Which sounds better?

[Taiji]

Which among these two ladies is the better singer? And which language do you prefer? The cantonese or the mandarin version?

Mandarin:


Cantonese:

Spoiler!

Say mandarin guys! I command you

[NSXD60]

Both sound pretty much the same, save for the preponderance of the sh- sound in the first.

[Rgvgjhvv]

There is a large Cantonese-speaking community where I live. I find it a bit easier on the ears, versus the harsh R sounds found in Mandarin.

[NSXD60]

Agree, that R sound does get tiresome after a while, but I didn't much notice it here.

[Taiji]

There is a large Cantonese-speaking community where I live. I find it a bit easier on the ears, versus the harsh R sounds found in Mandarin.

Agree, that R sound does get tiresome after a while, but I didn't much notice it here.

Interesting, do you guys mean the dialect itself (i.e. cantonese vs mandarin) or the way cantonese people speak mandarin?

When southerners speak mandarin, it's typically stereotyped as gentle, feminine and softer than northerners.

Mandarin in a guangdong accent


Mandarin in a proper northern accent


Here's an interview of Guangzhou residents. One of them isn't speaking in a southern accent. Can you guess who?

[Thambi]

you already had a thread related to the accents lol. I shouldn't have made that extra one.

The first two singers were both good and when sung I could barely make out the difference other than the few differences already mentioned above.

When spoken though there are huge regional differences in mandarin and even more prominent differences between mandarin and cantonese. Cantonese sounds a little funny when spoken imo but when sung its just as beautiful as mandarin.

[zhaoyun]

Standard Mandarin is generally pleasant and smooth. Cantonese is very annoying and choppy. Although Mandarin can be annoying too if it's spoken by a bunch of uncouth peasants yelling all the time.

You can't really differentiate based on a song, you have to pay attention to the spoken form.

[Sealin]

Both great singers, but I prefer the second one.

[Rgvgjhvv]

Interesting, do you guys mean the dialect itself (i.e. cantonese vs mandarin) or the way cantonese people speak mandarin?

When southerners speak mandarin, it's typically stereotyped as gentle, feminine and softer than northerners.

Mandarin in a guangdong accent


Mandarin in a proper northern accent


Here's an interview of Guangzhou residents. One of them isn't speaking in a southern accent. Can you guess who?

Is it the girl with the glasses and teal sweater?

[Taiji]

Standard Mandarin is generally pleasant and smooth. Cantonese is very annoying and choppy. Although Mandarin can be annoying too if it's spoken by a bunch of uncouth peasants yelling all the time.

You can't really differentiate based on a song, you have to pay attention to the spoken form.

Agreed. Languages sound very different, much more beautiful when sung. Actually I much prefer mandarin but in these particular videos, both sounded very good

you already had a thread related to the accents lol. I shouldn't have made that extra one.

The first two singers were both good and when sung I could barely make out the difference other than the few differences already mentioned above.

When spoken though there are huge regional differences in mandarin and even more prominent differences between mandarin and cantonese. Cantonese sounds a little funny when spoken imo but when sung its just as beautiful as mandarin.

Actually it's fine. The thread you made was about different accents while this one compared dialects.