Household Languages - Trend vs Reality.

Coming from multi-lingual background, one of the issues that came into my mind in relation to kids is our medium of communication.

Lately, I notice a trend among folks living in the township where I am presently based.  Originally a largely Hakka-speaking community, I am beginning to witness a fad of converting to Mandarin.  

Randomly-apparent

Just randomly go into any household comprising adults and kids, and you’re likely to come across adults speaking dialect among each other, but automatically switch to Mandarin when it comes to speaking to the kids.

In my humble view, it generally doesn’t really matter what medium of communication is adopted at home.  It’s a personal choice.  But I am sometimes a little shocked when I hear how Mandarin is spoken as if directly-translated from dialect, which will surely put a native speaker to wonder what’s being spoken.  

Far from being a non-Chinese language expert, I shall not comment on whether such is indeed a good move or otherwise.  I shall not try to look deep into the reasons for such “transformation”.  It is also not my aim to criticize anyone personally.  But let’s look at some instances frequently bumped into.

A frequent example

“There are plenty of things to play here”

In Cantonese: “ni dou yau tai pa ye wan” or “ni dou yau hou tuo ye wan”

In simple Mandarin: “zhe li you hen duo dong xi wan” - 这里有很多东西玩。

How Mandarin is abused at times:  “zhe li you da ba dong xi wan” - 这里有（大把?）东西玩。

Just like many people criticize that broken English begins at home when a kid is exposed to English spoken in a less-than-proper way right from young, likewise applies to Chinese, and in this case, Mandarin.

Prudence for a better tomorrow

Having said that although it doesn’t matter what language or dialect a kid is taught at home from young, I still view that at the end of the day, adults should be a little more prudent (and responsible) in ensuring that we speak a language or dialect properly to kids around us.  

Perhaps the idea of speaking Mandarin instead of dialect with kids at home was conceived with the idea of not wanting to "lose out" to others when it comes to entering Chinese vernacular schools.  Perhaps some parents or grandparents are anxious that their kids or grandkids aren’t able to communicate to their teachers when the latter enter primary one.

In view of the current trend, it is likely that in years to come (speaking of the township where I currently live in), dialects look set to wither away from our day-to-day lives.  Rather, dialects may end up being viewed as a medium of communication for the elderly.   Imagine a day when the local Hakka association conducts its event in Mandarin instead…  

Proviso to the general rule

Whether it’s Malay, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien, or any other dialects, it shouldn’t matter much provided as we speak the language or dialect properly.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s crucial to bear in mind that whatever language spoken shouldn’t mean we’re less of that race or clan, for we’re all Malaysians.  No one should practice extremism when it comes to languages, for in our multi-cultural country, it is in fact important to be multi-lingual.  

As to what language I speak to Alvin… nah, let’s not discuss deep into that.  But I would say that right from day 1, I have decided not to speak Mandarin to him as Mandarin is best picked-up through education (that should be up to the child himself to decide but then are there really choices these days?).

Ideally, I would like my kid(s) to learn at least 3 languages (BM, English, and Chinese) with at least one dialect.   But oops… looks like I’ve gone over-ambitious when in fact Alvin hasn’t even started talking. 
  

Alvin oh Alvin… when will you talk?