About Save Cantonese

Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs)

What do we believe?
We believe Cantonese is part of a vibrant and diverse society. With an estimated 80 million speakers today, it is a living language with an ancient history. Speaking Cantonese empowers individuals to access their heritage and culture. It also allows contemporary scholars to understand past and present, and empowers communities worldwide to communicate and thrive. We seek a future where where many linguistic traditions coexist, and Cantonese is part of our multilingual planet.

How did our movement start and how has it grown?
Save Cantonese was launched in 2020 in response to budget cuts that eliminated funding for the only salaried, benefits-eligible Cantonese lecturer position at Stanford University. Students, alumni, and concerned community members mobilized to Save Cantonese at Stanford: Our initial petition drew thousands of supporters and global media attention. (Read our one-page flyer on our efforts to Save Cantonese at Stanford)

In 2021, our movement expanded to include the campaign at City College of San Francisco (CCSF), aiming to restore Cantonese language classes after budget cuts at CCSF nearly eliminated the program. In 2022, we began campaigns with the San Francisco Unified School District to support bilingual Cantonese-English teachers, which has blossomed into a broader K-12 campaign.
 
What are some outcomes of these campaigns?
With the campaign underway, Stanford University agreed to restore two Cantonese courses to be taught by a part-time hourly instructor. We then facilitated a major gift that allowed the University to endow a permanent full-time Cantonese lectureship for future generations of students. Recently, we were thrilled to learn that a new three-quarter Cantonese reading/writing sequence will fulfill the university's language requirement, a victory for students of Cantonese on campus.

We also want future students of CCSF to benefit from a strong and sustainable Cantonese language program. After student-led protests against City College putting Cantonese on the chopping block, two Cantonese courses were reinstituted in Fall 2021, though only one was offered in Spring 2022. We continued advocating for a Cantonese certificate program, making the Cantonese classes eligible for more funding, along with other administrative changes to give them greater priority. As of January 2023, our campaign was proud to see CCSF become the first community college in the United States with a Cantonese language certificate. CCSF will offer not one, but two new Cantonese certifications to better serve the residents of San Francisco.

We have a third team focused on developing and strengthening teaching infrastructure for Cantonese language education in K-12 schools.

Structural changes like these ensure that Cantonese classes do not become diminished and then disappear. Instead, they can continue to be offered for future generations.

How do I receive updates or get involved?
Our campaign has grown from an effort at one university, to one connecting people who care about a future for Cantonese at multiple institutions. We have an expanding corps of volunteers, spanning many time zones across the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Great Britain and Singapore. Updates from Stanford University, CCSF and K-12 Education are posted in “Campaigns." Check out our Canto Culture initiative highlighting music, film and pop culture in the Cantonese-speaking world. To get involved as a supporter, volunteer, or donor, click here.

Do you offer Cantonese language classes?

No, we do not. We are not Cantonese language instructors, so our focus is on advocating for language programs, rather than offering language training ourselves. However, we are plugged into an expert network of language instructors and resources. Please see the Language Resources to Learn Cantonese section of the website for more information on language-learning opportunities. We also have a World Map of Cantonese Programs that offers the contact information of local educational programs you can be in touch with for language studies.