Audiorook Neutral Newbie December 18, 2003 Share December 18, 2003 I think what can be done is following (note I am still a learning parent.. baby only 20months old) This is based on what we are doing at the moment: Baby looked after by my mum in the day time (1) Wife speaks English to baby (2) I speak English, Mandarin, and Hainanese to baby (3) My mum speaks Hainanese, Mandarin, English (in order of frequency) to baby (4) My dad tries to speak Hainanese and Mandarin more often (5) My sis (who is staying with mum) speaks to baby in Mandarin, Hainanese, English Result currently @ 20- months... Baby understands parts of her body in Mandarin, English and Hainanese. Not only that, she understands when we speak to her in all three languages/dialect. Best time to learn Language is when they are young. Inculcate in them that all languages are important... I have seen that in my in-law's place. My younger bro-in-law and sis-in-law (5-10 years old), all can speak English/Mandarin/Bahasa Melayu/Hokkien/(little bit of Cantonese)..... Guess Malaysians have an edge in learning at least three languages..... and it shows that with the right environment, with the adults concientious efforts, learning different languages is possible...... We, as parents, also have to do our part. Use different languages, dun just stick to one.. otherwise, the younger ones will think that the commonly spoken language is the preferred/more superior language.... Just my $0.02..... ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiley Neutral Newbie December 18, 2003 Share December 18, 2003 it is best to learn as many language as possible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audiorook Neutral Newbie December 18, 2003 Share December 18, 2003 No harm knowing more language... less benefits not knowing more... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiley Neutral Newbie December 18, 2003 Share December 18, 2003 i once asked my dad to teach me malay. he said concentrate on english and mandarin.... in time to come no one speaks dialects. so i never learn malay. i travelled to indonesia and malaysia fr business trips. talking half way with clients, they switch to malay with my local colleagues. i blur, piss but what can i do?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audiorook Neutral Newbie December 18, 2003 Share December 18, 2003 on the Malay... maybe can understand his point of view... but for Dialect.. i feel that we should still have our roots... so... if Hokkien should still comprehend Hokkien, likewise for Cantonese and others... this is how one can identify with one's ancestral land... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vtim 3rd Gear December 21, 2003 Share December 21, 2003 on the Malay... maybe can understand his point of view... but for Dialect.. i feel that we should still have our roots... so... if Hokkien should still comprehend Hokkien, likewise for Cantonese and others... this is how one can identify with one's ancestral land... I totally agree with you, never forget one's root Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiley Neutral Newbie December 22, 2003 Share December 22, 2003 malay can be my third language mah. good to know you are still thinking like you did. if you flip to today straits times, there is this reader who say that chinese do not need to learn chinese if they dun want, he/she claim that if one is a chinese, it doesn't make chinese the mother tongueand learning it is not necessary. i m sure he/she is a potato. feel like slapping his/her eyeballs. period!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audiorook Neutral Newbie December 22, 2003 Share December 22, 2003 Malay as Third Language??.. yeah.. during my time, was only offered French, German and Jap. Took up French... but gave back to teacher few years after O levels cos never get to use it. Have always told my wife (Malaysian) that if i were given the choice of Bahasa Melayu in high school then (B Melayu option was only implemented in my fourth year high school), I would have taken up and be able to learn/use it now. Unlike now, so blur when in Msia. My brother and sister -in-laws (in malaysia) are all surprised that I dun understand B Melayu.. tehy find it STRANGE... On the reader about Chinese not being the mother tongue.. wonder what anscestral roots he/she is from? Chinese Saying "Yin Shui Si Yuan".... (something like think about the origin of water when drinking it) Feel so pai seh sometimes when you see the Europeans on TV spouting Mandarin (Beijing style).... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiley Neutral Newbie December 22, 2003 Share December 22, 2003 learn malay good. indonesia, malaysia all so near us. you can get your wife to teach you mah. yah lor, some ang moh speaks better and knows more about china history than us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vtim 3rd Gear December 22, 2003 Share December 22, 2003 yar! me too, than better get this reader to change his/her race on the IC to something else instead of Chinese, a real banana Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vtim 3rd Gear December 22, 2003 Share December 22, 2003 when there's a will, there's a way & what's the Chinese version Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vtim 3rd Gear December 22, 2003 Share December 22, 2003 aiyah! get a girl friend that's a chinese teacher lor! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangie Neutral Newbie December 23, 2003 Share December 23, 2003 The more you kiss her, the better your madarin gets Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seansene 1st Gear December 23, 2003 Share December 23, 2003 (edited) If you flip to today straits times, there is this reader who say that chinese do not need to learn chinese if they dun want, he/she claim that if one is a chinese, it doesn't make chinese the mother tongue and learning it is not necessary. i m sure he/she is a potato. feel like slapping his/her eyeballs. period!! I actually agree with him. A 'mother tongue' is nothing but an external prerequisite, having no intrinsic basis. 'Culture' is similarly extrinsic - a Caucasian can be born and bred in China, and feel very Chinese, there's no shame in that. The shame comes from parties who believe that language should necessarily follow the colour of their skin - quite a tenuous argument IMO... Edited December 23, 2003 by Seansene Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
En0203 2nd Gear December 23, 2003 Share December 23, 2003 malay can be my third language mah. good to know you are still thinking like you did. if you flip to today straits times, there is this reader who say that chinese do not need to learn chinese if they dun want, he/she claim that if one is a chinese, it doesn't make chinese the mother tongueand learning it is not necessary. i m sure he/she is a potato. feel like slapping his/her eyeballs. period!! hmmm.. don't know ler, i find singaporean prefer to speak english ler in MY, we prefer to speak mandarin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
En0203 2nd Gear December 23, 2003 Share December 23, 2003 (edited) when there's a will, there's a way & what's the Chinese version 'yiu zhi zhe shi jing cheng' Edited December 23, 2003 by En0203 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vtim 3rd Gear December 23, 2003 Share December 23, 2003 yes, I'm sure Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vtim 3rd Gear December 23, 2003 Share December 23, 2003 'yiu zhi zhe shi jing cheng' you got it ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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