unfamiliar with any romanization system. Because Cantonese is primarily a spoken language and does not carry its own writing system (written Cantonese, despite having some Chinese characters unique to it, primarily follows modern standard Chinese, which is closely tied to Mandarin), it is not taught in schools. As a result, locals do not learn any of these systems. In contrast with Mandarin-speaking areas of China, Cantonese romanization systems are excluded in the education systems of both Hong Kong and the Guangdong province. In practice, Hong Kong follows a loose, unnamed romanization scheme used by the Government of Hong Kong. Google Cantonese input uses Yale, Jyutping or Cantonese Pinyin, Yale being the first standard. Comparison Differences between the three main standards are . Note that Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin recognize certain sounds used in a few colloquial words (such as 掉, 舐, and 夾) but have not been officially recognized in other systems such as Yale. Initials Finals Tones See also Cantonese grammar Cantonese profanity Cantonese slang Languages of China List of English words of Cantonese origin List of varieties of Chinese Protection of the Varieties of Chinese References Citations Works cited Further reading External links Cantonese-English Online Dictionary Hong Kong Government site on the HK Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS) (archived 22 May 2011) Cantonese Tools Cantonese Cantonese culture Languages of China Languages of Hong Kong Languages of Macau Languages of Vietnam Languages of Malaysia Languages of Singapore Articles containing video clips