Want to teach your kids Cantonese but struggling with the language yourself?
I started the Jok Sing Jai project to get back to my Chinese roots and pass on my Cantonese Chinese heritage to my children.
Join me on my journey as I share Cantonese children’s books and other fun learning materials to help children who’s first language is English learn Cantonese.
What Others Are Saying
This book is really fun and a great addition to the growing group of books being written in colloquial Cantonese with jyutping support to help read. Once you learn the jyutping phonetic system, you don’t have to know how to read any of the characters either and you can still read the book out loud.
-J.A.P. on “I’m Too Loud! 我太嘈啦!”
Image: @aktc via Instagram
We decided to try to find some learning material that would be fun and a learning experience at the same time. This book is fun, easy to read in both languages and includes the Cantonese pronunciation that’s included on the website listed on the book.
-E on “Lucky Red Mittens 幸運紅手套”
What Is Jok Sing Jai All About?
Putting kids in Saturday Chinese classes is one way to learn Chinese, but it’s not the only way (and it didn’t work too well for many growing up).
As an engineer, I decided to take matters into my own hands and ended up creating another way to help my own kids discover Cantonese and its culture by making learning enjoyable.
At Jok Sing Jai, you’ll find fun and educational resources to help Chinese-Western families learn Cantonese.
I’m determined to improve our Chinese and prove the implied meaning of Jok Sing wrong.
JOK SING 竹升:
A Chinese person who identifies more with Western culture than Chinese culture is called a 竹升 in Cantonese. The name 竹升 comes from the Chinese word for bamboo (竹), which a symbol for being hollow. In other words, 竹升 don’t really fit well in either culture.
Free Cantonese Books For Kids!
More About The Creator: Samantha
Growing up in Toronto with first-generation immigrant parents, I spoke Cantonese but wasn’t very good at reading or writing Chinese. Even though I did go to Saturday Chinese classes, my most influential childhood exposure to Chinese was reading dim sum menus during weekly “yum cha” lunches with family.
As I got older, I felt greater pride in being Chinese and had a bigger desire to learn the language and culture. In part because of this, I took an expat job in Hong Kong after graduating from university and was able to pick up more Chinese.
Ever since I moved back to Toronto, my Chinese has gotten rusty again. So to help myself relearn Cantonese and my own kids to learn Cantonese, I create children’s books and other resources for Cantonese-Western families in my limited free time.