As a chinese canadian who’s been living in Canada for over 14 years, I wonder what chinese means to me in Canada. How often do I use it? Am I able to write chinese paragraph with correct grammar and correct words? As a mother of 2, do I want my kids to have the same chinese level as I do even if they’re in a totally different environment? I start to wonder………
I don’t deny that learning chinese is brutal. It’s not easy. Memorizing, recognizing and being able to write the characters with correct strokes involve a lot of repetative practices. I still remember how I learnt chinese by memorizing and dictating the characters. If a kid is submerged in a chinese world, then I can see the needs of mastering chinese. However, in Canada, I shifted the importance of mastering chinese to being able to survive with “just enough” chinese. I’ve heard of parents complaining that doing chinese assignments is a struggle between the mom and the kid. That turns to the leading thread to family issue. That eventually breaks the bonding in the family. What for?
To me, knowing how to read and write our chinese names is a must. Then the next is to be able to understand and speak chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) fluently. Last but not least, is to be able to read chinese menu and chinese flyer from T & T supermarket. That’s what I mean by knowing “just enough” chinese. And be honest, that’s all I use chinese in day to day bases.
Interesting Post….
I do think Chinese will be important for the kids though… they may not know it when they are young, but it will be useful when they grow up!
Hey Carol, I’ve been reading your blog for a while and wanted to post comment several times but never did till now…
I want to give my opinion as a child because I don’t know how it feels to be mom yet.
Sometimes, I wish my mom had forced me to learn chinese fluently and music. They say the younger you start to learn language, the easier it is for you. So, I think it is good if Colton and Carina can speak chinese fluently. I believe it will be a competitive advantage for them in the future as some jobs require multi-language.
But…if it will ruin the mother-son-daughter bond, then it might not be worth it.