cantonese" at the search bar at the top and select the "Cantonese, Traditional" option that appears.

On the next page, select "Phonetic." (If you want to handwrite characters and have iOS be more likely to suggest Cantonese-specific characters at the top of the writing pad, you can add the "Handwriting" keyboard).

You should be all set up. If you want to test it out, go to any text field and hold down the globe icon at the bottom left of the keyboard and select "廣東話拼音."

You should now see Cantonese characters already appearing along the top of the keyboard. 

If you start typing, you will get relevant prompts (and emoji!).

I've experiment with both the Jyutping and Yale systems in this keyboard, and both worked pretty well. However, note that for Yale, you shouldn't need to add the extra "h" after a vowel for a low tone; when I did that, it got confused and started suggesting strings of characters that I did not want. 

Now enjoy all that phonetic practice with Cantonese!

How to make Pleco into a Cantonese power tool

What is Pleco?

Pleco is an essential app for studying Chinese. It includes dictionary, document-reading, and flashcard functionalities. And given that it's available for both iOS and Android, it's much easier to lug around than《汉语大辞典》 or the like. (Though you can download 《汉语大辞典》 within Pleco and then you'll never be without it)

Most Pleco users are probably using it to study Mandarin (or English). However, Pleco is also equipped with excellent Cantonese functionality. This article walks you through how to get the most out of it, from customizing your Cantonese dictionaries to making it a Cantonese flashcard machine.

Enable Cantonese on Pleco

The first thing you need to do is make sure that Cantonese appears in the first place. From the main dictionary screen, tap the hamburger menu in the top left (it looks like ☰) and tap through Settings followed by Languages and Texts.

Next, scroll down to the CANTONESE heading.

There are four settings to pay attention to here:

• Show Cantonese: make sure this is toggled to the right (as in the picture above) so that Cantonese appears in the dictionary
• Enable Search: If you want to be able to search by Cantonese romanization in the search field, then make sure this is also toggled to the right. Otherwise, you will only be able to search by English, Mandarin pinyin, or character.
• Phonetic system: Tap on this to see your romanization options. I personally use Yale romanization system, as many of my study materials (from CUHK) use this system. However, some people prefer Jyutping. You can also decide whether you want numbers or tones marks (see below)

• Auto-generate if missing: Toggle this to the right if you want Pleco to automatically generate Cantonese romanization if it is missing from a given dictionary. I personally don't use this, as I downloaded all the optional Cantonese dictionaries in Pleco (see below), and those tend to be more accurate than auto-generated text. 

Once you've set up Cantonese to display, your dictionary entries should look something like this:

Here, "PY" stands for Mandarin pinyin, while "YL" stands for Yale Cantonese romanization. If you tap the little audio logo to the left of either one, you should get separate pronunciations, one in Mandarin and the other in Cantonese. Note that if you don't like the voices generated by your device, you can purchase additional Chinese voices in the "Add-Ons" area (see below).

Add additional dictionaries

Just as Pleco offers a variety of specialized dictionaries for Mandarins learners of various language backgrounds and research interests, it also offers specific Cantonese dictionaries. I highly recommend that you download a few of these, as they tend to offer different strengths and weaknesses. Some are free, others are not; you'll have to check Pleco to see what the current prices are. 

To access the dictionary purchase functionality, follow the these steps:

Go to Add-Ons.

Then tap Dictionaries.

Next, go to Other Languages.

Depending on whether you have made purchases or not in the past, you should see a list of dictionaries beneath the CANTONESE heading with prices next to them. I can't vouch for the pricing at any given time, but I can give you my take on how useful each one is. If you are really interested in studying Cantonese, I think it's worth getting them all, but if you have more specialized interests, then some dictionaries will serve you better than others. 

ABC Cantonese Dictionary (ABY)

With 16,000 Cantonese words/phrases, there's a lot of valuable material here. The 15,000 context sentences in this dictionary are rich and colorful (though sometimes to a fault; someone was having a little too much fun writing dictionary sentences about gangsters streetwalkers). However, if you're a fan of Hong Kong films (especially from the 80s and 90s), many of the colloquial turns of phrase in this dictionary will make it easier to go beyond the subtitles and get a feel for the flavor of Cantonese as it has been spoken in Hong Kong in recent decades.

Guangzhouhua FangyanCidian (GZH)

With 8,000 defined terms and 7,000 phrase/sentence-level examples, this dictionary is only useful if you already know Mandarin. If you look up a character or words, it gives you the definition in Mandarin. What's perhaps even more useful is the parallel sentences it gives in Mandarin and Cantonese that tease out the fine differences in usage between the two languages. If you are coming to Cantonese from Mandarin, then this is probably an excellent place for your to start. 

Guangzhou-Putonghua Cidian (GZP)

This dictionary is very similar to the one above (GZH) in that it outlines the differences between Cantonese and Mandarin, except it has more entries (10,000) and examples (18,000). In fact, both dictionaries are from the same publisher (Commercial Press HK), but the overlapping entries are not always the same. I've noticed that where GZH almost always gives parallel sentence-level examples in Mandarin and Cantonese, GZP only sometimes offers that information; instead, GZP will often define a word in written Mandarin before listing a series of phrases in Cantonese that use that word,  but not necessarily with a Mandarin equivalent. I also find some of the supposed Cantonese usages to be a bit formal (e.g. when demonstrating 愛 as meaning 喜歡 in some situations, it offers up 愛看電影 instead of 愛睇戲), so make sure to cross-reference these examples against other dictionaries. 

The Right Word in Cantonese (RWC)

Whereas the other dictionaries in this group tend to work Cantonese --> English or Cantonese--> Mandarin, this one is actually meant to be searched English --> to Cantonese. Its offerings are modest—only 6,500 entries—but they are quite useful if you are indeed looking for "the right word" or phrase in Cantonese. Not sure how to express "as soon as possible?" Try 盡快. Or maybe planning a trip to "Deep Water Bay?" 深水灣.

CC-Canto Cantonese-English Dict (CCY)

Based on a project over at Cantonese.org, this dictionary with over 25,000 entries is free and open source. If you download Pleco, then you really have no reason not to download this (unless you're running out of space, in which case go delete something else). This dictionary fills a lot of gaps and makes sure to point out when a common character/word has a different meaning in Cantonese than in Mandarin. However, the definitions are quite basic, and it doesn't offer as much in the way of context sentences as other dictionaries. Since Cantonese sometimes has different syntax from Mandarin, I think it's wise to at least download one dictionary that does have more context sentences. 

Words.HK Cantonese Dictionary (WHK)

This dictionary is also based on a major linguistic undertaking, this one based over at Words.hk. If you're curious about the social context surrounding Cantonese preservation in Hong Kong, you can read more about the project in SCMP. 

Essentially, the makers are trying to make the first digital Cantonese-Cantonese dictionary, meaning words are defined in colloquial Cantonese rather than in written standard Chinese (which is how most existing Chinese-language Cantonese dictionaries approach the matter). The ample amount of Cantonese text makes this resource great for practicing Cantonese reading. Furthermore, it includes English translations of the definitions and ample context sentences. I love this tool, and I think most Cantonese learners can get a lot out of it. 

Make the most of your studying with Pleco flashcards

Once you've looked up all this new Cantonese vocabulary, you'll certainly want to review it. Pleco offers a flashcard functionality bundle (just go back to the Add-Ons section you went to to find the Cantonese dictionaries). Pleco also has a great tutorial for this. You can quiz yourself in a variety of ways, including fill-in-the-blank (character or romanization), tone practice, stroke order, and multiple choice. 

If you decide to experiment with Pleco's Cantonese functionality after reading this post, please let me know how it goes!

BONUS: Change the color scheme of tones to reflect Cantonese pronunciation

Have you ever noticed how Pleco uses different colors with different characters in the dictionary entry heading? It's actually another visual mnemonic to help with the memorization of tones. Pleco's default color scheme maps to Mandarin--red for tone 1, green for tone 2, blue for tone 3, and purple for tone 4--but there is also a way to change it to map to Cantonese tones (or change the default Mandarin color scheme). Thus, you can from this....

...to this!

Changing colors is very simple. First, go back to "Settings":

Tap "Colors":

Next, toggle the "Use Cantonese tones" option. That will change the colors for just the characters, but if you want the romanization (i.e. Jyutping) to show up in different colors as well, tap the "Color pronunciation by tone" just beneath it. And to see what colors you will be working with, tap "Configure tone colors."

One of the cool things about the Pleco defaults is that they correspond with similar tone types. Thus, flat tones (1, 3, and 6) are on the blue-purple spectrum, rising tones are shades of green (2, 5), and the one falling tone (4) is magenta/pink. Note also that the shades get darker the lower the tone's relative pitch. 

This can be a great tool for people who strongly correlate color and sound, but of course, the presets might not work for some folks, so you can always tap the color icons on the right to change the defaults.

Also, note that there are sometimes hiccups with the tone colors, particularly in idiomatic instances where a 4th tone character shifts to a rising tone in the context of certain words (e.g. 人 "jan4" becomes "jan2" in 男人). The top of the dictionary entry shows both characters as pink, but once I tap it, the WHK dictionary inside reminds me that it is pronounced "naam4 jan2." However, it has separate entries for 賊 as light green when it appears colloquially as a standalone word ("caak2") but dark purple for its literary reading ("caak6"), as well as in compounds (e.g. 賊人 "caak6 jan4"). This comes down to what dictionaries you have installed and how your romanization is configured. When in doubt, double-check the actual Cantonese dictionary entries for a given word. 

How to start learning Cantonese after learning Mandarin

This guide is for people who have previously studied Mandarin and are looking for resources to learn Cantonese. If you have no previous experience with a Chinese language and want to start with Cantonese, you can find a more relevant guide here. Mandarin speakers with a shakier grasp of Chinese characters and grammar may prefer that guide, as this guide assumes you want to learn Cantonese through Mandarin (as opposed to through English). Explanatory notes in most of the books mentioned here are generally in Chinese (simplified or traditional characters, depending on the place of publication).

When coming to Cantonese after Mandarin, the main thing to be aware of is that the two are mutually unintelligible languages. While you can sometimes get away with using Mandarin vocabulary with a Cantonese pronunciation, you will often come off as overly formal. Common verbs frequently differ from Mandarin (like 搵 instead of 找), and grammar and syntax are not exactly the same (e.g., direct and indirect objects appear in opposite order).

The best learning materials for you are probably the ones that explicitly address those differences. To that end, I’ve listed helpful textbooks, dictionaries, apps and websites, lesson centers, audio resources, and video resources that you might consider using.

Textbooks

Although these textbooks are written for Mandarin speakers, they generally still use a romanization system to show how characters are pronounced. These romanization systems (usually Jyutping or Yale) are a bit different from Mandarin pinyin, though Yale is the closer of the two options, so I would opt for that if you want to minimize confusion.

《粵語速成 初級教材》, 香港中文大學雅禮中國語文研習所

Publisher: 商務印書館(香港)有限公司

Date of most recent edition: 2010

Romanization: Yale

Audio: CDs

This is the textbook series I used in classes at CUHK (the link goes to the first of three books in a series). Dialogues are presented in both Cantonese and Mandarin, and the grammar points tend to focus on explicit differences between the two languages. As the books advance, they also teach you patterns in pronunciation shifts between Mandarin and Cantonese. Overall, a solid series. The first book also includes English translations of the vocabulary, but the later books in the series do not.

Cantonese in Hong Kong, by Kwok-kin Chan and Chung-mou Si

Publishers: Greenwood Press

Date of most recent edition: 2005

Romanization: Yale

Audio: CDs

This book includes explanations for Cantonese words and grammar in both English and Mandarin, making it very accessible for English speakers who also know Mandarin. Chapters are themed around specific tasks (“Asking for directions”) or locations (“Pacific Place,” “Macau,” etc.). One major flaw to be aware of, however, is that it still includes the high falling tone, which has mostly disappeared in contemporary Hong Kong Cantonese except in specific idiomatic circumstances; you should read the words marked in the book with the high falling tone as high level tones instead.

Dictionaries

Pleco (App)

Developer: Pleco Inc.

Most recent edition: Regularly updated

Romanization: Yale or Jyutping

Pleco is must for anyone studying Mandarin or Cantonese. It’s a free app for iOS and Android that you can easily customize by downloading the dictionaries you want (some paid). For a detailed explanation of which dictionaries to download and how to configure Cantonese to appear, check out the CantoBlog guide here. I especially recommend downloading Guangzhou-Putonghua Cidian (GZP) and Guangzhouhua FangyanCidian (GZH), as they provide ample comparisons between differing Mandarin and Cantonese usages of specific characters or words.

《廣州話普通話同形詞對比詞典》, 周無忌, 饒秉才, 歐陽覺亞

Publisher: 商務印書館(香港)有限公司

Most recent edition: 2015

Romanization: Weird hybrid of Jyutping and phonetic alphabet

This dictionary explains the similarities and differences in usage of words that are comprised of the same characters in both Mandarin and Cantonese. It also offers alternative words in Cantonese for shared words with Mandarin that might sound formal if used in Cantonese in that form. Entries include context sentences. All entries are written in standard written Chinese in traditional characters, so your reading level needs to be fairly high in order to get much use out of the book.

《廣州話方言字字典》, 周無忌, 饒秉才, 歐陽覺亞

Publisher: 商務印書館(香港)有限公司

Most recent edition: 2019

Romanization: Weird hybrid of Jyutping and phonetic alphabet

This is a relatively new but important dictionary. It defines Cantonese-specific characters (e.g. 啱, 喺, etc.) in standard written Chinese, and sometimes provides a colloquial Mandarin equivalent. If your goal is to also become literate in written Cantonese, this book is a huge help.

Apps and websites

Pleco

(See the entry above under “Dictionaries” for more details, or go the CantoBlog guide to Pleco here.)

Quiz - Cantonese Kids Game

Developer: iAppsTeam

Platform: iOS

Romanization: None

This app is pretty simple. While aimed at children, it is a great way for beginning students to learn basic vocabulary like numbers, animals, and colors. Audio is offered in both Mandarin and Cantonese, meaning there is ample opportunity for aural reinforcement.

How to Study Cantonese – Storybooks

Developer: How to Study Cantonese

Platform: Any device that can handle Epub file format

Romanization: Yale and Jyutping

How to Study Cantonese is a digital publishing house that creates picture books written in colloquial Cantonese. The prices are a bit steep given how short the texts are, but they come with Chinese characters, both Jyutping and Yale romanization, English translations, and audio recordings. Since you already know Chinese characters, these books offer a way to expose yourself to slightly longer texts written in Cantonese rather than Mandarin.

italki

Developer: italki

Platform: Android, iOS, Desktop

Romanization: Many

italki is a platform for finding private language tutors with whom you can take electronic lessons. You buy credits through the app and spend them on your tutor(s) of choice. Reviewers note a variety of experiences, so it really comes down to what sort of tutor you find. I’ve noticed tutors on the platform who are fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, so you should probably search for one of them.

Lesson centers

University language programs in Hong Kong

Because many mainland Chinese move to Hong Kong, there is relatively high demand for Cantonese lessons taught in Mandarin. I took some of these courses through the Yale-China Chinese Language Center at CUHK and found them to be incredibly helpful. Some of these programs are offered at night or on weekends, while others require that you enroll full time as a student.

·      Yale-China Chinese Language Center, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

·      Hong Kong University

·      Hong Kong University School of Professional and Continuing Studies

University language programs in North America

The following universities have offered Cantonese courses for Mandarin speakers in the past. You’ll need to check which courses are open to community members vs. enrolled students only. Also, course change frequently, so check back each year.

·      The University of British Columbia

·      Stanford University

·      Ohio State University

Audio resources

To get your brain to recognize the sounds of Cantonese as entirely distinct from Mandarin, I highly recommend using one of the below radio apps. Occasionally, they’ll have interviews where one person is speaking in Mandarin and one is speaking in Cantonese. These can be great exercise for you, but also a little confusing.

·      RTHK iOS/Android

·      Commercial Radio iOS/Android

·      D100 iOS/Android

Readers

If you've already learned to read Mandarin, then learning to read Cantonese can feel like playing the slightly more difficult sequel to a video game you put in hours trying to beat. The biggest obstacle is learning a hosts of Cantonese-specific characters, as well as unfamiliar usages of characters you already know from Mandarin. Note that the writing of colloquial Cantonese in Hong Kong is usually reserved for specific platforms/genres, like social media posts, tabloid reporting, and internet novels. The following are a few books for practicing Cantonese reading, with some offering more guidance than others.

• Wedding Bells: Cantonese Reading Material for Intermediate and Advanced Learners
• A Feng Shui Master: Learning Cantonese Through Stories
• Resonate (Hong Kong's first colloquial Cantonese literary magazine; no English, so more for advanced learners)
• LIHKG (sort of like HK reddit, this is great reading practice; some content is questionable, so be forewarned)

Slang 

Once you have learned the basics of Cantonese grammar and vocabulary, you'll likely want to learn some slang. A lot of it is very different from Mandarin, though some of it actually migrated up north thanks to the popularity of Hong Kong pop culture in the 80s and 90s (e.g. 炒魷魚-->to get fired). While speaking with people is a great opportunity for learning these types of words and phrases (and also learning what slang has already become old-fashioned—Cantonese changes fast!), there are also some awesome books out there for giving you a leg up. These include:

• Cantonese Colloquial Expressions 廣州話口語詞彙
• A Glossary of Common Cantonese Colloquial Expressions 英譯廣州話常用口語詞彙
• Cantonese.jpg 圖解廣東話
• Fun with Cantonese: Colloquial Expressions
• Interesting Cantonese 4: Slangs and Idioms

Video resources

Mandarin speakers who can read Chinese quickly should be able to handle Cantonese videos with written Chinese subtitles. However, note that the Chinese that appears comes in two distinct flavors: Standard Written Chinese and written Cantonese. If it’s the former, you’re in luck—that’s basically the same as Mandarin, and you’ll just have to code switch to figure out which words overlap with Cantonese and where the Cantonese audio does something completely different. If it’s written Cantonese, however, you might find yourself confused.

An example:

Romanization: Něih haih bīn go ah?

Written Cantonese: 你係邊個呀？

Standard Written Chinese: 你是誰？/ 你是谁？
English translation: Who are you?

Most recent DVDs, TV shows, and streaming sites will use Standard Written Chinese subtitles. However, there are versions of Hong Kong films from the 80s and 90s that have Cantonese subtitles, and even today many kids films use written Cantonese.

·      YouTube (various channels, but a few major ones below)

o   Pomato 小薯茄

o   毛記電視

o   視電台

o   微辣 Manner

·      一丁目

o   Great for local Hong Kong documentaries and topical news

·      RTHK

·      ViuTV

·      TVB

·      Foreign-based streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Crunchyroll

o   Just search for Cantonese films and TV shoes

·      Mainland Chinese streaming sites like iQiyi, QQ Video, Youku, or Bilibili