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A colleague once commented only one of his nephews is able to converse fluently in english, mandarin and hokkien; this boy has been living with grandparents since birth. The rest speaks only speaks english and simply goes "er er ah ah" when grandma speaks to them. Will dialect be lost with the future generations? --------------------------------------------- Article: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../415920/1/.html Chinese S'poreans should focus on learning Mandarin well, says MM Lee By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 17 March 2009 2114 hrs SINGAPORE: The trend of Chinese dialects dying out in Singapore is irreversible, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who urged Singaporeans to focus more energy on learning Mandarin instead. Speaking at the 30th anniversary of the Speak Mandarin Campaign on Tuesday, Mr Lee said the key challenge is no longer about Mandarin versus dialects, but about getting more Chinese Singaporeans to speak Mandarin to their children. Mastering both English and Mandarin is not an easy task for most children, including the minister mentor's grandchildren. He said among the seven of them, only one prefers to use Mandarin, whereas the rest often answer in English when he asks them questions in Mandarin. Mr Lee urged parents to help their children master the language at home. "If both (parents) can speak Mandarin, don't speak to your child in English, or one in English and one in Chinese. Speak to them in Mandarin, leave their English alone