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In recent years, fewer and fewer young people are speaking Cantonese in China. When I last visited the village where I grew up in Guangdong province in 2016, I noticed young children spoke to each other in Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I thought to myself, uh oh, I fear that one day not too far from now, the Cantonese language may disappear, along with its long-standing traditions. While some say that Cantonese is a dialect, I would argue that it is a language and a cultural heritage of China. Preserving the Cantonese language is crucial to maintaining the colorful, lively, and poetic traditions of China. Cantonese is important to me because it is the core of who I am and connects me to the people I love and the place where I came from.
In recent years, fewer and fewer young people are speaking Cantonese in China. When I last visited the village where I grew up in Guangdong province in 2016, I noticed young children spoke to each other in Mandarin, instead of Cantonese. I thought to myself, uh oh, I fear that one day not too far from now, the Cantonese language may disappear, along with its long-standing traditions. While some say that Cantonese is a dialect, I would argue that it is a language and a cultural heritage of China. Preserving the Cantonese language is crucial to maintaining the colorful, lively, and poetic traditions of China. Cantonese is important to me because it is the core of who I am and connects me to the people I love and the place where I came from.