This is Book 2 of Cantonese Today, a Cantonese teaching material for learners who want to further improve their Cantonese practical ability. Based on Book 1, this book pays more attention to the cultural aspect apart from teaching vocabulary and sentence patterns needed in daily communication. The texts and dialogues embody heightened situational and cultural properties, exposing learners to the most authentic situational contexts and helping them master the most practical communicative techniques and skills by means of specific real-life situations, characteristic language styles, and all-inclusive communication themes. Besides, this book has some additional contents such as “Cantonese culture”, “kinship diagram and comparison table of kinship terms in Mandarin and Cantonese”, “binding words specific to the Cantonese dialect”, and “lively forms of Cantonese adjectives”, which may deepen students’ learning of Cantonese and their understanding of Cantonese culture. By using this book, learners can not only master the Cantonese vocabulary and sentence patterns essential in communication, but also get a further understanding of the deposits and development of Cantonese culture. 

Dr. Zheng Ding’ou, a professor in the City University of Hong Kong, studied linguistics during 1979-1983 in Université Paris Diderot and received his Ph.D. degree in 1983. Dr. Zheng has focused his research on international Chinese lexicography since 1997. Observing the CEFR principle of “lexicon-grammar”, Dr. Zheng has published a number of books and dictionaries and more than 50 academic papers.