Australian in Hong Kong wins locals over with efforts to learn Cantonese
Strategy consultant Jonas Groom, 29, posts clips online of his progress learning language, and while his tones may be ‘terrible’, locals are impressed
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Meet the Australian who speaks Cantonese after 18 months in Hong Kong
For many foreigners who come to Hong Kong for work, one of the appeals of the city is its widespread use of English, meaning that many never feel compelled to learn the local Cantonese language.
But 29-year-old Australian Jonas Groom has made a splash on social media, where he posts videos of his Cantonese language learning journey, with some of his clips garnering hundreds of thousands of views.
Groom, who moved to Hong Kong a little over a year ago and works as a strategy consultant, said he prioritised learning the language to forge a deeper bond with the local community.
“There aren’t a lot of Westerners who learn Cantonese,” Groom said in a recent interview with the Post.
“I feel that when there is someone learning Cantonese who doesn’t have a Cantonese background or Cantonese heritage, it stands out slightly … therefore people really appreciate it.”
Cantonese is a famously difficult language owing to its complex tones, phonetic sounds that are unfamiliar to English speakers and differences between its spoken and written forms.