Cantonese, as the mother tongue of the majority in Hong Kong, is far more than a convenient medium for instruction; it is the foundation on which children build their sense of self, their connection to family, and their understanding of the society around them. When schools use Cantonese as the primary language of teaching, they are not merely transmitting information more efficiently. They are affirming that the everyday speech of students, the language they use at home and on the streets, is worthy of respect and capable of supporting serious thought. This recognition strengthens students’ confidence and reduces the distance they may feel between their school life and their real lives.Mother-tongue teaching in Cantonese also has clear pedagogical advantages. Young children think, feel, and argue first in the language they know best. If they must simultaneously learn new academic concepts and a less familiar language, both tasks can suffer. Explaining mathematics, science, or history in Cantonese allows students to focus on meaning rather than on decoding vocabulary or grammar. It enables teachers to use humour, idioms, and local examples that resonate emotionally and culturally. Classrooms become more interactive because students are less afraid of making linguistic mistakes; they can ask questions and challenge ideas using the full expressive range of the language they grew up with.At the same time, mother-tongue teaching in Cantonese does not have to conflict with the practical need to learn Mandarin and English. In a globalised and politically integrated environment, proficiency in all three languages brings clear advantages. The tension arises when Mandarin or English is elevated at the expense of Cantonese, as if a student’s first language were an obstacle instead of a resource. A more balanced approach sees Cantonese as the stable base: students first build strong literacy, critical thinking, and subject knowledge in their mother tongue, and then transfer these skills to additional languages through well-designed second-language programmes. In this way, Cantonese-medium teaching becomes a platform for multilingualism, not a barrier to it.There is also a cultural and civic dimension to using Cantonese as the teaching medium. Language carries the stories, humour, and collective memory of a community. Teaching in Cantonese keeps local literature, theatre, film, and everyday expressions alive and relevant for younger generations. It makes it easier to discuss Hong Kong’s history, social issues, and civic values in a voice that feels authentically local. If schools move too far away from Cantonese, students may come to see their own culture as something informal, unsophisticated, or confined to entertainment, while “serious” or “official” topics are reserved for other languages.Ultimately, adopting Cantonese as the mother-tongue medium of instruction is a choice about what kind of education system Hong Kong wants. It is a choice between treating students as future workers who must quickly adapt to external demands, and treating them as whole human beings rooted in a particular place and culture. A Cantonese-based education, combined with strong teaching of Mandarin and English, offers a way to reconcile identity with opportunity. It allows children to learn who they are, in their own language, even as they gain the linguistic tools to engage with China and the wider world.
