Hi all, I am currently writing my thesis about Chinese language maintenance by Chinese immigrants -smart. I was wondering about your views on Chinese language maintenance. Do you want your (future) children to learn Chinese? and please mention the reason(s) why or why not? and in which country you live (if you dont mind) My views are: I live in the Netherlands and I really want my children to learn Chinese (more specifically Cantonese), though my proficiency in Cantonese is just average. That's why I want to sent my future children to Chinese school during weekends. The reasons why, is because my family cannot speak Dutch very well and i also think it is important to transfer the culture of your native country. Moreover, Dutch is not a world language. I'd rather want them to learn English and Chinese. It's just for their future. i think they will have more opportunities when they can talk in Chinese and English.
I can't come up with a reason why I wouldn't want my kids to learn Chinese lol... If you're Chinese, you have to know at least some basics, just the heritage thing. & job opportunities, you stand out more if you know a pretty good amount of Chinese since more business are done in countries where Chinese is spoken nowadays. It doesn't cause any harm at all to know another language (at least some amount). Lastly, Chinese is a great language & dramas are nice to watch it's a fun language because the characters work in every region, but you can speak them in different dialects currently in the uSA i personally dont think those Chinese schools help much except for those fundamentals because sometimes the kids arent willing to learn at all, just go there for their parents. Their main focus will switch back to English or whatever because of academic studies, so this is such a waste of time. Chinese schools are more about reading/writing & recognizing Chinese characters. Most kids dont really bother as long as they know their oral. Unless your kids are willing to learn and how time to practice (reading books/news, willing to speak more, write more, etc), don't even waste your time in Chinese schools, BS. The results are quite disappointed like all you end up knowing, is how to write your Chinese name. As for how I maintain my Chinese (im an old immigrant...), my love for TVB & TW dramas (mostly), reading newspapers, books, and magazines, and i write stuff in chinese
^ that is actually true. I know my nephews go to Chinese school during weekends, but they only attend it, since their parents want them to attend it. They told me that they haven't learned anything usefull the last two/ three years-sleep. I am the only one of the second generation in my family who knows to speak and understand Cantonese. My sister, cousins and nieces all don't know how to speak or understand Cantonese Maybe I should stimulate my future kids to watch Chinese cartoons and introduce them to Chinese series. At first I also did not like speaking Chinese, but when my parents said I should watch A journey to the west with Dicky, I was immediately interested in learning Chinese haha... Since that moment, I am addicted to watching Chinese series. Which actually brings me to another point of the topic: Do you think the four aspects of learning Chinese is of equal importance? I think listening/understanding and speaking is the most important. Writing and readiing is less important to me.
Speaking as a Chinese born and raised in Toronto (that's in Canada, by the way...), I managed to be remain able to speak and read Chinese. Heck, my Mandarin is not too shabby either. Despite all this, I'm gonna have to agree with Kay here. Chinese schools don't really help much. In fact, it might even discourage your kids from learning Chinese at all. The best approach is to have them home-schooled for the basics and let them learn Chinese on their own. For me, I was motivated into learning Chinese by reading alot of Japanese manga (Chinese versions, of course). I would read it day in and day out. Whenever I'm stuck at a word, I would ask my grandparents or whatever. And I remember how that word looks like. In fact, I had actually been doing this since I was 13 and stopped doing this since the age of 18. I couldn't actually read Chinese before I reached 13. So yes, it can be dealt with in a matter of 5 years.
that works in all languages, u can still survive being illiterate, my grandma's 80 and illiterate, but she's smart and was involved in many business, earning $$on her own throughout the years. just knw how to sign ur name's fine rite? lol i would def want my kids to be able to read and write the beauty of chinese characters self-motivation is def a key to learn languages, u got hook up w/ sth, ure most likely to be able to master it
I live in the UK and yes I do want my children to learn Chinese. It is important where my child's heritage is from even if he/she will be a mixed race baby. Being bilingual or more is very useful for jobs nowadays seems like businesses and immigrants are everywhere so it will be very useful. Also coz my dad is one of those people who wants his kids and the lower generations to speak Chinese to him anyway. I can't think of reasons why I don't want them to learn. As UK is a multicultural society now, not jsut UK most of the Western world
