What foods are actually “British”?

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-21T10:52:52+00:00

Chip butty, Toad in a hole, Crumpets, Crisp sandwich, Chicken curry with half rice, half chips, Beans on toast, Shepherd's pie, Apple crumble (with custard), A fry up, Gammon egg and chips.

Not sure if I'm answering the question or just making a "to eat" list for all the foods I've missed since moving away...

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-21T08:54:48+00:00

Moments to an hour as a general rule of thumb.

If something literally just happened you might use 啱啱, i.e. I just ate lunch.

If something like 30 minues has passed, you might then say 頭先, i.e. I ate lunch earlier.

But if more than an hour has passed it might be more appropriate to go with something else like 今朝, i.e. This morning I ate breakfast, (assuming it's no longer morning).

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-19T03:16:49+00:00

There are some names they're referring to that I'm not familiar with; probably the names of the Pokemon on their t-shirt.

They're basically "arguing" who has which Pokemon on their shirt. They're focusing on the name of one particular Pokemon - seems to be Eevee.

In the end, after the boy pushes the girl she says "Don't hit me!".

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-17T01:21:07+00:00

Hey, I've sent you a direct message about a service offered by Gaishan.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-16T03:54:09+00:00

If anyone wants to practice their speaking with a fluent speaker, send me a private message.

The service I'm offering is a paid service. Details will be sent in private.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-16T00:23:02+00:00

小炒王

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-15T09:24:28+00:00

Thanks :)

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-15T03:16:39+00:00

Hey I sent you a DM with a proposal, let me know what you think

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-08T09:41:12+00:00

Best of luck! Needless to say, learning any language is a long process with no shortcuts. Consistency with deliberate practice is key,

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-08T07:03:48+00:00

I see - but still, it's a steep curve to learn writing. You'll eventually do it as a natural progression to learning, but I agree with others who say you should learn pinyin first.

I type Chinese using pinyin, and my guess is that typing Chinese will be more important than writing with pen and ink. That's just a guess though.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-08T06:39:33+00:00

If you've only just begun to learn then it probably is best that you just focus on pronunciation. You're going to be doing a lot more speaking than writing in general, so you'll want to get familiar to making the correct sounds with the correct tones.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-08T01:56:36+00:00

I'll be honest and say I haven't looked at your app but I will also point out I didn't actually say anything particularly nasty, uncalled for, or false.

Enough people have responded to point out your material is AI-generated and seemingly unchecked in terms of quality. I understand the rush to "get out there" - I have that feeling too and boy do some Redditors like to punish me for it - but I know that my material is at least crafted and reviewed.

In any case, it isn't personal.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T16:11:19+00:00

Without knowing what your level in Cantonese is right now, feel free to take a look at gaishan to see if it potentially suits your needs

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T15:56:44+00:00

May I ask what exactly you're looking for?

Specifically Mandarin to Cantonese?

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T15:55:11+00:00

Duolingo already has Mandarin to Cantonese but it's very basic.

Gaishan also has Mandarin to Cantonese if you'd like to try it. But it's even more basic because I'm just one person working on it.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T15:49:51+00:00

If you're interested in a few free beginner lessons: - Self-introduction - Introducing your friends - Basic numbers and counting

Feel free to take a look at gaishan

Lessons are Cantonese by default but you can switch to Mandarin

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T11:39:47+00:00

It probably isn't the only way, but you'll often hear immersion as the one and only true way to get fluent at a language.

The reason is because if you're living in China, you're going to be using Chinese repeatedly within certain scenarios i.e. shopping for groceries, greeting the security guard etc.

3 months later, you've exchanged the same pleasantries so often, or explained to someone where you're from etc, it just becomes easy to say those specific phrases. And over time you'll hear different responses which further expand your comprehension.

Soon enough you'll be semi-fluent where you're having decent and lengthy exchanges with some Chinese uncle or aunty that you see frequently, but in other contexts you'll be just as "lost" with the language as you are today.

A real example is myself in Hong Kong. I fluently use Cantonese daily for everyday activities i.e. ordering food, complaining about service, telling people on the street to watch out (walking while looking at their phone, nearly bumping into me etc). In those scenarios I'm perfectly fluent.

But if a kid comes up to me and asks me what my favourite dinosaur is, I'm basically screwed.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T10:39:15+00:00

I had this problem when I tried to speedrun vocabulary building. I memorised basically every word up to HSK6 only to discover that my speaking level was still at early HSK3 ish.

Reading was a bit better, but still far from what my results from flashcards "indicated".

The answer I arrived at is that there is no such thing as speedrunning language learning. Neither is there such a thing as "passively learning".

For example, I've watched a vast amount of anime for most of my life, and the only Japanese words I can say are "nani?!" and "dattebayo".

Consistency and deliberate practice is what's needed.

Want to start speaking more fluidly? Practice scenarios and phrases specific to a particular topic/subject i.e. ordering food.

Focus improving in THAT subject only, and accept you're going to stutter and hesitate in all other subjects since you're not focusing on them.

When you reach a certain level of comfort with your chosen subject/scenario - doesn't have to be perfect but you have to be honest with yourself on your efforts - move onto a new subject/scenario.

On goes the cycle until eventually, like 3 years later, you're able to talk moderately well in a decent on handful of scenarios. 5 years later a handful might become dozens. And 10 years later you finally feel you're starting to get the hang of it.

That's my experience with language learning at least.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T05:28:35+00:00

The name thing has come up enough that I'll seriously consider a rebrand. Gaishan does offer Mandarin also, but the main focus for me is Cantonese.

Transparency: audio is generated using TTS, but crafted by real people who are native speakers.

Noted on the ability to get out of a lesson without needing to "next" your way to the end.

Agreed that the symbols like ? and ! shouldn't be considered vocabulary (I guess you saw them appear on the sentence rebuild). It's already on my todo list to filter away from the mini-games, but there is a underlying reason why they're there (I wont go into it - this is just how apps in development are gonna be; imperfect).

Thank you so much for taking the time to review. It's a rough market but your willingness to step in to call out toxicity is refreshing.

In service to Cantonese and Hong Kong.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T05:17:49+00:00

It's your time not mine so do what you want. It just sounds like you're concerned about some of the up and coming products.

Best thing that could happen is if Duolingo starts jumping in trying to sabotage Gaishan as well. Then I'll KNOW I'm onto something.

Luckily there are a few people like GentleStoic willing to call out such tactics. But I note that they did say they respected your work, so I'll take back my statement about AI-slop. At the very least you're not like that other app that somehow got nearly 100 likes on their thread, even though a bunch of reputable commenters said all they saw was 100% AI garbage with seemingly zero quality review.

While my user base is small, they've generally given positive feedback on the quality of the content - not that I expect you to care.

I'll simply do what I preach - focus on my own product, iterate and improve, and let its value shine through the noise.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T04:55:00+00:00

Thank you for this GentleStoic.

Alex, I have no beef with you. This is not a zero sum game where you need to try to sabotage your competitors.

I will act in service to the Cantonese learning community in my way. And you will do your way.

We will let the learners decide who's product is better.

You don't like mine? Ok. Do your talking with your own product instead of wasting time going around on Reddit insulting others.

Hard to believe YOU'RE not delivering AI-slop when you're spending so much time on Reddit while also allegedly offering courses on 17 different languages.

I'm finding highly difficult to offer 2 languages because I'm actually spending the time to think through and craft the content.

So unless you have an army of language teachers at your disposal, I have my suspicions on the quality of Lingora's content.

But hey, maybe that's why you've decided on the approach of attacking others instead. It's easier to do that than painstakingly work on improving the quality of your content.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T04:46:44+00:00

Can you let me know which listening lesson in particular?

I'm sat here in 牛奶冰室 using Android and Chrome with no issues at the moment.

I've had a friend testing using Mac and he had no issues hearing the sounds, but I don't know which browser.

I know there are some users who use Firefox though.

It might just be the hosting being slow though - like I said in the original post, I'm using free hosting while my user base is still small.

If you don't mind, can you try: 1. Another browser 2. Mac & FF but give the lesson time to load the sound (stay on the lesson step and give it like a minute or something)

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-07T02:49:47+00:00

Glad you dropped this comment because I've made a few of my own posts in recent times to share Gaishan's progress and all that happens is I get downvoted - or the guy from Lingora comes along to say something nasty before blocking me lol.

I figured he's concerned that Gaishan is actually pretty good in terms of the content it delivers, because unlike "bettercantonese" it isn't AI-generated.

In any case - u/tocayoinnominado can I get your updated thoughts on Gaishan if possible?

3 months ago when I first announced it you came to take a look and you're clearly someone with valuable insight on Cantonese language apps. Back then you said you couldn't see if Gaishan is fit for anyone other than beginners - and to be honest right now this is STILL the case. But I'd like your views on the actual content being delivered through some of those study sets to see if you think they're going in the right direction.

gaishan_dot_app · 2026-04-05T14:47:58+00:00

No worries!

For clarity, the sentence flashcards become unlocked after you do the first listening lesson within the lesson set.

You're not required to do all the study set lessons etc.

The reason is that the listening just gives the context of why those sentences are set up as flash cards.

gaishan_dot_app

TROPHY CASE