Which language would you teach your kids to speak first? Why?

[meilz92]

if i could speak another lang, it would be that because being bilingual is awesome, then teach them english just before they start school. then at school they would be able to talk english and at home I'd continue to speak to them in another language so they can be bilingual forever. i couldve been trilingual but no my parents were dum and spoke to me in english only

[zombies]

Your native language is English though.

But as I child I spent all my time talking in Japanese to my mother. I mean, she still talks to me in jap 70% of the time.

My point is that English is easily learnt, while chinese/jap/etc is not - so best to start with that one.

[boris]

No you said 'native language', which is English lol

[SoggyBiscuit]

It's a harmless discussion between two knowledgeable people. What do you mean serious? :s

If you can't seem to take that in you shouldn't be on a forum such as this.

Russian? Good luck with that.

hehehe

come to non school


also, sarcasm?

[SylviaB]

Your idea is: western is superior. In a way you are right since many asians are trying to be western - adopt their names, values, language and religion.

Well I obviously think west is best

but that has nothing to do with my post

for reasons good or bad, your kids will go further in life the more white they are (except for the superior east asian intelligence part)

[wannabesurgeon]

Well obviously english for me since im a true blue Aussie

[evee_888]

I think I'd teach my kids Canto first. Our kids would learn English from school and they'll eventually speak English with their friends anyway, so I don't think there's a need for me to teach them English first. Also in a competitive world like this, I think knowing an extra language would help so teaching them a language other than English would be better.

^^This. I only started learning English when I went to preschool and my English is better.

I've seen many Chinese migrant mothers speaking to their young kids in their 2nd-rate English. Children growing up here usually have no pride in their Asian heritage. If they are not given the vital start in their heritage language, then they can kiss it goodbye - i.e. if they give it a damn. The Korean kids mostly can speak Korean. They are proud to be Koreans. The Chinese usually are not so proud of their roots, from my observation.

Many Koreans that I know are either first generation Australians or international students, therefore the only language they can really speak well is Korean. They like to form their own little groups where they just speak Korean to each other deliberately excluding others. At my school we have the KC (Korean Community). It also doesn't seem to be a matter of pride. It seems more like they think they are too good for other ethnicities.
Sometimes celebrating our own cultural roots is not seen as very Australian by others. We are told to assimilate and adopt the ways of this country.

Also you must realised that Korean migration history to Australia is still relatively young whilst the Chinese have been coming over since technically speaking the 'Gold Rush' period of the 1850s-60s. Since their migration history is longer it means they've had a lot longer to settle down and assimilate into the community (learning the culture and language better) with now 4th and 5th generation Chinese Australians whilst the main bulk of Koreans living in Australia are still relatively 1st generation or '1.5' so to speak.

^^^

yo asian fags

teach your kids english first so that they don't get an asian accent

rich people in china teach their kids english from birth so they don't sound chinese

sounding western will be better for your kids future than knowing any other langauges could ever be

I'm told that I have a slight Australian accent... and I learnt canto first.

In a way you are right since many asians are trying to be western - adopt their names, values, language and religion.

So all those white people aiming for 99.95 ATARs are trying to be asian.
When Kevin Rudd decided to learn Mandarin he was trying to become Chinese?...
By honestly changing religions because you believe in their god you are trying to become a westerner...
And we adopted the freaking language because its the only way we can communicate. Try moving to China and never learning Mandarin or English (just cos it's the universal language now and many people know it).

[softchillisauce]

O yea...dat...Yu no...i tich my kid ze ingish so they will duh...function well in duh aussie society

[greentae]

I want my kids to learn Mandarin first. I can speak Mandarin, but I'm not fluent in it and I wish I could be. I still practise it everyday, I hope my children can become bilingual!

[hayabusaboston]

Aussie society will not be aussie society in the next few years, asians are now under control of major parts of our economy and more immigrants are coming than actual aussies are being born. Soon "Australians" will be a pitiful minority, amongst a land swarming with foreigners that rule the place. And its expected anyway, cos foreigners work 10x harder than aussies and know that if they want a comfortable life then they will have to work for it. the culture of "entitlement" and "laziness" amongst aussies will be their downfall, as their cultural identity will eventually become extinct.

Anyway I will teach my kids mandarin first, because it will be a necessary language to know in the future. then I will integrate french, spanish and polish, and let them learn english at school. Perhaps once they're a couple of years into preschool I might teach them japanese.

And if you think its not possible for a kid to learn how to speak any language if so many different ones are being spoken in the family, then you're wrong, because all my cousins had at least 3 or 4 different languages spoken to them at home by different people, and the kids grew up knowing how to speak to each person in their language. Kids are fucking amazing. You would not believe the intellectual potential they possess at extremely young ages.

[SnowFox]

Aint u south african?

[kaz1]

I learnt english from watching sesame street.

[brent012]

It's probably already been mentioned in here (tldr) but this is a fairly irrelevant question. Unless you dont care if they start speaking some pidgin language the language you "teach" your kids first will have to be what you and your partner are speaking around them mostly, no point saying you are going to teach your kid Mandarin if your partner can't speak it or it's your second language. Regardless of what you can say about multiculturalism in Australia, unless you go to great efforts to prevent it your children are still going to be immersed in an English speaking culture through TV and other kids.

[hayabusaboston]

Aint u south african?

Yes I am.

And brent, I know they will learn english from being immersed in an english culture. Hence I wont bother teaching them cos they can do it themselves. I will simply incorporate other languages into the household so my kids learn those languages alongside english. Mandarin will be one of these languages.