Especially if you live overseas, the future generations will continue to branch out more and more and I think the overall Chinese influence will eventually start to have less and less effect on them, since, with each passing generation, there is more assimilation into the mainstream and less emphasis on the Chinese culture. So not only would I continue to speak Chinese to my own kids, I will make sure that they learn about their own heritage and culture as well because I don't want it to stop at my generation.
I will definitely teach my kids chinese, if i couldnt write/read/understand/speak chinese i cant imagine how shit that would be and obviously if ur not chinese then dw about chinese lol and besides u shudnt be here on this forum anyway lol
Ya, agree with you here. My generation and after, there's more branching out, more mixing, less Chinese identity. I am not against multi-culturalism, but I believe that keeping the language is very important.
yeah, i will teach my kids chinese, since chinese holds a big share of the language market. In addition, i want my kids to learn spainish too.
I will definetely teach my children chinese because i think they will accept their descent (in this case chinese) and respect the chinese culture. Nowadays this language is very important so it's a big advantage then. In addition my children wil be able to speak two languages or more right from the beginning as an infant.
Has anyone ever worried about the fact that as an overseas Chinese - you are not passing "accurate" Chinese on to your children? That we are already a 2nd generation, and unless you marry someone who was born over in Asia, your children's Chinese will be all 'off'? I am constantly worrying about that -- but then again, I don't think I will have children anyways....
Yeah, I have definitely thought about that at some point. Sometimes I wonder because, my parents tell me I have a slight English accent when I speak Cantonese and so does my native-Cantonese speaking friend from HK. (but only a little bit of accent, not too much) And my Chinese is not fluent. So I sometimes wonder...hmm, what would happen if I tried communicating to my child in Chinese but the way I speak is kind of off, so he/she picks up on the way I talk and it's the wrong way? haha -lol
Yes Chinese definitely is a plus, I think now Mandarin is becoming the second international language. Many business people are now learning Chinese because now China plays the major role of export market. Also many Hong Kong actor/actress are picking up Chinese. My only regret , during my school days is I gave up going Chinese class because I find it difficult to learn especially having to learn how to write. Now I find the importance to know Chinese.
Yup, the Chinese language is quickly expanding all over the world - the population in China is steadily growing and Chinese influence is spreading to overseas countries. Even Hong Kong is now under Chinese rule, so lots of mainlanders are going into HK and many HKers are in pursuit of improving upon their Mandarin. I think pretty soon Chinese will be one of the most spoken languages in the world, if it isn't already.... It definitely helps to learn how to speak Chinese. Knowing more than one language well (and even a few) will definitely give you an edge when it comes to the career world where you would have to interact with different types of people everyday. And since Mandarin is so common nowadays, it would be useful to learn. Me too; I would also like to improve upon my Mandarin as well.
Yong-Shi, your idea of communicating with your child would help tremendous. I have a friend she doesn't speak chinese and she placed her daughter in chinese school. Eventually my friend speaks chinese now because her daughter converse with her in chinese most of the time. I believe we need someone to converse with us in order to speak more fluently.
Yup, I think so too. I often talk in Chinese with my family now. When I was small, I used to reply to my parents in English whenever they talked to me in Chinese, and all other times, I talked with my friends in English. So eventually, my Chinese speaking skills remained stagnant because I didn't practice. But practice makes perfect, and so yes, I would highly encourage everyone to communicate with others to speak a language more fluently. That's what I'm trying to do now, haha. Hi bionca, nice to meet you too. -^_^
We think so much alike -- eerie.. I always use that word too - STAGNANT - to describe how my Chinese stopped at age 9. Because from then on, I pretty much spoke English 24/7.... . My speaking stayed stagnant, but my listening was perfectly fine as I always heard other people around me (family, family friends etc.) speak it... -what?
