Fluency in English and Chinese

[AforApple]

My son is four and he is bilingual. We also did the one parent one language approach and so glad we kept on doing it. There are many hurdles and frustration but we insisted on it from the very beginning and stuck to it. So many of our friends in Australia gave up and only spoke english to their children and I didn't want this opportunity of really understanding and knowing a few languages slip by these early learning years. Yes. he started talking much later than some of his peers but he was also a very early walker (8 months) so his language skills was second to his physical development.

What we did was have my husband interact with my son in Cantonese and I would do the same in English. We would divide the time by 3. 1/3 of the time it would be just my son and my husband interacting. Then I woiuld have 1:1 with my son. Then we would all interact together. The results are so worth every obstacle that you face. ' PERSERVERE AND KEEP AT IT' I say.

My son has just started to read and write in both langauges. He understands both languages and switches very fast from language to langauge depending on who he is interacting with. He translates for me or anyone who needs help and also teaches me chinese words and chinese characters. He told me once if the bus driver ask me something I should say in chinese "sorry, I'm very busy reading my favourite book" It's great that he has developed a sense of humour in both languages.

I might add that he only started reading and writing English and Chinese over the summer break. He is now attending a local school (for 2 weeks now) where Cantonese is the language of instructons and he loves it. Before this all schooling was in Australia and one year in HK at an english speaking international school.

It is never too late to start teaching your child a language. The sooner the better. And the last important advice is to have fun whilst learning.

 

[miaka]

i'm an ABC while my hubby is hk local. what ended up happening was my hubby speaks canto (bc his english isn't that great) and i do chinglish (i know not the best, but it's sort of what developed over the months). we also used baby signs so that if we ever used both the english and chinese word, the sign helped connect that they meant the same thing.

my daughter, almost 2, understands both. her language development was delayed mostly bc she physically developed first. but now that her language is starting to catch up, she speaks both.

in terms of language, i'm not worried about her english bc i'm native as is most of my family, so i plan to send her to a chinese school rather than international. this way she can really have a strong foundation in chinese

 

[kiwiinoz]

I am finding this thread fascinating.
My daughter is almost 4, and in the 6 weeks we have been in Hong Kong has doubled her cantonese (both understanding and speaking), although she is not fluent... yet.
I only speak a little cantonese, but my husband is fluent in both english and cantonese (originally from HK). Since arriving here my husband has spoken much more cantonese to both our kids, and it is certainly paying off.
Our interesting challenge is our son who is around 17 months. He doesn't speak much (mum, dad, banana, car & my-kay (mickey in cantonese)), but responds better to cantonese than english. We are hoping that with the exposure he is getting to the language here he may have the opportunity to go to a local school when the time comes. We were told our daughter would struggle too much in a local school if she wasn't fluent. I'm not sure how true that would be.
Once we're settled I'm hoping to find a way to get to cantonese classes myself as well...

 

[MeowMeow]

My daughter is almost 4 and she speaks 3 languages. Here's how she learns her languages.

Mandarin - mainly from me & school, hubby does speak pretty well mandarin too (but he's from HK)

Cantonese - grandparents and daddy

English - our helper, my husband, and I

I'm very surprised that she can translate from Mandarin to English in seconds. Also, which ever language you talk to her, she'll return you back with the same language.

Now we got a 15 months old boy and we do the same pattern with him and I can tell he does understand all three languages too.

It's really amazing to see how quickly babies can pick up different languages.

 

[marie313]

i was just about to start a thread asking about this.
My daughter is 19 months and is pretty vocal. she gets english from me, cantonese from the helper and grandma, and a mixture of the 2 from her dad.
I work full time, so she gets more exposure to cantonese. She understands everything i say in english, and mainly responds in english, but there are certain things she always says in canto, like gow gow jew (go to bed) gai gai (go out) ligo (that one) and has started calling me "mummy-ah". it drives me crazy! i always correct her when she does it (ie say it in english), but am worried that she mixes up the languages. will she just sort this out by herself, or do i need to do more?

 

[carang]

at 19 months, she cannot yet distinguish the two languages. that won't happen for another 1-2 years! just leave it and repeat what she has said in english.

my two still say some things in english and some in chinese.

remember your girl is not even 2 years old yet... you have a lifetime ahead of you and she has a lifetime ahead of her.

congratulations for raising a bi-lingual child! it's not easy, but it is SOOOOOOO worth it!

 

[spockey]

at 19 months, she cannot yet distinguish the two languages. that won't happen for another 1-2 years! just leave it and repeat what she has said in english.

I'm going to disagree with Cara's point here... Studies have shown that some kids can distinguish between the two languages from an even earlier age.

I'm no expert but having done the research project, I'm happy to share the strategies that have been shown to work with expat families in Hong Kong not limited to Chinese/English. The research project was on bilingualism in HK amongst expats particularly expats who are trying to maintain a language not spoken in the "resident country" and found the following:

(A) The only way to succeed like a lot of the mums have mentioned is through perseverance and persistence i.e. one parent one language strategy, creating language domains e.g. playgroups in that language, church service...

Even so, there is no guarantee for a child to become an active bilingual - speaks both languages. There is no set system in which a child metabolises language as Cara mentioned before... how one child processes the language may be different and may result in different outcomes... e.g. passive bilingualism - understanding but not using the language. Lots of Australian migrants end up being passive bilinguals.

For mums who have managed to produce active and equal bilinguals! Congratulations! Not an easy feat given that studies have shown that it is common for a child to be better versed in one language than another.

Studies have also shown that where a parent uses a language which he/she is better versed in, the success rate is higher e.g. If German is not your mother tongue, the outcome of raising a proficient German speaker is not likely because you'll screw up the natural grammar of the child. In our family, we use only English or German (between father and son). Our son prefers English when we are both around but switches to German when it's just one-on-one with dad - it has become their secret language.

Cara's strategy has also shown to work - correct me if I'm wrong Cara with regard to your approach - English only (or most of the time) and sending her son to a Cantonese school. I've seen this work with another non-English speaking family. The parents sent their child to an English kinder and the results were simply amazing!

Bilingualism is complex and there is no set answer. Just provide the opportunities and let it all pan out.

 

[carang]

no, it is not english only at our home.

my hubby is local chinese and really tries to use cantonese, as does his family (most of whom speak no english at all). he understood most of what was said to him in cantonese before we sent him to local kindie. but he just didn't want to speak.


as for my previous comment, i should have written, MANY children cannot distinguish two or more languages until they get to 2-3 years of age at which point something just 'CLICKS' in their brain and they are able to distinguish and KNOW that they are two separate languages. our older one KNEW before that "mama" talked one way, while mummy talked differently. however, it wasn't until he was over 3 that he actually UNDERSTOOD the differences.

it's only now that we say, "no, say that in chinese" that he can actually translate what he said from one language to the other.

asking a 19 month old to switch might be a little difficult. they are still figuring out the whole talking process.
(PS> i have a 20 month old, so it's easy for me to compare.)

 

[mykids]

My kids learning langauages

My family has a trilingual environment as I am Japanese -Spanish Canadian ( but i only speak English Fluently ) and my husband is Hong Kong Chinese (he can speak English and Mandarin fluently on top of his Cantonese ) . Anyways, we have 2 daughters one is 7 1/2, and my little one is 2 1/2.

My older daughter was born in Canada so she was exposed to English most of the time on top of, a bit of Spanish and French ( my cousins were in French school and loved to teach her ) and we moved to Hong Kong when she was 2 1/2. She understood English and spoke a little ( only words rather than whole sentences ) but once she started pre-school ( Cantonese ) whole day and with my in-laws also speaking to her in Cantonese she hated it ( for the first 3 months) but she picked it up and 6 months later ( she just turned 3 by this time ) she understood Cantonese completely. Anyways now at 7 1/2 she speaks fluently and can translate English to Cantonese and the other way around without a thought. And she is doing ok with picking up Mandarin as she must learn it in school, but she can also remembers all the things my cousins taught her in French when she was 2.

But with my little one (who is 2 1/2 now) she was born in Hong Kong and we always used all 3 languages (Eng. Canto, and Mand.) She can understands all 3 languages but she doesn?t speak too much (she says words, counts in 3 languages and Japanese which she picked up on TV) but she can?t speak in full sentences yet.

I feel that even if little kids don?t speak too much, it is ok, as learning languages is SO MUCH easier when you?re a child rather than when you?re older. I often let my daughters watch kids programs in all languages as long as they enjoy watching them and i find that they can sing and say words which are used in the programs.
:yeah2

 

[mykids]

Do our Best !!!

oh yeah my kids ( and some of my friends kids who speak more than one langauage ) realized that mom can speak English and not much Cantonese ( or Jewels mom speak English for my daughter's friends ) so they speak English to me only, and daddy speaks and likes to speaks Cantonese more so they speak Cantonese with Daddy and Mandarin with other friends who speak Chinese better. My kids and their friends do this automatically not because we tell them to do so . I think it is just their naturally instinct to do such thing.

I BELIEVE that all children have their own pace in everything and as a parent we can just do our best to support and guide them.:flower: