By going to the mothers’s group, I realized just how many multilingual families there are out there in Sydney – or at least in Chatswood area.

Just in my mothers’ group, there are moms who are speaking French, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Ukranian, Korean, and Chinese to their babies. It’s very encouraging to see that every mom is so comfortable and natural in speaking respective language to the baby.

Statistically in the year of 2010, 15% of Australian speak a language other than English at home. 22% are overseas born and 25% of people born here have at least one parent born overseas. And that’s for whole Australia. I’m quite certain that the figure is much higher around Sydney.

I suggested to two other ladies, Grace (Spanish speaking) and Emilie (French speaking), that we should get together regularly so just to share our multilingual experience. Yet to propose to other moms in the similar situation, but they two seem quite keen with the idea. It’s going to be great to be able to share our experience, learnings, frustration, and encouragement with each other, together with our bubs who are at the same age.

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Nina started to make more sounds and I wonder if some of these sounds are more Chinese, and some more French. I’m sure they are not, but one could always think crazy thoughts, couldn’t she? 🙂

I was chatting with my wonderful hairdresser, B, earlier this week (so yes as you gathered I even managed to get a proper hair cut finally!! the first since the birth of Nina).

B was born and grew up in Sydney to a Shanghainese mother who left Shanghai as a young girl. B speaks Shanghainese (the dialect from Shanghai – more about dialects in China, see this blog) with her mother at home, but B has no knowlege of Mandarin nor is able to read/write any form of Chinese.

So I asked B if her mother has tried to teach her Mandarin/reading/writing. She said she went to a Chinese school on Saturdays when she just started school (in Australia, it is called Year 1 / 2, equivalent to the first/second year of Primary school I think), but she hated it.

–  ‘It was just too hard’. B said. So after a few Saturdays she stopped going.

– ‘ Do you wish you had continued?’ I asked. I am curious.

– ‘I wish I did’. She didn’t hesitate to reply.

– ‘Did you mum try to convience you or force you to go?’ I asked.

–  ‘I wish she did’. Another swift reply.

B.went to Shanghai for the first time – and the only time so far – two years ago. She was so excited before the trip that she’s finally able to speak Shanghainese for real. To her astonishment and disappointment, not so many people understood her – partly because not everyone in Shanghai speaks the local dialect and Mandarin is more popular (although in recent years there is a movement by the locals to re-instate Shanghainese as another official local language. I perhaps should write another blog entry about this, a very interesting movement), and partly because her Shanghainese is the one from almost half a century ago. The dialect has evolved and changed, like the city itself.

B. told me she wishes to learn some Mandarin and perhaps even one day go to Shanghai to work and live for a while.

It makes me ponder, if one day, Nina tells me ‘mum, it’s just too hard’, what should I do?

We have a situation here.

My mum doesn’t speak Chinese.

WHAT?!

You would have imagined that being a Chinese my mum would surely speak Mandarin Chinese – or PuTong Hua as it’s referred to in China.

But, NO.

She speaks ‘FengHua hua’ – the dialect from her (and my) hometown, Fenghua, a smaill city about three hours drive south from Shanghai. PuTong Hua – together with Simplified Chinese – is something that only came into live when she was already in primary school, and she told me that no teacher in her school knew how to speak PuTong Hua although they were supposed to teach it to the kids!! So my mother’s PuTong Hua stays at a level that she’s comfortable only at listening but not speaking for more than a few minutes without feeling awkward. For those who might be wondering, PuTong Hua is as similar to FengHua Hua as what’s French to Spanish … so you get the idea.

Nicolas understands Putong Hua well, but not Fenghua Hua. My mum makes an effort to speak Putong Hua sometimes, but sometimes not (she simply slips back to what’s the most natural for her, consciously or unconsciously).

So the situation is: sometimes I end up having to interprete one form of Chinese into another form of Chinese. Now, THAT is crazy!!

Next time, when you ask something about the Chinese language, it’s perhaps a good idea to specify which Chinese you are referring to.

P.S., just in case you are wondering, PuTong Hua is the one that I’m speaking to Nina. Alas, for the moment she’s getting input of both PuTong Hua and Fenghua Hua though …

Will multlingual child mix the different languages at some stage? It seems, yes.

Is it something to worry about? It seems, no.

Is it an indication of retarded language developement? Very unlikely.

We went to a French home yesterday, that is French parents with two young boys (one about four years, one about four months) born and raised in Sydney. This is a definitely French family from linguistic perspective, so I was a bit unprepared when the four-year-old (who attends a local child care) suddenly asked his mom one question in English in the middle of a perfectly French conversation. Then immediately it reminds me of what I have read about miltilingual child mixing languages.

According to ‘A Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism’, there are three stages in early bilingual development:

Stage 1: Amagalmation. There is no separation between the two languages. The two languages are mixed when talking. Only one word seems to be known for each object or action. Some words and phrases are a mixture from two languages. Many parents of bilingual children worry during this stage about mixing language. However such mixing is only temporary. Children speak their mixed language to different people. The two languages appear to be stored as a single system in the thinking quarters. Stage 1 occurs between 0 and three years.

Stage 2: Differentiation. There is a growing separation of languages. Children will increasingly use a different language to each parent. Equivalent words in the two languages are known. However phrases and sentences may reflect just one grammar system. Also there will be some mixing of languages as the child will not have equivalents for all words. Stages 2 occurs after two years of age.

Stage 3: Separation. While there is still a little mixing of the two languages, separation has mostly been achieved. The child is aware of which language to speak to which person. Awareness of having two languages begins. The child increasingly observe the different grammare of the two languages. Such differentiation is gradual. Stage 3 often occurs after three years (but it can occur earlier), and throughout life!

So I’m prepared that one day, Nina would make one sentence using bits and pieces from English, Chinese, and French. How cute would that be, or not? 🙂

One of the major hurdles for multilingual upbringing is about how to help children feel the ‘minority’ language is actually useful AND they can be proud of the fact that they are able to speak it, instead of being embarrassed. A few things that generally help include building a social network that allows the child to interact with other speakers in a natural setting, and travelling – or living even just temporarily -back in the native country.

But beyond parents’ efforts, there are other elements that play important roles in – positively or negatively – how the child would feel about the minority language(s), including particularly how the minority language is perceived by the country/community where the family live in. Is the language respected? Is it perceived privilige or rather neglected or unimportant? Is the language linked to a country that is generally perceived positively, neutrally, or eyebrow-raising-ly (is there such a word btw?)? All these – through people’s reaction in one wway or another – will certainly leave a mark on how the child would feel about speaking the language, and accordingly their willingness and capability of speaking the language.

Here is a story that’s shared by my friend H.X who lives in Sweden, which I think somehow illustrates the point above.

I talked to a friend of mine from Ecuador about her “success” in teaching her kids Spanish. She complained that it was very tough from time to time, and kids understands what she says but refuse to reply in Spanish, as they know mommy knows Swedish perfectly well. When her parents come to visit, kids insist to speak Swedish to them as well, which makes her very frustrated. …

So what does it mean for Nina and us? Here is my guess –

– French in Australia is one of the popular languages to learn at school for kids, and France (or Europe in general I guess) is considered as romantic and beautiful by Aussis, so French speaking kids perhaps are less likely to feel embarrassed. In fact, I often encounter ‘Wow you speak French’ reaction and those who have learnt French in school would generally make an effort to try to say at aleast a few words in French.

– Chinese is a rising star of the foreign language in the country, and more and more people recognize the value of speaking this language in terms of future employability & opportunities, although I think still it’s perceived by many as something too different, too difficult thus too far away from reality.

If any Aussi friends read this post, please let me know what you think of my guess 🙂 if you think differntly, do shout!

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P.S. something funny a friend posted on facebook. I guess there is some craziness in every language, and here is what’s in English …