I think anyone in India and Africa speaks 4 languages easily.
their regional language (i.e. Masaai, Yoruba, Xhosa)
the over-regional language (Arabic, Swahili)
a coloniser language (English, French)
and possibly just enough of a neighbouring regional language
I think many Chinese people are also bilingual (i.e. Wu+ always mandarin). They often learn another language in school (English or something geographically closer, like Korean).
Yes… some are even tri-lingual because of village dialect (eg: Taishanese) + province dialect (eg: Cantonese) + national dialect (Mandarin)
Unfortunately, the PRC government is heavily pushing Mandarin and some of the local variants (aka: “dialects”) are slowly dying… some kids in Guangzhou don’t even speak Cantonese anymore…
(i.e. Wu+ always mandarin)
Shanghaiese is semi-dead… from what I heard
Cantonese is slowly limping its way forward only because they have Hong Kong TV, I don’t think there are many TV shows in Shanghaiese.
If Hong Kong falls… Cantonese is gonna die… :(
Parents also never spoke Taishanese to me… so yea I unfortunately cannot pass on that language… no Taishanese media… hard to find motivation to learn more about it.
So I only have Cantonese and Mandarin…
I doubt my kids (if I ever have any) would be able to learn it… most 2nd generation overseas Chinese kinda just English-Only with bare minimum in ancestor’s language.
I think anyone in India and Africa speaks 4 languages easily.
I think many Chinese people are also bilingual (i.e. Wu+ always mandarin). They often learn another language in school (English or something geographically closer, like Korean).
Yes… some are even tri-lingual because of village dialect (eg: Taishanese) + province dialect (eg: Cantonese) + national dialect (Mandarin)
Unfortunately, the PRC government is heavily pushing Mandarin and some of the local variants (aka: “dialects”) are slowly dying… some kids in Guangzhou don’t even speak Cantonese anymore…
Shanghaiese is semi-dead… from what I heard
Cantonese is slowly limping its way forward only because they have Hong Kong TV, I don’t think there are many TV shows in Shanghaiese.
If Hong Kong falls… Cantonese is gonna die… :(
Parents also never spoke Taishanese to me… so yea I unfortunately cannot pass on that language… no Taishanese media… hard to find motivation to learn more about it.
So I only have Cantonese and Mandarin…
I doubt my kids (if I ever have any) would be able to learn it… most 2nd generation overseas Chinese kinda just English-Only with bare minimum in ancestor’s language.