Cantopop Karaoke: Introducing the Leslie Cheung Method for Learning Chinese

Why do people choose to do some of the things they do?  I have to ask myself this question when I think about what I have done.  In February, I made the decision to take some of the money I got from the sale of my deceased father’s car to purchase a conversational Cantonese course, Pimsleur Cantonese 1, to be more exact.  This was the course that, in the course of my internet research, received the highest consumer ratings.  It was also the most expensive.  So, with cash burning a hole in my pocket, I found the best offer and bought the course.

I have to say that it is a very good course.  It is limited to basic traveler’s conversational Cantonese, but this will come in quite handy for my trip to Hong Kong next year.  So, for 30 minutes every day, I practice my conversational lesson.  Slowly, but surely, I see progress.  In another 10 or 11 months, at this rate, I might be able to ask for the basic things I need and understand when people talk to me about the necessities of life on the road.

But, I felt the need to learn more.  So, knowing this was truly a daunting task, I decided to begin learning Chinese characters, with the ultimate plan of learning how to read and write.  First off, here in the US there are no courses that teach reading and writing that are not based on Mandarin.  There is also the problem that most beginners’ courses teach simplified characters.  Still, I found a book that looked more interesting and practical than most and have plunged in, up to my neck it now seems.  

Sometimes I can find the Cantonese word for the character in my little beginner’s dictionary, but I cannot always tell exactly how to pronounce it.  By studying the words I have learned in the conversational course, I can see that the conversion from Yale romanization to the actual sounds of Cantonese is approximate, at best.  The day I had this dismaying realization I was watching a Leslie Cheung music video.  Normally, I hate it when I can’t make the karaoke text go away (it obscures too much of Leslie’s face).  I was staring idly at the characters that lit up as Leslie was singing and recognized a couple  I had just learned earlier that evening, and, more importantly, I heard Leslie singing the words that corresponded to the characters  loud and clear.  So now, whenever my family and friends look askance at me for watching Leslie’s music videos, I can tell them that I’m practicing Chinese characters and their Cantonese pronunciation; and, it is the honest truth!