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Lesson Transcript

大家好(daai6 gaa1 hou2)! Hello and welcome to Cantonese Survival phrases brought to you by cantoneseclass101.com, my name is Nicole and I will be your language teacher and culture guide throughout this course. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Hong Kong or anywhere else in the Cantonese world. You will be surprised at how far a little Cantonese will go. Now before we jump in, remember to stop by cantoneseclass101.com and there you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in this post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.
Today we will introduce parting greetings. A parting expression that we can use for all occasions is 再見(zoi3 gin3) which literally means again see or see you again 再見(zoi3 gin3). Let’s hear it slowly 再 見(zoi3 gin3). Now this is again a two syllable word 再見(zoi3 gin3) and both of them are mid flat tones 再見(zoi3 gin3). Let’s break it down by syllable 再(zoi3) is again. 見( gin3) is to see, again see 再見(zoi3 gin3). That’s goodbye in Cantonese 再 見(zoi3 gin3). 再見(zoi3 gin3) in the other hand is more suitable for formal situation or if it is the first time you are meeting someone or if the person is an elderly or someone you look up to in many aspects like your boss, your classroom teacher, your senior et cetera, et cetera. So be careful not to use it so often between best friends as that would sound a bit too formal. Alternatively add a last suffix at the end, if you really want to use 再見(zoi3 gin3) between friends, you can say 再見喇(zoi3 gin3 laa6)
that makes it more colloquial and informal and casual 再見喇(zoi3 gin3 laa6), 再見喇(zoi3 gin3 laa6).
Now a more casual way to say goodbye in Cantonese would be 拜拜(baai1 baai3) attributed from English. You can see it’s exactly the same sound of the English word bye bye but with the different tones. The Cantonese way of saying bye bye is 拜拜(baai1 baai3). Now first high tone and then a little bit lower 拜拜(baai1 baai3), da da, 拜拜(baai1 baai3), da da, 拜拜(baai1 baai3). Now that’s the Cantonese way of saying it. It’s very common, I use it all the time. I say it at the end of every lesson, every episode. 拜拜(baai1 baai3). Try to imitate the tone, make the second bye longer and the tone lower, you will sound just like the locals. 拜拜(baai1 baai3), 拜拜(baai1 baai3) and there are also several phrases for saying, see you later. A more casual way of saying see you later or see you soon in Cantonese is 遲啲見(ci4 di1 gin3) which literally means later see 遲啲見(ci4 di1 gin3). Let’s break it down by syllable 遲 啲 見(ci4 di1 gin3). Let’s hear it once again 遲 啲 見(ci4 di1 gin3), 遲 啲見(ci4 di1 gin3). 遲 (ci4) is the lowest tone. 啲 (di1) sounds exactly like the English letter D. 遲啲(ci4 di1), 遲啲(ci4 di1), 見(gin3) is a mid flat tone. 見(gin3), 遲 啲見(ci4 di1 gin3) See you later. 遲 啲見(ci4 di1 gin3). 遲(ci4) literally means late. 啲 (di1) is the suffix, er. 遲啲(ci4 di1) means later. 見(gin3) is to see as a 再見(zoi3 gin3), again see. 見(gin3), see. 遲 啲見(ci4 di1 gin3) Later see, see you later 遲 啲見(ci4 di1 gin3). Now let’s have a quick review of what we’ve just learned. Goodbye 再見(zoi3 gin3), goodbye 再見(zoi3 gin3). 再見喇(zoi3 gin3 laa6), Bye bye, 拜拜(baai1 baai3). Last but not least 遲 啲見(ci4 di1 gin3), see you later. 遲 啲見(ci4 di1 gin3), see you later. Okay to close out our lesson today, we’d like you to practice what you’ve just learned. I will provide you with the English translation and you are responsible for shouting it out loud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answers 加 油(gaa1 jau2)! The first word goodbye 再見(zoi3 gin3) and it is the Cantonese way of saying bye bye 拜拜(baai1 baai3). Last but not least, see you later 遲 啲見(ci4 di1 gin3). All right, that’s about that’s it for today. Remember to stop by cantoneseclass101.com and pick up the PDF. It will help you with your studying. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a post, 拜拜(baai1 baai3) or 再見(zoi3 gin3) or 遲 啲見(ci4 di1 gin3)

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