stagsrubes
Registered User
LOL... Si-Lan is a pretty name... Is it 'Si' as in lady-like or polite? My chinese name (well, middle name, nowadays, is Yee-Wah: Elegant + Extravagant/Chinese Origins... I can tell you I got none of the elegance...) and all the families called me 'Wah Wah' even now!!! Imagine being called Lan-Lan at the age of 80!!!
Well, the books I read reckons the best method for a bilingual child is OPOL - One Parent One Language, and I do agreed if the primary carer's language would be the bub's first dominant language but with efforts from both parents, the languages should even out. I do still worry about the external influence though... I am only one woman (my parents still in HK, relatives in Sydney), and I don't have many Cantonese-speaking friends... so bub will have 20:1 ration of English:Cantonese.... o_0 And also, speaking Canto to my bub in public in Canberra? May be ok if the bub does not require me to yell/scream/shout!!!
And also, I am so 'inarticulate' in Canto when I speak to mum & dad nowadays... most of the time is half Eng/half Canto... so I better brush up my lingo for the big battle of me vs the rest of the world...
Have you heard of the 'family book' in some Chinese families? You know, the one that denote what character you should use for all the future male generations? Even though my parents only have 2 girls, I asked my grandpa to tell me what the character my kids should use if I was a boy... thought it is pretty funky (well, if it's a nice character) that many generations ago, our ancestors have already decided what I should name my kids!!! For example, my sis & I share the word 'Yee' (Elegance). It will be cool if it is a character (sound) that I can merge it with some traditional names on the hubby's side, like Joyce or Edward... etc.
Have a nice weekend!
Well, the books I read reckons the best method for a bilingual child is OPOL - One Parent One Language, and I do agreed if the primary carer's language would be the bub's first dominant language but with efforts from both parents, the languages should even out. I do still worry about the external influence though... I am only one woman (my parents still in HK, relatives in Sydney), and I don't have many Cantonese-speaking friends... so bub will have 20:1 ration of English:Cantonese.... o_0 And also, speaking Canto to my bub in public in Canberra? May be ok if the bub does not require me to yell/scream/shout!!!
And also, I am so 'inarticulate' in Canto when I speak to mum & dad nowadays... most of the time is half Eng/half Canto... so I better brush up my lingo for the big battle of me vs the rest of the world...
Have you heard of the 'family book' in some Chinese families? You know, the one that denote what character you should use for all the future male generations? Even though my parents only have 2 girls, I asked my grandpa to tell me what the character my kids should use if I was a boy... thought it is pretty funky (well, if it's a nice character) that many generations ago, our ancestors have already decided what I should name my kids!!! For example, my sis & I share the word 'Yee' (Elegance). It will be cool if it is a character (sound) that I can merge it with some traditional names on the hubby's side, like Joyce or Edward... etc.
Have a nice weekend!
Last edited: