Reef Chemistry and pH

Reef Chemistry and pHWhen it comes to reef chemistry and pH, most people think that the two things are different. Reef chemistry is certainly a bit different than the one found in the human body and just about any other environment out there in the great out-there.Reef chemistry is actually the combination of various chemicals in the water. It's the little bacteria and algae (most often we don't notice) in the water that help to keep things balanced. As you might imagine, the more of these there are, the less alkaline. The more acidic, the more they are.When you're doing something with chemicals and pH levels, a good example would be the stuff they use in fertilizer. Sometimes called 'alkalinity,' that's the name applied to the pH level of the fertilizer being used. A fertilizer of very high alkalinity would tend to make the water very much more acidic than what it already is.It's important to remember that the ideal conditions for reef chemistry and pH are those that are highly alka line. This is because it makes the materials inside the rock work harder. In the natural environment, many things will need to work harder to get the process going, so high alkalinity is definitely needed.It can be surprising how much difference this one simple change can make in the environment. As an example, if you went into a very dry desert and tried to plant a nice garden, you might do OK for a while, but as the plants grew in, it would dry out, and the nutrients you were feeding them wouldn't be as effective. It might be easier, however, to add a source of high alkalinity to the garden in order to make it grow faster. And you might find that the lack of water running through it allowed you to grow food that wouldn't dry out as much.To understand why there's a difference between reef chemistry and pH, it helps to go back to what is usually called pH. pH is actually just the acid and base information in the same way that alkalinity is. So if you add a lot of alkalinity, say ove r ten percent, it should make the water even more acidic, especially with things like fertilizers and water softeners.When it comes to reef chemistry and pH, the best thing to do is to think of it as the work of the symbiotic bacteria and algae. They make the ocean (as well as things we see in the living world), and you can do the same with your reef aquarium.

Simple Study Tips to Improve Habits Grades - Private Tutoring

Simple Study Tips to Improve Habits Grades BobbiM Apr 21, 2015 If your child is struggling in school with one particular class or even a few classes, most parents and students are looking for some solutions.     There are several options, including private tutoring. However, that can’t be the only step that you take. Making sure that what is learned in class or with a tutor is really understood is critical to your student’s success. We’ve come up with several tips from experts and tutors that work with us that we thought we’d share with you! Study Tips #1 Ask your kids what they learned while in school or during their tutoring session. This will enhance a student’s critical thinking skills. Critical thinking allows a student to understand a topic, subject or skill in their own words and then being able to explain it to another person. You can ask questions during a casual conversation or over dinner. Have patience at times while they try to put a new concept or skill into words or demonstrate it for you.  Study Tips #2 â€" Make sure to initiate open discussion in a positive and enthusiastic vein. Ask your child what is going on! Find out what they are covering and what he or she is liking or not liking. Make sure that your child is getting what they need and what you are paying for. Communication means you aren’t in the dark or having to guess what is going on or where they might be struggling in school or with their tutor. If you have hired a private tutor and there isn’t progress or the fit doesn’t seem to be working, it’s your option to find a new tutor or discuss it with the tutor you are currently working with. There are different styles in teachers and tutors and the key is to find the right match for your child. You might also enjoy: 4 Basic Principles of Problem Solving Study Tip #3 Teach your child that they need both a healthy mind AND body! Good sleep and the right foods make all the difference in each of our ability to learn and absorb new topics and information. A few tweaks (or a lot of tweaks) to eating habits and sleep habits may be just what the doctor ordered (if you had gone to a doctor…..). Simple steps like a consistent bed time and healthy meals are important habits for a child to learn for life. Incorporating gradual changes into your family’s lifestyle may make a huge and positive difference for everyone. This is especially important before big exams, tests or other brain draining activities. Study Tips #4 â€" Keep an eye on the results of your child’s new study habits and abilities. Whether it’s from a change in studying practices or from having an at home private tutor, see if there’s some improvement in confidence, skills and, of course, grades.     If you’ve initiated several changes and still are not seeing results, there might be other factors that are impacting your child. For more information, search private tutors in your area today!

Last Minute SAT Study Guide - by TutorNerds

Last Minute SAT Study Guide - by TutorNerds Last Minute SAT Study Guide From an Irvine SAT Tutor The SAT is this Saturday so what you do or don’t do this week will make a significant difference in your score (our Irvine SAT test prep tutors are always here to help). For some of you this is the first time you are taking the SAT and you have multiple more times to take it, for others this is it. Try these last minute tips to give you the best chance of success this weekend. 1. Don’t overestimate yourself. You may have mastered the long passages or the triangle problems long ago but if you haven’t reviewed them within the last two weeks, you should do so now. Go over all of the sections that you were doing well on and do at least one of each throughout the week. Make a list of all of the sections where your expected success rate has dropped and do a second one by Thursday. 2. Tackle those really hard sections. Perhaps you have given up on graphs or sentence corrections, thinking that you will pick up enough points on the sections that you excel in. It’s not too late to go through the explanations in the back of your test prep book and see what you are missing. Picking up even 2-3 points per section could make a huge difference in your composite score (READ: 5 Awesome SAT Apps). 3. Know when to omit. If you always get the ‘except’ questions wrong, and every single strategy you have ever tried and everything your tutor has ever told you still isn’t working, then it may be time to admit that these questions aren’t for you and consider omitting them on the test. Remember that you are penalized for guessing on the SAT (READ: A Timeline Study Guide for the SAT). 4. Tally up your score. If you have only been calculating your score on certain sections or if you haven’t been keeping track at all, now is the time to tally up a composite score. The only score that really counts is the one given by the College Board but it’s better to know what your potential score is before going into the exam. If your current practice test composite score for all sections is a 1500, then you will likely score between a 1400 and 1600 on the real test. Of course, there are plenty of factors that can change your score either up or down but it is always good to have an estimate. 5. Take one full length practice test. If it’s been several weeks since your last full length practice test or if you have yet to take one, do your very best to sit down one day after school Monday-Thursday and take a full length practice test. This will help you understand how long you will be sitting down and how long the test will require your full attention (READ: SAT Subject Tests). 6. Follow your pre-test routine on Friday. Basically, if you haven’t learned a particular concept or technique by Friday, then you probably won’t have a ‘light bulb moment’ on Saturday morning at 3 AM. It is important to rest your brain and body the day before a big test such as the SAT. On Friday, eat a good breakfast, lunch and dinner. Go for a walk after school and get some invigorating fresh air and sunshine. Go to bed in time to get at least eight hours of sleep but nine would be better. Good luck on the October SAT! All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at info@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us post about.

Spring Language Learning Packages

Spring Language Learning Packages Last month we launched Packages, multiple sessions booked together with one teacher.   As with any new feature, some people are a bit unsure how make good use of it, so we asked a few teachers to help us show off their best package offerings.   So far eight teachers have agreed to help.   (If youre a teacher and would like to participate, please read this post.) All of the offerings from these eight teachers are packages of 10 lessons, 1 hour per lesson, covering a certain course the teacher has agreed to teach.   These 10 lessons can be scheduled at the convenience of the teacher and student, 1 per week or even 1 per day!   Various topics include Japanese Conversation, British Current Affairs, and French Culture.   To book any of the packages with the teacher, first make sure you have enough ITC in your account for the whole package, and then just choose your favorite topic and favorite teacher.   The teachers listed on that page are all eager to help you learn their languages! Click on the image to view details Spring Language Learning Packages Last month we launched Packages, multiple sessions booked together with one teacher.   As with any new feature, some people are a bit unsure how make good use of it, so we asked a few teachers to help us show off their best package offerings.   So far eight teachers have agreed to help.   (If youre a teacher and would like to participate, please read this post.) All of the offerings from these eight teachers are packages of 10 lessons, 1 hour per lesson, covering a certain course the teacher has agreed to teach.   These 10 lessons can be scheduled at the convenience of the teacher and student, 1 per week or even 1 per day!   Various topics include Japanese Conversation, British Current Affairs, and French Culture.   To book any of the packages with the teacher, first make sure you have enough ITC in your account for the whole package, and then just choose your favorite topic and favorite teacher.   The teachers listed on that page are all eager to help you learn their languages! Click on the image to view details Spring Language Learning Packages Last month we launched Packages, multiple sessions booked together with one teacher.   As with any new feature, some people are a bit unsure how make good use of it, so we asked a few teachers to help us show off their best package offerings.   So far eight teachers have agreed to help.   (If youre a teacher and would like to participate, please read this post.) All of the offerings from these eight teachers are packages of 10 lessons, 1 hour per lesson, covering a certain course the teacher has agreed to teach.   These 10 lessons can be scheduled at the convenience of the teacher and student, 1 per week or even 1 per day!   Various topics include Japanese Conversation, British Current Affairs, and French Culture.   To book any of the packages with the teacher, first make sure you have enough ITC in your account for the whole package, and then just choose your favorite topic and favorite teacher.   The teachers listed on that page are all eager to help you learn their languages! Click on the image to view details

Newsletter March 2012

Newsletter March 2012 Sizzling Hot Server Hosting of the TutorZ.com website has moved to the sizzling hot servers of eBoundHost. These fast and reliable Xenon severs deliver the fastest and highest available Tutorz.com experience ever. Not only improves this move the surfing experience of our customers but improves ranking at the Google Search (one dedicated IP-address). This step also enables new tools and web services not possible in the prior a shared cloud computing environment of MediaTemple.net. Solving the Quadratic Equation Do you remember how to solve the quadratic equation from your school days? If not thats no problem. TutorZ.com has a very cool and easy to understand video on how to tackle this algebraic problem. Find this video on main website on our or visit our youtube channel. Lilliya Kuleshova Employee of the Month Lets give a hand to Lilliya Kuleshova as our employee of the month. Not only is Lilliya a most reliable, friendly and proactive employee but has she gone beyond what was expected of her on 3 occasions. She has retrieved a credit card stuck in an ATM for CEO Dirk Wagner, has referred a new employee (Stefan) and stood up until 1:30 AM to prepare the end-of-month party. Lilliya, youre our hero! End-of-Month Party On March 2nd, 2012 an end-of-the month party was held again at the office of TutorZ.com. The team celebrated February 2012 as  the best performing ever. The party began with an insightful presentation by Dirk Wagner, founder and CEO, that focused on recent financial and web statistics data. Afterwards, delicious snacks, dinner and drinks were served by our employee of the month Lilliya Kuleshova. Tutor of the Month: Tim Antone Playa del Rey, CA Tim was one of the most popular and active tutors on February. He received many leads and purchased most part of them although were sure he is very busy person. He is experienced tutor qualified in many essential subjects such as math, history, science, philosophy, business, marketing, networking, database and sports. We also like to mention that Tim is extremely polite and competent in his dealing with his students. We would like to thank Tim Antone for his good work and cooperation. Sincerely, The TutorZ.com Team

Top 10 Jobs in the U.S. in 2017

Top 10 Jobs in the U.S. in 2017 pexels.com 1) Full Stack Developer   A full stack developer is someone who is willing to work with back-end and front-end technologies. Front-end refers to the presentation layer while the back-end refers to the data access layer of software. If you are willing to work both sides as a full-stack developer, you will be appealing to possible employees and you will get more opportunities without limiting yourself. If the average base salary of $110,770 sounds promising, here are a few tips to help guide you on your path to becoming a full stack developer. 2) Data Scientist   With an average base salary of $129,938, a data scientists job is to  take both unstructured and structured data points and to organize them to uncover hidden solutions to business challenges. Depending on the company you end up working for, you are going to face different tasks such as inventing algorithms to solve problems, communicating predictions, and recommending effective changes to the companys procedures. According to uadcity.com, eight skills essential for data scientists include basic tools, basic statistics, machine learning, multivariable calculus and linear algebra, data munging, data visualization and communication, software engineering, and the ability to think like a data scientist. 3) Development Operations Engineer Development operations engineers, or DevOps staff, are often defined by the skills that they have: coding/scripting, process re-engineering, and collaborating with others in their field. Kelsey Hightower, head of Puppet Labs, labels DevOps staff as the Special Forces in an organization as they [encapsulate depths] of knowledge and years of hands-on experience and [blend] the skills of the business analyst with the technical chops to build the solution. 4) Salesforce Administrator Salesforce is a cloud computing company that started as a Software as a Service (SAAS) CRM company and now provides various software solutions and a place for users to develop and distribute custom software. According to salesforce.com, a salesforce administrator is a business leader, deeply knowledgeable about how their company operates, intertwined in making all departments successful through process automation, and thus, integral to running a smooth and clean business. 5) IT Engineer As an IT engineer, you will apply your technical knowledge to solve technological challenges and to create technologies. You will work in an office or research lab to work with computer hardware and software and be available to help other company employees learn new technologies and troubleshoot computer hardware and software as time goes on. With a bachelors degree (a masters if a company requires more complex work), IT engineers can earn an average base salary of $89,702. 6) Salesforce Developer Salesforce developers have a number of responsibilities, including customizing the salesforce environment for their client, integrating other systems, and working on the development of applications. If you are interested in jumpstarting your career as a salesforce developer, consider reading this blog post by Edureka for a tutorial. 7) Quality Engineer As a quality engineer, you will need to understand the principles of product and service quality evaluation and control, usually working in manufacturing plants as they take responsibility for the quality of their companys products. Depending on the type of company you are a quality engineer for, your responsibilities will vary. At larger manufacturing companies, quality engineers have a specific focus or area of expertise, and at smaller operations, quality engineers have a wider range of responsibilities, like providing support for the whole system. 8) Digital Project Manager Digital project managers are digital solution architects as the job requires an understanding from a strategic perspective of why you should do a project, what technology could be used to achieve it, what it could look like, how it could work, and importantly for clients, how much it will cost and when it could be delivered. Being a good and effective digital project manager means being well-organized and being attentive to details in order to be a good leader and effectively communicate. 9) Cloud Engineer A cloud engineer is an IT professional that carries out any duties dealing with cloud computing design, planning, management, maintenance, and support. The job can be associated with different roles: cloud architect, cloud software engineer, cloud security engineer, cloud systems engineer, and cloud network engineer, which means that you will be focusing on a specific type of cloud computing. As a cloud engineer, you will need to be familiar with various programming languages, as the more you are experienced with, the more desirable you are in the eyes of your future employers. 10) Management Consulting Analytics Manager Management consulting analytics managers use their modeling and statistics background to create solutions to marketing problems for their clients. They will implement the models they create in order to enhance and drive marketing campaigns and communicate their work to business leaders.

Math Tutoring Can Help Your Child Keep On Track

Math Tutoring Can Help Your Child Keep On TrackMath tutoring is one of the best ways to keep children on track, especially when they are still at an age where they have trouble following a step-by-step set of instructions. If your child is going through a phase where they are starting to struggle with the subject matter in the classroom, Math Tutoring can help them stay on track.Math classes, when kids are starting to learn, usually last for about an hour. When you're watching them, this is the time where most kids look to find something that's going to occupy their time. Math Tutoring can help your child to stay on track with the lesson and they will be much more likely to do well in the class.When teaching math, the instructor needs to give instructions to the class and they need to follow them. When kids have to stop and re-do what they were doing in the middle of a lesson, it usually leads to frustration and even an inability to finish the assignment. Math Tutoring can help to ma ke sure that your kids are able to keep up with the topic.There are several options available to parents when it comes to Math Tutoring, such as tutoring your child in the beginning or taking your child out of the classroom altogether. Make sure that you think about all of the options and the amount of money that you will be willing to spend for it.Math Tutoring is one of the best ways to get your kids involved in their learning. While they may be taking notes while you are in the class, Math Tutoring can keep your child focused and help them remember how to solve problems.Math Tutoring can be a wonderful way to engage your child's mind and to help them learn in a different way. When children are engaged in learning, it has a great impact on their life long after they have finished their school years.Learning to read is a skill that cannot be learned without math. Math is a very important skill that can be taught at any age. However, Math Tutoring can help to make sure that your chi ld will have a head start in school and will be ready for the real world when they graduate.

How To Become A Tutor Online

How To Become A Tutor OnlineThere are many ways to go about learning how to become a tutor, and this is not always the case with what the conventional education system will tell you. This can range from enrolling at an actual school or college that has programs available or taking a person who is already employed. The education systems are moving with the times in many different ways, and now it is all up to you to go after whatever you want in this world.If you are like most of the everyday person, you do not have much time for college as well as extra classes. These types of things do not fit into your life. If you are more on the very far side of college time, getting an online education has many advantages. By enrolling in a program or having some sort of online education, you will have access to a world that is not going to be there when you are in your class.One of the biggest reasons that people take up learning how to become a tutor is because they cannot afford it or have no t been trained in what they are doing. If you are willing to study, then these things are absolutely not going to keep you from the task at hand. People who do not have the patience to sit in a classroom for hours are the ones who find themselves in most of the online education programs.For those who are taking advantage of the online learning, there are ways that are being given to the students to make their classes a little easier. What this does is to create a better learning environment for the students. As long as the classes are of a certain level, they will know when to stop for breaks, and they will know where to stop. By creating an environment that is conducive to learning, all of the students can benefit from the experience.Learning how to become a tutor should always be looked at as a benefit to one's study habits. A lot of people will tend to stick with a traditional education in the sense that they continue to study, whether or not they learn anything. They will just s tick with it because it is what is done in the education system. It is nothing wrong with the traditional educational system if it is the only way that they can achieve a high school diploma.With online classes, there is a different type of learning, and it helps that the education system has allowed for it. Those who choose to put in the effort in this type of education will see that it really is much different than what the traditional schooling system would have them put into. There are those who learn differently with online classes than those who attend a traditional school. This may sound strange, but there are those who have studied in both of these systems. Some of them have become very successful in both, and they are truly being given a new way to learn.Learning how to become a tutor has advantages to many different people. Those who use it to teach others will see that their knowledge and their abilities grow exponentially. Others will feel that they have a new attitude a nd way of thinking. Either way, it is up to each individual to decide what is best for him.

Learn How to Read Cantonese.

Learn How to Read Cantonese. Learning Cantonese? Here’s Some Useful Info on Reading Cantonese Characters. ChaptersIs Learning Cantonese Really Worth the Effort?Do We Need to Learn the Script?Cantonese and Mandarin: Same Script?Cantonese Written and Cantonese Spoken.Romanization: Yale and JyutpingCharacters and Components.Welsh and Norwegian, say, seem to pale in comparison. It makes Spanish and French seem like a complete doddle. Even languages like Russian and Greek, with their completely different alphabets, seem much more manageable.At least they have alphabets. With this, you can almost start to make sense of the words, the phrases, spotting patterns between symbols across different texts. Oh, if everything were this easy!Cantonese â€" and Chinese languages in general â€" are a completely different ball game. At first, they seem like they are a collection of completely random lines and shapes. They appear totally incomprehensible, as you search for a rule to the meaning, to the pronunciation.This very fact seems to put most people off attempting to learn Chinese at all. Or, if they d o, they limit themselves to learning how to speak, rather than having to delve into the great challenge of learning Chinese characters.And this, in a sense, is understandable. Yet, it is such a shame. With language learning comes challenge â€" and with challenge comes an awful lot of rewards.If you’re committed to learning Cantonese, you’ll need to make peace with learning the traditional Chinese characters. And, you’ll find, it’s not as difficult as you might have thought. Learn to read Cantonese! NingChinese Teacher 5.00 (10) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LorraineChinese Teacher £10/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JoyceChinese Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicoleChinese Teacher £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors KatyChinese Teacher £16/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YangChinese Teacher £18/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ChengChinese Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsIs Learning Cantonese Really Worth the Effort?Let’s say that, yes, learning Cantonese as a new language is hard. Let’s say that it is particularly hard for those who do not already know Mandarin Chinese or another Chinese language. Let’s admit both of these things.Even if we do accept them, however, learning a language will be the best thing you will ever do. And learning a language like Cantonese will be a n even bigger achievement. With over sixty million people speaking Cantonese â€" in both mainland China and in the southern Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau â€" you will be opening up a world of opportunities by learning Cantonese. That’s a world of friends, romances, career paths, and travel possibilities too.You’ll have a much greater insight into Hong Kong and Chinese culture â€" and you’ll be developing your own abilities. Learning a second language does not merely permit you to speak a new language: it changes the way you think, relate to people, and act in the world too.So, yes, learning Cantonese sure is worth the effort â€" the little extra effort of having to manage the task of reading and writing Chinese script. Let’s make an effort.Find out how to learn Cantonese!Do We Need to Learn the Script?One of the most common questions that tutors of Cantonese receive from students might be more of a cry of desperation rather than an actual, legitimate question: do w e really have to learn the Chinese script? Even if that’s true, the question itself deserves an honest answer.And that answer depends, really, on what you want to learn Cantonese for. If you want to go to Hong Kong to make friends and have a laugh, you’ll get a different answer to if you want to study Cantonese academically, or if you want to read Cantonese literature.Honestly, if you are aiming for just a conversational ability in Cantonese with native speakers, then no: learning the script is absolutely not a priority. Rather, you should be practising your Chinese pronunciation and your verbal fluency, you should be focusing on the process of how to learn to speak.Because speaking is where language primarily happens. Where we use the majority of our language is through our mouths, rather than through the nib of a pen or through the pages of a book.However, if you are moving to Hong Kong or Macau, you’ll notice that text is everywhere. Just as in the streets of the west (wher e we probably take it for granted), the walls of the streets are plastered in words â€" or rather, at this point, symbols that you don’t understand.The short answer, really then, is learn to speak before you learn to read and write. And that’s regardless of what you are learning the language for.Find out how to write Cantonese! Find new vocabulary from your reading. NingChinese Teacher 5.00 (10) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LorraineChinese Teacher £10/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JoyceChinese Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicoleChinese Teacher £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors KatyChinese Teacher £16/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YangChinese Teacher £18/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ChengChinese Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsCantonese and Mandarin: Same Script?Before you learn to read Cantonese, however, it is worth knowing a bit about the writing system that they use. Because ‘Chinese script’ or a ‘Chinese character’ is not a monolithic thing.Learning Mandarin script and learning that of Cantonese is a very similar process. However, we need to stress that these are simply not the same at all. They use a lot of the same characters, but the pronunciation is different â€" so different that the languages are mutually unintelligible. And given that the grammar of the two languages also differs, it is not even likely that a Mandarin speaker would be able to follow a Cantonese text.Whilst simplified Chinese text is primarily used by those who speak Mandarin, this is where Mandarin and Cantonese differ. Cantonese, on the other hand, uses the traditional characters.What these are is something fairly self-explanatory. The traditional script â€" used in Cantonese and Taiwan â€" is the original script that has developed over centuries, millennia even. The simplified Chinese of mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia, however, has â€" surprise, surprise, been simplified. Yes, this means that it is easier to read.As you are facing Cantonese, you’ve got a bigger challenge. Yet, this challenge is much greater when you are writing than when you are simply reading. Reading is merely a game of searching fo r patterns and deriving meaning from them (see below!). But producing those characters is a lot harder than just recognising them.The trouble is that Cantonese has another difficulty.Cantonese Written and Cantonese Spoken.When reading Cantonese, you’ll notice a further difference. This is the difference between what is generally called ‘written’ Cantonese and ‘spoken’ Cantonese. The trouble is that ‘spoken’ Cantonese, in this context, is a written form in itself. Imagine very formal English, the sort of thing that you would find in broadsheet newspapers, academic textbooks, and government copy. But then imagine the sort of language that most English speakers would text to their mates or the sort of language that is spoken down the pub.In English, we use the same alphabet for both forms. In the former, the sentences might be longer, more grammatically correct, and with more official language. You wouldn’t start an email to an employer with ‘hey dude’, just as you wouldn’t say goodbye to a friend with ‘yours sincerely’.In Cantonese, the difference is that completely different characters are used for the two registers of speech, with completely different words. Whilst written Cantonese is the standard Chinese that is common to mainland China and all other countries speaking Chinese, spoken Cantonese is limited to those who speak Cantonese.Spoken language in Cantonese is the way you will be texting your friends. But you should really know standard, written Chinese if you are intending to get a job in Hong Kong, say.Find out how to learn Cantonese vocabulary! Build your Cantonese dictionaryRomanization: Yale and JyutpingWhen you start learning Cantonese, it is worth noting, you will be primarily be learning with a Romanized system, that being a system that transforms the Cantonese phonemes (or sounds) into the alphabet that we use in the western world.This is to help anyone who is not a native speaker to navigate the complexities of the Chinese written system.There are plenty of Romanization systems in Cantonese â€" developed by different people trying to work with the characters in their native language. The most common that you will probably come across are Cantonese pinyin, Yale romanisation, and Jyutping, the system developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong.These are generally quite similar. Between Yale and Jyutping, nearly all the consonants are identical. However, there are differences in the tones and in some particular sounds. As we said, however, the differences are small.Romanisation will be what will help you take your first steps in Cantonese. However, when you are reading long texts, the system soon becomes exhausting. As there are no spaces between words in Cantonese, the system doesn’t always appear clear in distinguishing where one word finishes and another begins.Characters and Components.At a certain point, then, you will have to move on to the characters themselves. And as, according to some estimates, there are over fifty thousand different characters, this can be a little intimidating.Don’t worry, however. Because, as with all languages, the vast majority of them are very rarely used; only a couple of thousand of these are in everyday use. And, a lot of Cantonese speakers also forget how to write certain characters themselves. So, let that be a load off your mind.RadicalsWhat should be really reassuring, however, is that each of these fifty thousand characters is actually the product of only 214 smaller components. These are called either components or radicals. These are the semanti c and phonetic building blocks of Cantonese. And once you can recognise these, you will be able to spot them in every different word.As we said, reading is all about spotting patterns. And once you are familiar with the code â€" the radicals â€" the patterns will slowly but surely become clear. So, now read our full guide to learning Cantonese!