Do overseas Chinese still speak their mother tongue (ethnic language; which may not be first language)? Mother tongue is often set to be a dialect rather than a standard or official national language in most cases. Like, Wales/Irish instead of British English altho those people's first language maybe English. In China, PuTonghua/official Mandarin is not Chinese people's mother tongue 'cause the ancerstors did not speak this kinda Chinese for more than hundred years.
So, do overseas Chinese still learn their languages from older people? Or the younger generation just jumps to school and learn the official Mandarin?
In addition, Do northern overseas Chinese still speak their Mandarin instead of official/national one? Non-official Mandarin 官話 (northern Chinese mother tongue, eight big branches of Mandarin) is different from official Mandarin (pu tong hua).
Like Beijing Mandarin, the vocabulary and tones are different. But, nowadays, northern Chinese just speak official Mandarin vocabulary instead of their own... No so pure. Beijing young generation even thinks their PuTongHua mixed Beijing Mandarin accent is pure Beijing Mandarin. Which sounds like a joke to me, because a language or dialect should have its own vocabulary and distinct tones etc.
Do overseas Hakka Chinese still speak Hakka客家? Teochew潮汕? These two are often misunderstood and thought their mother tongue is Cantonese. Because many of them are kinda "minority" in GuangDong Province, often they just learn to speak Cantonese. Therefore, in overseas, their offsprings may think their mother tongue is Cantonese.
How about Hokkien福建話/閩南話, Hakka, Teochew, Cantonese廣州话 in Southeast Asia? How about Hoochew福州話, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, and northern Mandarin (non-official one) in America whether northern or southern? How about Wu Chinese 吳語/浙江話 and other Chinese languages in Europe?
I think official Mandarin/PuTongHua is more and more popular in overseas now. I kinda worry about overseas Chinese mother tongue. Hope I can get some useful information from you, first of all, thanks. and peace out. ;D
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Furthermore, What is your opinion on this? Do you think people should keep their mother tongue and learn one useful language (like a globally used language: English or official Mandarin)? Or they just forget about the mother tongue, just learn official languages according to where they live?
So, do overseas Chinese still learn their languages from older people? Or the younger generation just jumps to school and learn the official Mandarin?
In addition, Do northern overseas Chinese still speak their Mandarin instead of official/national one? Non-official Mandarin 官話 (northern Chinese mother tongue, eight big branches of Mandarin) is different from official Mandarin (pu tong hua).
Like Beijing Mandarin, the vocabulary and tones are different. But, nowadays, northern Chinese just speak official Mandarin vocabulary instead of their own... No so pure. Beijing young generation even thinks their PuTongHua mixed Beijing Mandarin accent is pure Beijing Mandarin. Which sounds like a joke to me, because a language or dialect should have its own vocabulary and distinct tones etc.
Do overseas Hakka Chinese still speak Hakka客家? Teochew潮汕? These two are often misunderstood and thought their mother tongue is Cantonese. Because many of them are kinda "minority" in GuangDong Province, often they just learn to speak Cantonese. Therefore, in overseas, their offsprings may think their mother tongue is Cantonese.
How about Hokkien福建話/閩南話, Hakka, Teochew, Cantonese廣州话 in Southeast Asia? How about Hoochew福州話, Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew, and northern Mandarin (non-official one) in America whether northern or southern? How about Wu Chinese 吳語/浙江話 and other Chinese languages in Europe?
I think official Mandarin/PuTongHua is more and more popular in overseas now. I kinda worry about overseas Chinese mother tongue. Hope I can get some useful information from you, first of all, thanks. and peace out. ;D
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Furthermore, What is your opinion on this? Do you think people should keep their mother tongue and learn one useful language (like a globally used language: English or official Mandarin)? Or they just forget about the mother tongue, just learn official languages according to where they live?
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