themeltingpot

A cousin of mine is America - born Chinese, a friend of mine has two children, they were born in the United States. The common characters of them are that they don’t speak much of Chinese, or they are unable to speak much of Chinese. Because they are too Americanized, they barely show any interest in learning their mother’s mother tongue. It’s understandable they don’t need another language. They born in the states, raise in the states, even most of their friends are English-speaking natives, why there is a need for second language. Second language is only for people who has their first-language other than English. They came to the states in trying to make a better living, and there is a need for them to learn English as second-language to survive.
I still remember her rejection to go to Chinese tutoring school on the Sunday weekend. Her arrogance on English above all other languages attitude. A couple years ago, her parents took her to China for visiting her grandparents in Guangzhou. According to her parents description, except Hongkong, She dislike the environment of the Mainland. Dirty, populous, traffic all annoyed her. It was the same experience occurred to my friend’s children. Even worse, they return to the states earlier than they planned, all because of their rebellious behavior on the entire trip.
A friend of mine once made a comment like this: those arrogant Chinese - Americans brats, even we have the similar skin color, they thought that they are better than us. On one hand, they spoke better English than our English - as - second - language peers, they can blend in easily with native speakers. But on the other, we can speak both languages, and with experience and practice, we might be able to balance other languages. It will be one of the great advantage for us.
In general opinion, learning a second language might be a challenge. Speaking only English might not be the only best option nowadays. As our world going toward globalization, knowing a second or third, fourth language is a must in this competitive marketplace. Lower the arrogance, trying to be humble.

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