How do people end up not speaking the same language as their parents?
I'm not talking about people who have been adopted at birth but people who have grown up with their families.
Well if your mother for instance, has spent the majority of her son's childhood in and out of the hospital and her husband is busy acting as the breadwinner, it's near impossible for that child to learn the language.
For you to pick up your mother's tongue, the bond between mother and child is so important. One of the first and fundamental things I learnt when doing my lingustics degree.
You sure? I dont find it at all sexy...unless your into BDSM, then I can understand why you would think it was sexy. I have always found French and Italian to be quite sexy.
Agree about the French language. Italian, not so sure. Italians seemed to be always talking like they were arguing.
Maybe i shoulda justified myself. I did mean not neccasariliy native language because you might move to differant country but i did mean like what you said paul it is only if regularly spoken.
Wish my dad had taught me Polish, would come in very useful these days
Yes it would, when I go into a Polish shop in the UK and the shop keeper can't even speak English and they put up shop signs written purely in Polish and window adverts are often the same, when nobody else around here can speak their language, whether you have white, black or Asian ethnicity.
How do people end up not speaking the same language as their parents?
I'm not talking about people who have been adopted at birth but people who have grown up with their families.
It's a problem familiar to vast numbers of teenagers.
You say "I'm going out for a bit"
which in teen speak means ["I am going out and may not be back this side of tomorrow's breakfast... and if I do show up don't expect a coherent conversation for at least 3 days. Just have the bail money ready. Bye"]
What the parents hear is "I'll be back in 30 minutes, 45 min tops, and tucked up in bed by 9. Bye"
Yep... kids and parents speak very different languages.
I knew a German couple who moved to Scotland when their kids were very young. The children now do not understand German, even though they are German and have German parents.
I have no personal experience of this (though I do think there are benefits to being fluent in more than one language)
However, the othe day I was out shopping and there was a young boy of about 5 and his Mum. She was talking to him in a foreign language but he was answering and talking to her in English.
How do people end up not speaking the same language as their parents?
I'm not talking about people who have been adopted at birth but people who have grown up with their families.
I agree. Happens all the time
It's less common than years ago but in Wales you still get bizarre situations where both parents speak Welsh, but speak English with their children.
It's basically why the language had reached a crisis point by the 1960s.
My Chinese friend and her husband made sure their children spoke Cantonese as well as English (living here in NI) and so they grew up speaking it fluently, but she told me the children have trouble understanding some of the Cantonese spoken by relatives - jokes, play on words, that kind of thing. Their mum also tried to teach them to read and write Cantonese when they were small, but it sort of fell through as she didn't have enough time to do it properly because she was working in the family's restaurant in the evenings when they were home from school and on Saturdays. I wonder if they regret not being able to read and write it now they're adult - I think I would.
Even though the kids learnt Cantonese before learning English, they consider English their first language and use it when talking to each other and even sometimes to their parents (who both speak English but still have some difficulties).
I wish I was totally fluent in another language. I speak reasonable French but have forgotten most of the Spanish and German I learnt for O Level. My mother learnt Irish at school in Donegal but has forgotten most of it, though my grandmother often used Irish words and expressions in everyday speech.
My Chinese friend and her husband made sure their children spoke Cantonese as well as English (living here in NI) and so they grew up speaking it fluently, but she told me the children have trouble understanding some of the Cantonese spoken by relatives - jokes, play on words, that kind of thing. Their mum also tried to teach them to read and write Cantonese when they were small, but it sort of fell through as she didn't have enough time to do it properly because she was working in the family's restaurant in the evenings when they were home from school and on Saturdays. I wonder if they regret not being able to read and write it now they're adult - I think I would.
Even though the kids learnt Cantonese before learning English, they consider English their first language and use it when talking to each other and even sometimes to their parents (who both speak English but still have some difficulties).
I wish I was totally fluent in another language. I speak reasonable French but have forgotten most of the Spanish and German I learnt for O Level. My mother learnt Irish at school in Donegal but has forgotten most of it, though my grandmother often used Irish words and expressions in everyday speech.
Maybe I'm allergic to foreign languages, but most Chinese languages I've heard (insert number here); Cantonese or Mandarin etc., just don't sound nice to my hearing, i.e. my ears. They sound harsh.
I think English hits a happy medium.
German is sexy. Come on. LMAO.
Spanish isn't too bad.
French. Well it still sounds sexy, even if they swear.
My mom can speak very basic Croat, and by default Serb, as my grandparents were from that general region but they now live in the UK and are adamant about speaking English with eachother at all times, and so it never really trickled down to myself or my brother - there was no real need whatsoever to learn it. It would have been nice to have another language to speak in, but I guess it wouldn't have been -massively- useful either way, so I don't feel like I'm missing out too much.
My mom can speak very basic Croat, and by default Serb, as my grandparents were from that general region but they now live in the UK and are adamant about speaking English with eachother at all times, .
Oh I find that really sad
A language is so much a a part of someone's identity and it roots them in a particular place.
I can't imagine not speaking in Welsh with my o/h.
In fact it's awkward speaking with him in English.
and so it never really trickled down to myself or my brother - there was no real need whatsoever to learn it. It would have been nice to have another language to speak in, but I guess it wouldn't have been -massively- useful either way, so I don't feel like I'm missing out too much.
....except your heritage.
I never get the "well it isn't useful" argument.
Since when does something intimate and beautiful have to be useful?
Becuase not everyone is equally skilled in picking up languages just as there is a range of abilities in every other subject. I guess that makes God and me who have worked this out.
I do believe that if a child knows two languages by the age of 10, then they are far more adept at learning more, as the linguistic pathways have been established.
Teaching a new language after the age of 11 is pretty unsuccessful.
Comments
For you to pick up your mother's tongue, the bond between mother and child is so important. One of the first and fundamental things I learnt when doing my lingustics degree.
only if they are regularly spoken at home...
Agree about the French language. Italian, not so sure. Italians seemed to be always talking like they were arguing.
I've got to ask this. Do you know many Germans or German speakers?
The Punjabi and Urdu I've heard around here make my ears bleed.
Maybe i shoulda justified myself. I did mean not neccasariliy native language because you might move to differant country but i did mean like what you said paul it is only if regularly spoken.
Yes it would, when I go into a Polish shop in the UK and the shop keeper can't even speak English and they put up shop signs written purely in Polish and window adverts are often the same, when nobody else around here can speak their language, whether you have white, black or Asian ethnicity.
Of course it's sexy.
Ute Lemper.
You say "I'm going out for a bit"
What the parents hear is "I'll be back in 30 minutes, 45 min tops, and tucked up in bed by 9. Bye"
Yep... kids and parents speak very different languages.
Yeah. One person. Maybe.
However, the othe day I was out shopping and there was a young boy of about 5 and his Mum. She was talking to him in a foreign language but he was answering and talking to her in English.
I think French is sexier
I agree. Happens all the time
It's less common than years ago but in Wales you still get bizarre situations where both parents speak Welsh, but speak English with their children.
It's basically why the language had reached a crisis point by the 1960s.
Yeah if you're into sadomasochism, it kinda matches.
Even though the kids learnt Cantonese before learning English, they consider English their first language and use it when talking to each other and even sometimes to their parents (who both speak English but still have some difficulties).
I wish I was totally fluent in another language. I speak reasonable French but have forgotten most of the Spanish and German I learnt for O Level. My mother learnt Irish at school in Donegal but has forgotten most of it, though my grandmother often used Irish words and expressions in everyday speech.
Maybe I'm allergic to foreign languages, but most Chinese languages I've heard (insert number here); Cantonese or Mandarin etc., just don't sound nice to my hearing, i.e. my ears. They sound harsh.
I think English hits a happy medium.
German is sexy. Come on. LMAO.
Spanish isn't too bad.
French. Well it still sounds sexy, even if they swear.
Nor did mine, but I am currently doing a night class.
A language is so much a a part of someone's identity and it roots them in a particular place.
I can't imagine not speaking in Welsh with my o/h.
In fact it's awkward speaking with him in English.
....except your heritage.
I never get the "well it isn't useful" argument.
Since when does something intimate and beautiful have to be useful?
Teaching a new language after the age of 11 is pretty unsuccessful.