Can your parents speak English?

[!LittleDragon]

These groups of people exist all over the world. They tend to lump together because they have things in common, it's really a non issue for me. I've been to many areas of California where only Spanish is spoken, nobody knew what I was saying. Same thing in Hawaii, there's areas where only Japanese is spoken and the trippiest was when I was in Shanghai visiting my cousin. She lives in a neighborhood built for foreign workers... Almost everyone there spoke English and no Mandarin. I don't know why people waste their time on this.

[goo3]

Mine more or less can't and they've been here for ages. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. My mom tried to learn every English word as if it was a Chinese character.. They only know how to work hard but not change the way they've learned to do things.

They don't live magical lives in a bubble. They get by with simple lives and limited opportunities in an English speaking country.

Originally Posted by !LittleDragon

I don't know why people waste their time on this.

Some ppl only know how to see things from their own point of view.

[Meowjin]

Originally Posted by tomatillo

Can your parents speak English? My parents immigrated to Canada almost 30 years ago, but they cannot speak English because they were too busy working to support the family and starting a new life. They can get by with their minimal English, but they are not able to hold a proper conversation.

wow your parents are fucking stupid. My parents worked 60+ hours a week and when they immigrated here in the 70's they learned, not only english but FRENCH.

[Redlines_Daily]

One of the things I love about Canada, and Vancouver is that it is so multi-cultural. However, I do believe that when immigrating to a country that one has a responsibility to learn about this new culture. I'm not saying this new immigrant has to change everything about themselves and become totally Canadian(or wherever they are immigrating to) but I see so many Chinese(it could be any one, but I'm using Chinese as example) that know nothing about Canada, they don't speak the language, they don't go to Caucasian stores, some even feel intimated to talk to Caucasian people. I know this because 90% of my friends are Chinese, and they tell me these things themselves(about their parents).

Likewise, if I saw a caucasian person in Beijing who only lives in white neighborhood, only eats western food, doesn't speak mandarin...I would think the same about that person...be respectful and learn something about the local culture!

Perhaps I should have left the line about Parker place out of my first post..it was more of a rant than anything. I can understand if you or your parents cant speak perfect English..or if you don't like western food, or if you prefer to hang out with other Chinese..Im just asking that you make an effort to learn about our culture..the same way we have welcomed you and your culture into our city and country.

That being said, I do love chiense culture and I plan to move to China in the near future myself. I hope I don't come off as racist or discriminatory towards Chinese, because that is certainly not the case.

[Matlock]

My gf is Chinese and her parents cannot speak English. She gets mad at me once in a while, "why don't you learn Cantonese!?!" This can be somewhat frustrating as it seems completely backwards to me, but I think I will have to bend on this to some degree if we are to have a future together.

A bit off topic, but... I am third generation Canadian of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino decent. When my grandfather (1st generation Canadian-Chinese who spoke English and Toisan) was around, he would often complain about how "newer" Chinese immigrants didn't speak Toisan which was the original "Canadian Chinese" language back in the day and how they made it screwed up. When he met my gf he asked her, "Do you speak Toisan?" She replied, "no" and my grandfather just shuffled away.

[GLOW]

after reading some of the threads i see posted on RS, i'd say my dad's english is better than some of the ppl here

[tonyvu]

haha i'd say my parents speak a good mix of viet/english

[BNR32_Coupe]

this thread is under the assumption that the respondents have parents native to Asia. Only in Vancouver

[Alatar]

Both my parents immigrated to North America when they were in their early 20s. Both chose to learn the language as soon as possible, without getting stuck in bubble areas.

Much of it depends on the person and their willingness to become part of a new life, or to stay in their old one as much as possible. My parents both came to Canada because they wanted to start new lives, in new places.

I speak neither chinese nor dutch, however. That's one of my few regrets, that neither of my parents exposed me to their native tongues growing up.

[lol]

my parents both speak fluent english. my grand parents speak german and english perfectly.

[.Kev.]

Yep, bugs the shit out of me if you can't speak english.

[twitchyzero]

Originally Posted by SkinnyPupp

Canada is more about not telling people how to live their lives.

lol. this post reminded me of my primary years in grade school...as FOBs we did not speak English on the schoolyard...the supervision aide (some cranky old white supremacist in her late 50's/early 60's) would give us a dirty look and scream "SPEAK ENGLISH!"

I would understand her perspective if I was trying to communicate with her, but I was just chatting with my FOB friends, racist cunt haha.

[SkinnyPupp]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

lol. this post reminded me of my primary years in grade school...as FOBs we did not speak English on the schoolyard...the supervision aide (some cranky old white supremacist in her late 50's/early 60's) would give us a dirty look and scream "SPEAK ENGLISH!"

I would understand her perspective if I was trying to communicate with her, but I was just chatting with my FOB friends, racist cunt haha.

Yeah I fucking hate people like that. If you're not talking to her, what fucking business of hers is it what language you speak?

[twitchyzero]

and the thing is many Canadian-born kids may have learned their native language at home and didn't learn English until they went to elementary school

[flagella]

Originally Posted by Alatar

Both my parents immigrated to North America when they were in their early 20s. Both chose to learn the language as soon as possible, without getting stuck in bubble areas.

Much of it depends on the person and their willingness to become part of a new life, or to stay in their old one as much as possible. My parents both came to Canada because they wanted to start new lives, in new places.

I speak neither chinese nor dutch, however. That's one of my few regrets, that neither of my parents exposed me to their native tongues growing up.

Learning a language has a lot to do with that person's age. If your parents came here in the early 20s, that's like the beginning of their career and it'll be sad if they don't learn English.

Honestly, there really aren't that many people who can speak fluently when they move here in their 40s or 50s.

[parm104]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

lol. this post reminded me of my primary years in grade school...as FOBs we did not speak English on the schoolyard...the supervision aide (some cranky old white supremacist in her late 50's/early 60's) would give us a dirty look and scream "SPEAK ENGLISH!"

I would understand her perspective if I was trying to communicate with her, but I was just chatting with my FOB friends, racist cunt haha.

Exactly that! There are so many people here that are frustrated with the fact that ethnic people are out and about speaking in a foreign language instead of English. If it creates a barrier between you and that person when they are directly trying to speak to you, then I understand the problem. If they are simply annoying you because they're speaking another language amongst their peers and family and you can't understand what they're saying, who the fuck cares?

French and English have not been made the official languages of our country so that everyone is mandated to learn them if they want to live here. English and French in Canada were made official quite simply to ensure that institutions (private and public) provide services in two languages and that we can ensure that our Government and the laws and statues set forth are set in a language familiar to Canadians.

[November]

Originally Posted by MajinHurricane

wow your parents are fucking stupid. My parents worked 60+ hours a week and when they immigrated here in the 70's they learned, not only english but FRENCH.

Not being able to speak English does not make them stupid. That's a stupid comment.

[Qmx323]

Shit, living in Richmond it seems like you don't even need to speak English to live, work or play.

[November]

Originally Posted by MajinHurricane

wow your parents are fucking stupid. My parents worked 60+ hours a week and when they immigrated here in the 70's they learned, not only english but FRENCH.

Not being able to speak English does not make them stupid. That's a stupid comment.

My parents moved here a good 30+ years ago. They can speak English well enough, but I wouldn't blame them if they didn't. For some immigrants, there was just no need to learn English.

A Cantonese/Mandarin speaking immigrant living in Richmond is surrounded by Chinese. Why the fuck would you need to learn English at all if your friends, family, customers, co-workers, cashier at the grocery store, restaurant server, etc... all spoke Chinese?

It really depends on the culture. In Vancouver, the Chinese population is so big that, for most immigrants, there is no need to learn English. If your parents were from South Africa and only spoke Afrikaans, no fuckin' shit you'd have to learn English. There is no community large enough here to enable a South African, Afrikaans speaking immigrant to not learn English at all.

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by MajinHurricane

wow your parents are fucking stupid. My parents worked 60+ hours a week and when they immigrated here in the 70's they learned, not only english but FRENCH.

when i was at the casino in montreal, this 70 year old chinese guy comes up and starts playing at a table, talking in french to the games dealer. i said something to the dealer on the lines of: woah - impressive.

games dealer is like: hey, he's chinese, what do you expect? of course he's gonna know french, gambling is involved

[Frank D'Angelo]

Originally Posted by MajinHurricane

wow your parents are fucking stupid. My parents worked 60+ hours a week and when they immigrated here in the 70's they learned, not only english but FRENCH.

shame that "intelligence" didn't pass on to their offspring.

[Meowjin]

Originally Posted by Frank D'Angelo

shame that "intelligence" didn't pass on to their offspring.

learning a language has 0 to do with intelligence. If you planning on living in a foreign country longterm don't say that bs that they had no time to learn the language.

[minoru_tanaka]

Originally Posted by MajinHurricane

wow your parents are fucking stupid. My parents worked 60+ hours a week and when they immigrated here in the 70's they learned, not only english but FRENCH.

My parents never even saw a car before they came to Canada. They grew up in rural china. The girls went to school for 3 or 4 years and the boys went to school till they were 10 at most if you were the oldest son. My mom reads about as much english as chinese.

With no education, in english or otherwise, the only jobs the immigrants could get were jobs run by people that came from the same country. Sawmills, canneries, restaurants etc. Hell, go to a sawmill now and you'll still see chinese fobs work with the other chinese fobs and indian fobs work with the other indian fobs. And there will be one chinese guy who speaks enough english to tell the other chinese what to do and there will be one punjab to tell the other punjabs what to do. They don't even bother speaking english to you. The mill's there to make money, not to teach you english.

And that your parents learn to speak french, good for fuckin them. Did they immigrate to Montreal? Why would I don't speak it and I don't know anyone who grew up in BC that does. Even people with french last names.

[Oleophobic]

Originally Posted by MajinHurricane

learning a language has 0 to do with intelligence.

Originally Posted by MajinHurricane

wow your parents are fucking stupid.

[InvisibleSoul]

Originally Posted by minoru_tanaka

My parents never even saw a car before they came to Canada. They grew up in rural china. The girls went to school for 3 or 4 years and the boys went to school till they were 10 at most if you were the oldest son.

True story. My parents were from rural China, and my dad never finished elementary school. Obviously he's not dumb, but it's just how it was given the circumstances. He managed to come to Canada in the 70's, and he has worked as a chef at Delta Hotels pretty much since then. He can get by with his English for the most part, but definitely nowhere close to being totally fluent with it. My mom has worked in a factory for like 30+ years as well, and her English is worse because most of her coworkers are Chinese as well, so she wasn't forced to use English as much... so even now, she still needs help even for relatively simple English phrases.