10 Interesting Facts about Cantonese

5. Cantonese looks similar to Mandarin but sounds very different

Since everyone who can read or write in China uses the same writing system, known as Chinese characters, or hànzì, Cantonese looks very similar to Mandarin when written down. This is because not many Cantonese speakers are actually familiar with the enormous variety of written Cantonese vocabulary, so they simplify it, which leads to the text looking a lot like Mandarin. However, the words would still sound very different when read out loud in either language. The complications with writing down Cantonese come from the fact that it’s mostly an oral language.