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Leading The Way adds 14th language to the ministry's international radio program
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Our Cantonese Program
Leading The Way's Cantonese broadcast launches March 26, 2006. The English-Cantonese program will air twice a week via Far East Broadcasting transmitters in Manila, Philippines. The shortwave broadcast targets the coastal-south, mid-south, and southwest areas of China.
Listen to a program sample
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As China continues preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games, Leading The Way is launching its second dual-language broadcast for the Chinese people.
The English-Cantonese dual-language program — launching March 26, 2006 — is the 14th language in the ministry's dual-language program, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary later this year.
The Cantonese broadcast will air twice a week via Far East Broadcasting Company transmitters in Manila, Philippines. The shortwave program targets the coastal-south, mid-south, and southwest areas of China. It is the second dual-language program created for the Chinese population; an English-Mandarin broadcast started in 2001.
More than 65 million people speak Cantonese, the language mainly used in China's southeastern area — including Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. Cantonese also is a dominant language in Chinese communities within other countries.
"When we were studying the possibility of adding the Cantonese language to our dual-language program, our motive was the growing need for this area to learn English as part of China's preparations for the 2008 Olympics," said Majeed Ghaleb, an associate in Leading The Way's dual-language department.
| More than 65 million people speak Cantonese, the language mainly used in China's southeastern area — including Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. Cantonese also is a dominant language in other countries with significant Chinese communities. |
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Another goal of the broadcast is to share the message of Jesus Christ with listeners, as it has long been the ministry's goal to reach two-thirds of the world's population with its programming by 2009.
In preparation for the Olympic Games, the Chinese government is encouraging nationals to learn English to support the large influx of Westerners expected to visit the region then.
According to a 2001 article in People's Daily Online, "Tens of thousands of people across China, from kids to the mayor of Beijing and even senior state leaders, have discovered new and more practical reasons for learning English."
However, the upcoming Olympic Games weren't the only motivation for nationals to learn English.
"Over the past two decades, as China became the world's seventh-ranking exporter and eighth-ranking importer, people able to speak and write English fluently have been the first choices in the Chinese labor market as demand for them far exceeds supply," the article continued.
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"It is an exciting time for the ministry and for the target audience of this English-Cantonese program. They want to learn English, and we want to help them — by sharing with them, in English and in Cantonese, God's Word."
— Majeed Ghaleb,
dual-language associate
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Add to that China's recent entry into the World Trade Organization — meaning more foreign trade and global economic opportunities. And that translates to a need for more professionals with a good command of the English language.
"It is an exciting time for the ministry and for the target audience of this English-Cantonese program," Ghaleb said. "They want to learn English, and we want to help them — by sharing with them, in English and in Cantonese, God's Word."
Initiated in June of 1996 with an English-Arabic program, Leading The Way's dual-language ministry consists of half-hour radio shows which feature Michael Youssef's biblical messages in English, followed by phrase-by-phrase translation into one of 14 languages. Many people tune into the dual-language broadcasts to learn or to sharpen their English skills while they are introduced to and encouraged by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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