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I'm a Chinese American whose parents spoke Canto with me at home. My own experience, and countless other ABCs like me, is that you will barely know Canto as you grow up. Why? Because you will get 8 hours of English, go home and watch English TV, and speak to your siblings and friends in English. You may live in the same house as your parents, but you will speak to your parents the LEAST because you don't know how to say it in Canto, and you cannot understand the Canto shows they watch.
So growing up, my Canto sucked. I could not understand TVB shows, definitely not TVB shows about ancient China with very formal words, I could barely follow the plot of modern dramas that use very casual words, definitely cannot understand song lyrics. I didn't know enough vocabulary words, so I couldn't understand most of anything.
To answer your question, if your parents speak Canto and you speak English, how can you possibly discuss advanced subjects like current affairs, politics, and social issues that require ADVANCED vocabulary words? You cannot, so you don't.
On the other hand, my friend is the youngest of 4 siblings, all immigrants. She was born and raised here, but she grew up watching TVB, having many conversations with her parents and siblings in Canto. Even though she's an ABC, she understands ALL Canto TV shows (even the ancient, dynasty shows where they use very formal words), song lyrics, and she can speak Canto fluently.
So basically, if you want your children to know Mando/Canto, be like the way my friend grew up. Have many conversations with them in Chinese, make them SPEAK it back to you, go on vacations together so they HAVE to speak to you, have many family meals together so they are forced to speak Chinese to you.
Not sure I understand what you meant "fluent within 2 months." I think that was exactly the point - "fluent" - I'd like to debate in my OP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Love Your Home
It depends. Day-to-day is ok, but not for discussion in complicated topics, let's say or even watching Chinese TV or radio. They may be able to guess the "context" but that is "experience" NOT language skills. I personally do not considering greetings, ordering Chinese foods or even asking directions is "fluent." I may call "survivable" level. I can tell you that when I came to this country on the 1st day.
I completely agree with you. What you are describing is NOT "fluent." People who are monolingual themselves tend to underestimate what it means to be fluent. If their child goes to study in Italy for a semester, they tell everyone that their kid came back "fluent in Italian" when they mean they can order risotto at a restaurant and count their change.
Still, even a little is better than nothing, and what is particularly important for children is that they can both hear and reproduce the SOUNDS of the language, as that is what is going to be most difficult to master later in life. They can always improve their vocabulary and grammar, but once a certain age window is passed, it's very difficult/impossible to achieve a native-like accent.
I'm a Chinese American whose parents spoke Canto with me at home. My own experience, and countless other ABCs like me, is that you will barely know Canto as you grow up. Why? Because you will get 8 hours of English, go home and watch English TV, and speak to your siblings and friends in English. You may live in the same house as your parents, but you will speak to your parents the LEAST because you don't know how to say it in Canto, and you cannot understand the Canto shows they watch.
So growing up, my Canto sucked. I could not understand TVB shows, definitely not TVB shows about ancient China with very formal words, I could barely follow the plot of modern dramas that use very casual words, definitely cannot understand song lyrics. I didn't know enough vocabulary words, so I couldn't understand most of anything.
To answer your question, if your parents speak Canto and you speak English, how can you possibly discuss advanced subjects like current affairs, politics, and social issues that require ADVANCED vocabulary words? You cannot, so you don't.
On the other hand, my friend is the youngest of 4 siblings, all immigrants. She was born and raised here, but she grew up watching TVB, having many conversations with her parents and siblings in Canto. Even though she's an ABC, she understands ALL Canto TV shows (even the ancient, dynasty shows where they use very formal words), song lyrics, and she can speak Canto fluently.
So basically, if you want your children to know Mando/Canto, be like the way my friend grew up. Have many conversations with them in Chinese, make them SPEAK it back to you, go on vacations together so they HAVE to speak to you, have many family meals together so they are forced to speak Chinese to you.
Thank you for your reply. I learn something from you today: Mando/Canto, seriously, very 1st time!
Being bi (or multi) lingual makes them smarter. It really helps the brain to develop better. And why not do it? They learn it so easily when they are kids.
Oh OP, it's likely a missed opportunity, but not a big one. First, there's the question of which language. Arguably, the more valuable language would be Mandarin rather than Cantonese, unless awesome shopping is the objective of course. However, if that were to drive a wedge in the family, it's better to go with an all English household.
I married a first generation Viet who came over late. She had an ABV daughter, but both parents spoke Vietnamese only at home, and the grandparents only spoke Vietnamese. So, when she went to school, she learned English. Now at Middle School, she gets all A's in English, and speaks fluent Vietnamese, but doesn't know how to read and write it. She too wants to take Spanish, because it's practical for California.
My funniest anecdote is a friend of a friend whose parents came here and wanted the baby to learn English, and every day would put the baby in front of the television to watch Sesame Street and children's shows. Unfortunately for them, they had the television turned to a Spanish channel, and the child began learning Spanish, but not English. So don't beat yourself up too badly. You could have done worse.
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My funniest anecdote is a friend of a friend whose parents came here and wanted the baby to learn English, and every day would put the baby in front of the television to watch Sesame Street and children's shows. Unfortunately for them, they had the television turned to a Spanish channel, and the child began learning Spanish, but not English. So don't beat yourself up too badly. You could have done worse.
Thank you for your reply. I hope your story is, just a funny story. You can't be serious?
I grew up learning English, French and Spanish ( Latin and Castilian) in our house. My mom is French, my dad is from Spain and our nanny was from Mexico. As an adult I am fluent in all.
Thank you for your reply. I hope your story is, just a funny story. You can't be serious?
True story. It was about 6 months, but apparently some visitors came over and were curious as to why the boy was watching the Spanish channel, and it got fixed from there.
I grew up learning English, French and Spanish ( Latin and Castilian) in our house. My mom is French, my dad is from Spain and our nanny was from Mexico. As an adult I am fluent in all.
Thank you for your reply. You (and your family) must be extremely talented. It's in your DNA.
Parents an speak to each other in native language. Children should talk to parents and just about everyone else, except grandparents maybe, in English.
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