Pic. I don't want to speak Chinese, mammy.
Until this time last year, the main language Horatio speaking in his daily life is Mandarin. He could communicated with his grandparents in Taiwanese and Mandarin without any difficulties, yet he still able to talk to his daddy with understandable amount of English vocab. A year on, he no longer keen on talking to any of us in Mandarin. Even when I spoke to him, he would reply in English and added: “Stop speaking to me in Chinese, nobody in my preschool speak Chinese, they all speak English!”
Fair enough, we are in an English speaking country after all, there is nothing wrong with that. Most of my Mandarin/Taiwanese speaking friends are neither back to Taiwan or not living within reachable distance around us, plus my attitude towards people from China, besides my parents and their friends, I hardly ever speak in Mandarin. Plus Steven isn’t very keen on letting his son saying anything other than English ever since the doctor’s mis-diagnoses on Horatio (he still persisted Horatio has mild symptoms of Autism, rubbish). I didn’t insist on Horatio continue on speaking Mandarin. You want English; I will speak to you in English. The concrete works on Language had already laid and set, Horatio would have higher chances on learning Mandarin well in the future if he decide to pick it up again.
Little do I know, this decision had made me suffer greatly.
Friends and family had divided whether my approach on Horatio’s Mandarin learning is wise or not. Some, even bilingual speaker themselves, agree on the easy approach. The children will pick the language up in due time at their own pace, there is really no need to rush/push them; some, mainly older generation who doesn’t speak English well themselves or their entire surroundings are Mandarin, usually look at me critically, as if there is something wrong with me, and saying (out loud or hint): “you are not trying hard enough.”
I tried my hardest to ignore them. But I must say, it still creep up on you after a while.
Particularly when my mother is one of them.
She is the first who’s in the line criticizing my choice. She had been looking after Horatio during the day when I went to work for the first three years of his life, and she’s not happy about Horatio’s language changes after returning from her long holiday. She reckoned if I speak to Horatio in Mandarin and pretend I don’t’ know English at all, Horatio would continued on speaking both languages.
But how on Earth am I going to do that? Considering Steven doesn’t even speak Mandarin? Considering even I think and speak mainly in English, usually when hearing English, the first things that come out of my mouth would English, too?
I am sorry, mother. I do love you dearly. But when you half-sternly, half-jokingly telling my children: “If you don’t speak my language, a-mar won’t love you.”. It really is not pleasant to hear.
When it comes down to my children’s well being, speaking Mandarin or not isn’t really our priority concern. So please, enough is enough, please stop.
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