Kids knowing their dialects. What is your take?

[Coolkidsrock2]

My DD speaks Cantonese like a Hong Konger. DS can understand Cantonese but not as fluent as DD.

Both can understand Hokkien as DH speaks to in-laws in that.

[MrsKiasu]

I always tell myself to speak dialect with them but always go back old ways..haiz.

[EstherP]

It's always good to teach our kids where we came from and share with them our family history.. it's a good way to keep them on the ground when they become successful someday.

[MotherHen]

Both my DDs do not understand or speak a word of any dialect, though DD1 recently expressed an interest (out of the blue) to learn Cantonese. She's trying to pick up what she can from watching youtube, since no one in the family speaks Cantonese (I'm Shanghainese while daddy is Hainanese).

[CarenL]

Nowadays kids speak better english than their dialects.. It's always good to at least introduce them to their dialects and also learn it. They might be needing it when they grow older.

[janet88]

My DD speaks Cantonese like a Hong Konger. DS can understand Cantonese but not as fluent as DD.

Both can understand Hokkien as DH speaks to in-laws in that.

wow! your kids are amazing.
my son understands cantonese and can speak very little and off key.
daughter understands a little but cannot speak. she has language impairment.
they need to know how to speak because it is their mother tongue...unfortunately we have been speaking to them in English since they were born.

[Coolkidsrock2]

My DD speaks Cantonese like a Hong Konger. DS can understand Cantonese but not as fluent as DD.

Both can understand Hokkien as DH speaks to in-laws in that.

wow! your kids are amazing.
my son understands cantonese and can speak very little and off key.
daughter understands a little but cannot speak. she has language impairment.
they need to know how to speak because it is their mother tongue...unfortunately we have been speaking to them in English since they were born.

They have been watching Hong Kong TV serials since very young, so very exposed to it. It is a painless and fun way for them to learn the dialect.

[janet88]

I watch hk dramas since young...still do. just finished re-watching some old dramas.
like MrsKiasu, I try to speak to kids in cantonese but somehow the switch inside my brain just doesn't seem to work. hubby is cantonese and sometimes I switch between English and cantonese with him (still speak mostly English). with my father, I speak to him automatically in cantonese.

[.zeit]

It's useful to pick up a few common dialects if you're going to be in the service sector. But as more and more Pioneer Gen clients and patients are passing on, perhaps it's no longer so important for current preschoolers to master dialects. Most Merdeka Gen Singaporeans can speak Mandarin and/or English quite well.

It's more important to master both CL and EL in school. You cannot be sure if dialect pronunciations will interfere with their CL acquisition as not all of us are gifted in languages. I had a tutee some decades ago who wrote 'dian(4) tui(1)' for 电梯 elevator on his school worksheet because his parents spoke Hokkien to him at home. His CL grammar was in a mess too.

You can explore the dialects after A levels. Not too late imo, as I myself only learnt Hokkien and Teochew after 18, and Cantonese after 22. I grew up only understanding one standard--Putonghua, as my parent was schooled in mainland where she acquired Putonghua and spoke little SH dialect to my grandparents and grandaunts/uncles who also spoke mainly Putonghua. Putonghua HYPY was standardised by the central govt in 1953 and made compulsory in all schools nationwide effective 1955.

If you're thinking of working in HK, well, their 70后-00后 are conversant in Putonghua and the higher educated HK PMEs are fluent in English too.

[.zeit]

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Watch from 5:45s - Primary 1 school kids in SH were taught Putonghua and HYPY from 1955.


Part I if you're interested.

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