Today, I thought of this topic on Mother Tongue.
To start off first and for the benefit of my fans of this blog, let me introduce myself. I am a Singaporean. My grandparents come from China. My parents were born in Singapore and so am I. I am therefore a Chinese by race, not citizenship. I am a PROUD Singaporean.
When I was young and still study, we were told that in the Singapore education system, our first language is English. Our mother tongue is Mandarin if you are Chinese; Behasa Malayu is your are a Malay; Tamil if you are an Indian. Logical right?? Not until I completed my study at the age of 20.
My Education path
- 2 years kindergarten
- 6 years primary education (elementary)
- 4 years secondary education (middle)
- 3 years Polytechnic (Diploma)
If you can choose university, your path goes like this.
- 2 years kindergarten
- 6 years primary education (elementary)
- 4 years secondary education (middle)
- 2 years junior college (High)
- 3-5 years degree (according to course).
In addition. polytechnic does not offer mandarin, meaning all subjects are taught and learn in English. So, in my case, after 15 years of education with English as the first language, I realise that Mandarin has taken a far second place in my life. I think in English, I write in English, I read and listen in English. Basically, I breath and eat English. Out of curiosity, I search dictionary.reference.com for the definition of mother tongue.
Mother Tonguedefinition 1. the language first learned by a person; native language
definition 2. a language from which another language is descended; parent language.
definition 3. one's native language; the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next.
On the thesaurus, the word mother tongue is synonyms (link to) these word.
first language, natal tongue, native speech, native tongue, parent language, vernacular
Native languagedefinition 1. a speaker of a particular language who has spoken that language since earliest childhood; "native speakers of French"
definition 2. a person who has spoken the language in question from early childhood
Houston, we have a problem... help!!! The dictionary definition is not applicable for Singapore.
My parents are Mandarin speakers. In addition, my mom speaks Cantonese, Teochew and Hokkien (Fujian). My dad speaks Fujian and some Teochew ( I think). According to definition 1, yes, mandarin is my mother tongue. I learn how to say "爸爸" and "妈妈" before I know the words "father" and "mother".
Look at definition 2 of
Native language "a person who has spoken the language in question from early childhood". Interesting. I like. yah, I think when we were young, we say what we say in question.
Mother Tongue definition 3 - one's native language; the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next.
Me teaching my son Mandarin? Hmmm... I think I cannot make it. I better ask a tuition teacher he'll do a better job than me.
Does that mean that in the next generation, my children's mother tongue will be changed to English, since I'll might teach my son to say "DADDY" instead of "爸爸". Hmm I am confused....
In conclusion, I am a Singaporean Chinese who doesn't converse nor form my thoughts proficiently with my mother tongue-Mandarin. I converse and form my thoughts proficiently in my first language- English.
End of dicussion...sigh... so tired....
