Congratulations!
You now have enough Cantonese to communicate like any 5 year old!
Language exists for a purpose and what I hope you have achieved by following along with my sounds, simple words and stories is to be able to make friends, be polite and communicate your needs. With this good foundation, you can continue to learn at your own pace by inviting any native speaker to speak Cantonese to you. Don't forget to say:
唔 該 同 我 講 廣 東 話
m4 goi1 tung4 ngo5 gong2 gwong2 dong1 waa2
Please speak Cantonese to me
If you don't understand, a simple shrug and 吓？ haa2 will prompt the native speaker to repeat and if you need further help, don't forget you can always ask:
點 講 呀？
dim2 gong2 aa3
How do you say?
Or
點 寫 呀？
dim2 se2 aa3
How do you write?
Also ESSENTIAL in any language these days are words and phrases to help ensure that you are making good environmental choices. You can use your Cantonese to Save the Planet!
This is a subject close to my heart as I was fortunate enough to have lived for many years on Lamma Island, a beautiful community with wonderful countryside and a picturesque shoreline. When I stopped shutting myself away in an office all day and had my kids, I was shocked at the amount of trash that washed up on our shores and tried to do something about it. After 10+ years of leading groups to pick up bag after bag of waste, I have been lucky to pass on the charity I started to Stanley Chan and his amazing friends who continue the never-ending battle against plastic and polystyrene on our beaches.
You can see the work that I did for Living Lamma on my Lamma Life website. As well as beach clean ups and talks, I mostly wrote reports on rubbish and development issues. In my previous working life I worked as a report writer for a consultancy that advised government and business on Hong Kong's advantages and I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that the best way to convince the powers-that-be is to give them a report.
You can also keep up to date with Living Lamma's current work on www.livinglamma.org. As well as beach cleaning, Stanley also built an amazing catalogue detailing Lamma's flora and fauna - a truly wonderful resource and a very welcome addition to Living Lamma's work.
Now that I have provided the resources for you to effectively learn Cantonese, please do me a kind favour.
Remembering to say that you don't need a plastic bag or a straw. Communicating friendly reminders about your environment is a great use of any language. I can guarantee that you will create a great impression and be considered a good person in Hong Kong if you do so. You may even be told:
你好好人
nei5 hou2 hou2 jan4
You are very kind
Learn a few phrases from Cantonese to Save the Planet and use them as often as you can. It a very simple and powerful way to become an eco-influencer with the 80 million Cantonese speakers across the world. Thank you!