I recently discovered that Kimura Kaela was half British. This surprised me as I have heard her sing in English a few times (such as http://
If she cannot speak English I find this sad. Half of her heritage is English and although she might have been told about it, not being able to speak the language looses alot of the culture meaning and also I would have found this a great opportunity for her. Like it or not, English is an international language and knowing it can only be a bonus to you.
If my parents came from other places, I'd want to learn their languages if only to a conversational level. My friend is from Vietnam but as she has lived in England all her life she cannot speak Vietnamese. Her parents didn think it was necessary to teach her.
What does everyone else think?
If she cannot speak English I find this sad. Half of her heritage is English and although she might have been told about it, not being able to speak the language looses alot of the culture meaning and also I would have found this a great opportunity for her. Like it or not, English is an international language and knowing it can only be a bonus to you.
If my parents came from other places, I'd want to learn their languages if only to a conversational level. My friend is from Vietnam but as she has lived in England all her life she cannot speak Vietnamese. Her parents didn think it was necessary to teach her.
What does everyone else think?
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コメント(40)
I agree that it depends on where you are and what your situation is like. For instance, many Japanese and Japanese-American parents did not teach their children Japanese thinking that knowing only English would somehow make it easier for the kids to be assimilated into the American culture. It may be in line with your friend's parents' decision to not teach her Vietnamese.
The book called "Hunger of Memory," written by Richard Rodriguez, will make an excellent reading on cultural conflict like that and how the children themselves have to cope with it.
http://tinyurl.com/2sl8ts
The book called "Hunger of Memory," written by Richard Rodriguez, will make an excellent reading on cultural conflict like that and how the children themselves have to cope with it.
http://tinyurl.com/2sl8ts
I think it is sad when parents do not teach their children their native language. However, it IS their choice. A lot of immigrants decided that their language was of lower importance than the country they moved to. Some do teach their children and they reject it. And then there are those who are highly fluent (those children seem to have better relationships with their parents from what I have witnessed).
Her sing is suck...anyhow, I agree with カレコラ. If they can speak two language, It would be good advantage in some ways. here is my friend's story. His mother was British, but she got married with Japanese man and immigrated to Japan. My friend looked totally Caucasian( blonde hair, blue eyes and white skin), but he couldn't speak English because his parents never taught him English. sometimes it made him annoying. He was often asked the way by some traveller from English country on the road because of his appearence. If he could speak English, It would have been a good time...
I would definitely teach both languages. People like Kaera have two different native teachers and great oppotunity to learn both. But it's up to the parents, really. They probably think what is the best for their children in many ways. We all have different ideas.
I know some parents who have this situation. and most of them teach thier children both languages. I think it's great to do that.
I know some parents who have this situation. and most of them teach thier children both languages. I think it's great to do that.
Mainland Japanese-Americans post WWII were trying to assimilate like crazy, which a lot of people attribute to being put in internment camps. I think a lot of them lost their language as a result. As opposed to Chinese Americans many of which have passed their language on for quite a number of generations.
Daihado wins for using tinyurl.com instead of messing up the thread ;-)
Oh, and it's definitely not her fault. I'm half Korean and don't speak a word of Korean. If nobody teaches you, you don't just "feel the desire" to learn a language just because of the geographic history of your parents.
Oh, and it's definitely not her fault. I'm half Korean and don't speak a word of Korean. If nobody teaches you, you don't just "feel the desire" to learn a language just because of the geographic history of your parents.
To each their own, but in my case I'm pretty damn glad my parents forced my to learn English. Otherwise, I would actually be dead, yep. My illness is pretty much untreatable in Japan, and unless I have my insurance in the USA, treatment cost would be way too high in Japan I'd go bankrupt. Because I know English, I can have my current job, which gives me my insurance that pays my medical bills--which allows me to continue living. So yep, knowing more languages can really make a difference!
i'm 100% chinese, who was born and raised in japan. my parents talked to me in chinese so i can understand basic daily conversation, but since i was teased when i spoke some chinese word at kinder, i decided NEVER speak in any language but japanaese. at age of three. how sad. now my parents still speak to me in chinese, but i always reply in japanese (and sometime in english because now i'm too used to speak in english) :/
though, after i came to the states, i did my best to learn my "supposedly-my-mother-tongue," and at one time i could speak it pretty good. now i lost it again though since i don't have chance to speak it.
though, after i came to the states, i did my best to learn my "supposedly-my-mother-tongue," and at one time i could speak it pretty good. now i lost it again though since i don't have chance to speak it.
I guess it depends on the parents.
I had a Japanese Sciences teacher at my High School. He's full blooded Japanese. But he doesn't speak a single word of Japanese.
On the other hand, I have a friend who is Half Japanese and Half Chinese. He's speaks Both Chinese and Japanese.. Let's not forget he also speaks English.
Regardless of being born of two different cultures. I think it's always good to be able to speak more than one Language. I think it holds great advantages. Job wise, and cultural wise. Hence why i study Japanese. And why i am going to study Korean.
I had a Japanese Sciences teacher at my High School. He's full blooded Japanese. But he doesn't speak a single word of Japanese.
On the other hand, I have a friend who is Half Japanese and Half Chinese. He's speaks Both Chinese and Japanese.. Let's not forget he also speaks English.
Regardless of being born of two different cultures. I think it's always good to be able to speak more than one Language. I think it holds great advantages. Job wise, and cultural wise. Hence why i study Japanese. And why i am going to study Korean.
I guess we all have the same opinion that it is down to the parents decision in the end. They will have their own reasons why not to teach their children a language. Its a shame and something I dont fully understand why, especially if the language is a major one such as English/French/Spanish/Chinese etc but I guess if they are not in that country and never intend to be, whats the need to learn it. If i ever have kids with someone with a different background, I'd like them to learn that language. But I guess it also depends on whether or not I speak it.
As for my Vietnamese friend, her parents did want her to learn Vietnamese as their English isnt so good. My friend started to learn when she was younger but found she had to use for it so stopped. Now she is older she regrets it and is learning Vietnamese. SHe says that it feels odd speaking to her family in Vietnam through a translator. You lose the feeling of the conversation.
As for my Vietnamese friend, her parents did want her to learn Vietnamese as their English isnt so good. My friend started to learn when she was younger but found she had to use for it so stopped. Now she is older she regrets it and is learning Vietnamese. SHe says that it feels odd speaking to her family in Vietnam through a translator. You lose the feeling of the conversation.
My Chinese should be AMAZING since my parents only speak Chinese and I was born in China. But it's not. I just didn't speak much as a child at home. Because of that, my Chinese is pretty painful to listen to. I hated talking at home, but boy did my parents try for years to get me to speak more at home. English AND Chinese. I just wouldn't talk. Very quiet kid.
I'm guessing I'm not the only one either.
And I definitely don't look back and regret it or think that I lost an opportunity to learn a language. No such thing as a lost opportunity when it comes to languages. You can always learn if you chose to. It's much more gratifying in that sense.
I'm guessing I'm not the only one either.
And I definitely don't look back and regret it or think that I lost an opportunity to learn a language. No such thing as a lost opportunity when it comes to languages. You can always learn if you chose to. It's much more gratifying in that sense.
A lot has to do with where one lives, and the local bi-culture 'culture'--take, for instance, a comparison of the Chinese immigrant communities in southern california/la and those of the san francisco bay area. And this mostly goes for the 2nd generations, too. In LA, most are Taiwanese or mainlanders and mandarin is dominant. Most there can easily navigate both american and chinese cultural as well (though not always with the latter). In the bay area, most of the chinese immigrants are Cantonese (and thus speak it), and there is a greater polarity between those who are 'more chinese' or more 'american'--sort of an 'either a fob, or very americanized' sort of thing. Now there are a lot of reasons for why this is the case with these communities, which are interesting, but i just wanted to bring this up as an example. I know something similar is at work with other communities, as well. The japanese-american (nikkei) identity tends to be a difficult one to maintain, as one rarely sees much of the 'japanese' after the first generation--though there are certainly those that do maintain the japanese elements. Regarding those in japan who are of different or mixed nationalities/ethnicities...well japanese culture is rather totalizing, so it's difficult to maintain any cultural diversity in it.
That's true, but culture is attached to language and people as well. I think with learning your parents language, a person can have a better understanding of certain things that have happened in the former "life" of their parent(s). For example, my Aunt from Japan has told me and my friends who are Japanese many stories from her childhood that her husband and even her own children have no knowledge of (for example, world war 2 and how she met her husband and what she was feeling back then).
Yes, it can be enriching in some ways. But some people don't need to know the history of their people, especially in a modern world like today with so many cultures mingling (and clashing) with others. We're losing identity easily, just look at Modern Japan and the Western World, they are very much alike. Our people are different and if you went back in time 80 years ago they'd be a totally different set of people, but today the lines are blurring fast.
It's just as sad not to appreciate learning about other cultures that one is born into. You might as well not appreciate the dreams of your own parents. Extra effort? Sure. But it comes a lot easier than trying to understand a culture that you've never had previous exposure to.
Just because it's tough to learn multiple cultures, there's no reason one shouldn't try, but neither should it be a terrible reflection on someone who is exposed to multiple cultures but hasn't learned everything about them. Everyone is born into a different set of circumstances that deeply affects the way they react to their environment. A lot of people don't appreciate that, and rack up lack of learning completely to lack of initiative, which is also a pile of BS.
Just because it's tough to learn multiple cultures, there's no reason one shouldn't try, but neither should it be a terrible reflection on someone who is exposed to multiple cultures but hasn't learned everything about them. Everyone is born into a different set of circumstances that deeply affects the way they react to their environment. A lot of people don't appreciate that, and rack up lack of learning completely to lack of initiative, which is also a pile of BS.
Although mixed heritage could make it easier to learn 2 cultures as well, especially if the parents are very traditional. You grow up with both and it becomes natural for you since you are exposed to both all the time, which makes it very easy to do. There are plenty people like this. Of course, if the parents come from 2 different backgrounds and aren't traditional at all and just live like "regular" people, their child will end up the same. It is really all based on the parents and how they raise their child.
It's easy for people to pass judgements on a certain ethnic minorities in a given culture who don't speak the language of their ethnic heritage (such as zainichi Koreans in Japan or Nikkei Japanese in the US), but I think what gets forgotten is that in both countries, there's an enormous social pressure to conform.
Let's be honest, certain languages are stigmatized in certain countries, and like 12>Lynne mentioned, children at an early age are often influenced to not speak any other language the language of the majority culture.
Speaking from my own experience growing up as an Asian kid in mostly white public schools in the US, I can remember several incidents where I was made fun of by the other kids if they heard me speaking Chinese to my family or to another Chinese student. Pretty much after first grade, I knew that speaking Chinese in front of my white classmates was a one way ticket to getting "CHING CHONG CHING CHONG" insults for at least a week, and so I stopped speaking Chinese, even at home (a decision I greatly regret because my Chinese-speaking ability is now very bad. My Japanese is actually better now).
Even today, working as a teacher, I still see the same attitudes by both kids and sadly, adults towards people who happen to speak a different language other than English... especially in regards to children who come from a Spanish-speaking background. There's a lot of ugly racism directed at them, and it's pretty upsetting.
Let's be honest, certain languages are stigmatized in certain countries, and like 12>Lynne mentioned, children at an early age are often influenced to not speak any other language the language of the majority culture.
Speaking from my own experience growing up as an Asian kid in mostly white public schools in the US, I can remember several incidents where I was made fun of by the other kids if they heard me speaking Chinese to my family or to another Chinese student. Pretty much after first grade, I knew that speaking Chinese in front of my white classmates was a one way ticket to getting "CHING CHONG CHING CHONG" insults for at least a week, and so I stopped speaking Chinese, even at home (a decision I greatly regret because my Chinese-speaking ability is now very bad. My Japanese is actually better now).
Even today, working as a teacher, I still see the same attitudes by both kids and sadly, adults towards people who happen to speak a different language other than English... especially in regards to children who come from a Spanish-speaking background. There's a lot of ugly racism directed at them, and it's pretty upsetting.
Guchi,
I think your comment sounds wise cautions in a number of ways
you said:
It's just as sad not to appreciate learning about other cultures that one is born into. You might as well not appreciate the dreams of your own parents. Extra effort? Sure. But it comes a lot easier than trying to understand a culture that you've never had previous exposure to."
Though you are quite right that everyone's context differs, and not all have a realistic opportunity to come to terms with all aspects of their ethnicity, i do think that in some sense, we don't have a choice but to do so, since if we fail to come to terms with one part of our ethnic heritage (remote as it may be), that inevitiably comes back to bite us if we really think about it. Though often, those of us who are the children (or progeny in general) of immigrants, are practically estranged from their culture by the very fact of being the very fact of immigration and how culturation occurs. In such cases, i think the 'bite back' or pain still applies (though maybe not intensely) since something significant of the past is irretrievably blowing in the wind, sort of a faint haunt.
I think your comment sounds wise cautions in a number of ways
you said:
It's just as sad not to appreciate learning about other cultures that one is born into. You might as well not appreciate the dreams of your own parents. Extra effort? Sure. But it comes a lot easier than trying to understand a culture that you've never had previous exposure to."
Though you are quite right that everyone's context differs, and not all have a realistic opportunity to come to terms with all aspects of their ethnicity, i do think that in some sense, we don't have a choice but to do so, since if we fail to come to terms with one part of our ethnic heritage (remote as it may be), that inevitiably comes back to bite us if we really think about it. Though often, those of us who are the children (or progeny in general) of immigrants, are practically estranged from their culture by the very fact of being the very fact of immigration and how culturation occurs. In such cases, i think the 'bite back' or pain still applies (though maybe not intensely) since something significant of the past is irretrievably blowing in the wind, sort of a faint haunt.
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