Est.: Aug. 28, 2007
Updated: Jan. 22, 2008

Macau Crash Course — Language of Macau

Last update: August 28, 2007

Cantonese is the primary language of Macau, and Mandarin is also understood, but not preferred. Unlike Hong Kong, English is seldom spoken or understood in Macau. The Wynn is a noteworthy exception, where some degree of English seemed to be required of front-line staff. At the Australian owned Crown casino I had great difficultly asking about the game rules, and had to resort to drawing pictures of cards on the table. I was there before the Venetian opened, so I can't comment on how you will fare there with English there. To make matters worse, if signage is in two languages, the second one will often be Portuguese. What little Spanish I know was helpful, which has a lot of crossover with Portuguese.

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