Cantonese and Mandarin are both languages within the Chinese dialect group. 

Although Cantonese and Mandarin are languages belonging to the group of Sinitic languages, both have their own share of uniqueness. Mandarin is a very popular language, spoken by almost 1.3 billion people in the world. It is also known as simplified Chinese. On the other hand, Cantonese is often viewed as a culturally significant and inseparable language of the Chinese mainland. It is spoken by approximately 80 million users in the world. But which one of them is more difficult to learn?

Which language is more difficult? 

Both Cantonese and Mandarin, even though they are dialects of the Chinese group, have their own differences and similarities, making one more difficult than the other. So let us first look at the similarities and differences in them.

Differences and similarities in both the languages

Tonal languages

Both Cantonese and Mandarin are tonal languages, which means that a shift in tone can alter the meaning of a word. In Mandarin, a sound has 4 tones, however, Cantonese has a minimum of six tones for each sound and can go upto nine tones too. Making it a bit difficult to speak and learn as compared to Mandarin. 

Writing the languages

When it comes to writing in Mandarin or Cantonese, Cantonese can be considered difficult as it uses the traditional characters. Earlier, Mandarin and Cantonese used the same characters but then, Mandarin speakers shifted to using the fashionable and simplified characters. Whereas, Cantonese still uses the traditional characters, making learning Cantonese more difficult than learning Mandarin. 

Grammar of the languages

When looking at the languages under the grammatical point of view, one can find that Cantonese grammar uses a logical pattern, which is easier to understand and remember. Whereas, Mandarin uses a structure that is dependent on the Subject, making it difficult to understand and remember.

Is Cantonese more difficult or Mandarin?

Learning Cantonese is more difficult than learning Mandarin. There are a huge number of differences in both the languages, and learning one cannot substitute the need of learning both the languages. Mandarin, being easier to learn, is more preferable due to various other reasons as well. Mandarin is one the most spoken languages in the world and is the official language of China and can be considered more feasible than learning Cantonese. So the answer to this question is simple: Mandarin is easier and more preferable to learn than Cantonese. 

Cantonese, due to its characters and tones, can be considered as a very difficult and complex language. Moreover it is also not as popular as Mandarin, and one of the reasons for that is its complexity and level of difficulty. Learning Cantonese is definitely more difficult than learning Mandarin. Learning Mandarin will not only be easier but also yield a lot of benefits. However, it is a personal choice and preference for learning any language whether Cantonese or Mandarin.