Cantonese (Guăndōnghuà)

Introduction

Cantonese is considered to be a Category II language in terms of difficulty for speakers of English.

The Yuè dialects, also known as Cantonese, are one of the major dialect groups of China. They are spoken by 71 million people in the province of Guăngdōng and in the city of Guăngzhōu (Canton), as well as in Hong Kong, Macau, and in expatriate Chinese communities and Chinatowns in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States (Ethnologue). The origins of Cantonese are not known due to absence of reliable historical records, however, it is generally agreed that it had developed linguistics traits that distinguished it from other Chinese dialects by the time of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).

Status

People's Republic of China (PRC)In PRC, Cantonese is used along with Mandarin. The latter is used as the medium of education and government administration. Because of PRC's language policies, most people in China today are proficient in Mandarin. As a consequence, Cantonese-Mandarin bilingualism is increasing in Cantonese-speaking provinces of the country. However, Cantonese continues to be the language of everyday communication both inside and outside of the home. It is also used in electronic and print media.
Hong Kong and MacauCantonese is the official language of Hong Kong along with English. It is the language of choice for education, business, government, and the media. For instance, Hong Kong's important and popular film industry is in Cantonese. It is too early to predict the effects of unification on the status of Cantonese in Hong Kong and Macau.

Click on the MLA Interactive Language Map to find out where Chinese (all dialects) is spoken in the United States

--From "aboutworldlanguages"