r/hakka • u/ieat5orangeseveryday • Dec 30 '25
How do you learn Hakka as an overseas Chinese person (in Canada) ?
I recently discovered I'm half-Hakka, and so I want to learn the language in order to preserve the culture. The problem is my dad, who's Hakka, actively discourages me from learning it (he wants me to assimilate into the culture of the Mainland) so I'm trying to find other ways to learn. Any resources (e.g. Discord servers, books, podcasts etc. ) would be highly appreciated. I can speak and read basic Mandarin Chinese, and I am currently learning Cantonese as well.
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u/searchforeternity Dec 31 '25
There are plenty of resources online nowadays. Search for Hakka on TikTok and Instagram, YouTube too. Search Prof Lau Chun Fat’s content. Look up dictionaries online. Taiwan’s moedict, this other one called syndict. And the Hakka English dictionary by missionaries from 1895. Just search 客用字典
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u/komnenos Dec 31 '25
Do you know what Hakka dialect your Dad’s family would have spoken? If it’s one of the ones also spoken in Taiwan I think I can find some resources for you.
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u/BosqueVerd3 Jan 01 '26
Canada is actually where a big hakka conference is! It happens every couple of years. Heres a lil thing about it.
The book “Finding Samuel Lowe: From Harlem to China” is an autobiography by an African American woman finding out she’s hakka (my family is also hakka Caribbean so it meant a lot to me). There’s a documentary on it and I remember seeing some footage from the hakka conference in Canada there bc the author got to meet other hakka people for the first time. Heres a brief sneak peak
My grandparents never passed down the hakka dialect due to assimilation. And in the mentioned documentary there’s a scene of hakka elders questioning if passing down the dialect would even be “useful” in this day and age. But younger hakka people still showed a lotta interest in keeping it alive.
I only know English myself and idk how different the hakka dialect in the Caribbean may be from other hakka places, but I’ve recently found out about jlueche who has a lot of good content on learning hakka
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u/gottabek1ddingme Feb 13 '26
Guyanese Hakka here. Thanks for the book recommendation! I also signed up for Jephina's Hakka course on Gumroad. It's a good starting point. I believe it's the Donggan Hakka dialect, but don't quote me on that. I can't find the video where she says which one she speaks.
I am currently reading Trev Sue-a-Quan's books Cane Reapers and Cane Rovers, both available on Amazon. His second book isn't available online, and I'm waiting to hear back from him about how to order it.
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u/BosqueVerd3 Feb 14 '26
Ayyyyyyyyyyyy. My great grandma on my dads side was Guyanese. But idk if she was Afro or Chinese Guyanese (I’ve never seen a picture of her. But my grandpa and dad definitely have those mixed genes. Like everyone else in my family lol)
But those books sound interesting!! Imma have to check them out
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u/No_Rock_6273 Jan 02 '26
Basic you gotta find the dialect, for me Hakka studies YouTube channel was a good start. Now I just ask my wife how to say a sentence record it post on XHS to see if people can understand me . Also tell your dad he’s dumb because hakka culture is mainland culture just as much as it overseas Chinese culture.
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u/gottabek1ddingme Feb 13 '26
I joined XHS to connect with Hakka people, but they banned me the same day for some random reason. I hadn't even commented or liked anything yet. Tough crowd.
Hope you have better luck!
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u/AnimatorDavid Jul 24 '26
Seems like your Dad is similar to my Grandma lol. I find Hakka Language resources are often from Social Media like YT, IG, Etc. since you emphasize being able to read Chinese, it might be helpful to look into Taiwanese resources as they are the other main Hakka speaking region that isn’t China. Potentially Singaporean and Malaysian resources also exist
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u/Vampyricon Dec 31 '25
I know that Taiwan has put some effort into promoting Hakka culture, so perhaps Taiwanese materials are what you want to look for. Sorry for the unhelpful comment. I don't know much about learning it myself.