Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[RedRose]

Nowadays, English is getting more and more important as an international language. I am glad that more and more people love to learn English. Take me for example. At the beginning, I learnt English for the purpose of promotion and teaching my daught. but now I take English as a hobby. I find plenty of happiness in English-learning.

On the contrary, what I worry about is the loss of our mother tongues. Actually, I love Chinese because it is so wonderful(like all other languages), I can use Chinese fluently when I write something or speak, because I am an adult, and I have learnt Chinese for many years. I have received good Chinese language education since I was a kid. however, what about our kids? grandchildren? what about our great-grandchildren? In many elementary schools, for students, English class is more important than Chinese class! Nowadays, in China, many high school students can't use some beautiful traditional Chinese usage to write their articles.

English is invading other languages. as a Chinese, I worry... what if our kids can't handle Chinese as well as they use English? Maybe the diversity of culture will vanish. like monoculture? sigh!

[Hayde]

Hi RedRose.
I understand how you feel, but I think it will be OK. I think maybe the fact that students can't properly express themselves in Chinese now may be because of many things. I know in Canada now, many high school students are the same. Heck, some can barely spell correctly. I don't think that English is the problem.

Canada is bilingual (atleast in the Eastern part), English and French. When I was in junior high (3 years), I went to a "French only" school. I only had two classes a week in English. I studied Math, Social Studies, History, etc... all in French. But I don't feel my English was hurt by it. Actually, I think learning the other language helped me see English (my native language) in another way.

Chinese has been around for a long time. I think it will be OK too. I am curious, you are from GuangZhou, right? People speak Cantonese, right? But I think that all students have to learn Mandarin too (If I am wrong, sorry). I know the writing is the same, but the speaking is different. What do you think about that?

[RedRose]

[Hayde]

我住在中国了一年 (I lived in China for one year, last year actually).
Actually, Asian culture (and especially Chinese culture) is becoming more popular, though I have always been interested in Asian culture and history. Actually, did you know people in Canada are starting to go to Chinese language schools now (not many, usually North Americans learn European languages, but more people are trying Chinese now).

Sorry, back on topic. I didn't know that southern Chinese student's Cantonese was worse than Mandarin. I thought it was the opposite. Wow. Do you think Cantonese will continue to be spoken in the future? Are schools taught only in Mandarin, or in Cantonese? Do you think this is the same as English coming into China?

[RedRose]

[Hayde]

HAHAHA!
Sorry! I read your post too fast. My bad!.
See, even native speakers make mistakes sometimes

[Snake777]

I did try study Mandarin b4 . I and my lil sis went to Chinese class and we quit ( just in 1 day ) ! Lol ... sooo difficult . I know i'm not patient but i think i'll try to study it again. Wanna know the reason why i do want to study it again ? 'cuz i do want to listen to Chinese music and chinese films Hahaha i know it's a stupid reason but who cares ?!
Oh yeah and Nowadays , Chinese is kinda popular

[RedRose]

[Snake777]

lOL , yes .. I should be patient if i do want to study any languages . Haha i know 1 sentence in Chinese though . WO AI NI ! Hahaha i'm smart , eh ?!

[RedRose]

[Snake777]

Yoooooooooo , i would want you to be my Chinese master but i think it's impossible ! I do have a book and i dont know if i can study it myself . I can learn how to speak it , but not writing :/
I also do have a book to study Jap too . Hahaha i do want to buy all the languages books so i can study myself but it confuses me sooooooo much >_< Wish i had a good memory ! I have a big head but small brain . Hummn i should eat more broccoli to improve it now

[RedRose]

If you would like to study Chinese, then I would be pleased!! that way Chinese language won't vanish! and I don't have to worry about it!

[Snake777]

Heheh would u teach me Mandarin or Cantonese huh ?!
hey i want to ask u this , i dont know if u know this code : 520 1314 , does it mean : i love you ever 4 ever ?! Hahah sounds fun .
There re sooo many Chinese here . That's why my mom wants me to study it . She said it was good for me 'cuz i would probably need to know it if i do want a job when i grow up . If i study it , i would probably have friends to practice with 'cuz i have some friends who re Chinese in my class. And there re bunchs of Chinese around my mom's store . It would be awesome .... I dont know when i will have time to get back my Mandarin class , i think it's impossible 'cuz i have no time too bad , but i will try to arrange my schedule again someday
Ahhh , one more thing , tell me what " shou ai ni " means plzzzzzzzzz =] is it wo ai ni ?! Hummn -_-

[RedRose]

[Bob S.]

I wouldn't worry too much about English diluting your mother tongue. English itself is composed of thousands of loan words. So if you add a few English loan words to your language, you are probably adding something that originally came from French, Greek, or Latin (particularly in the sciences). Loan words don't impact the core of the language and the grammar.

For something really to worry about, consider the loss of basic writing literacy in languages that use Chinese characters resulting from convenient advances in technology. It has already hit Japan, and will soon hit China if it has not already. As young people become too familiar with using clever text input method editors on computers and cell phones, they don't practice (and end up forgetting) how to write the Chinese characters by hand.

To our friends in China, what do you think? Is it not a concern yet, or do you see it happening?