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Although I currently think and dream in English, I have never completely lost my mother tongue (which is Cantonese). Yes, there are times when I have to use Google Translate to re-learn a Chinese character, but overall, I am still proficient enough to communicate with my Chinese relatives and bloggers in HK. The big question is: Should I fall prey to Alzheimer like my Mom, which language will go first? Will I start yakking to my family in Cantonese (which is what my Mom is doing to everyone at her senior home), or will I retain my current operating language?
Related links:
(1) Language Attrition 母語減退: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_attrition
(2) Mother Tongue (First Language) 母語(第一語言): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_tongue
".... 母語，或第一語言，有三種解釋。一者為：一個人出生以後，最早接觸、學習、並掌握的一種或幾種語言。母語一般是自幼即開始接觸、並持續運用到青少年或之後；並且，一個人所受的家庭或正式教育中，尤其是早期，有相當部分是通過母語傳授的；母語另一個解釋則是一個人的民族語，並不一定是一個人最早接觸、學習、並掌握的「語言」，例如「母島」、「母國」等，僅僅表示「根源」的意思，母語不僅僅表示為母親對某個人說的語言，而是他認定的民族語。為了避免對多母語者的母語定義產生歧義，產生出的第三種解釋為不借用其他語言進行（如翻譯等方式）學習而學會的語言。（如嬰幼兒看圖片學習名詞及為母語學習）...."
1951年，聯合國教科文組織在巴黎召開了一個有關母語的會議，並對母語作出了如下定義：「母語是指一個人自幼習得的語言，通常是其思維與交流的自然工具。」
(3) 母語(第一語言)減退 20個例子 / 20 BBC readers who lost fluency in their language:
BBC News Magazine 13 July 2014:
".... For many of us, the thought of ever forgetting how to speak our native language would seem preposterous. But for some readers, it became a reality.
During a five-year captivity in Afghanistan, US soldier Bowe Bergdahl apparently lost some of his language capabilities. This prompted the Magazine to ask under what circumstances a person could lose their native or first language. In response, readers wrote in to tell their own stories of language loss or confusion. Here's a selection. ...."
Click here to read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28022790
4 comments:
移民外地，
隨時日漸久，
用語自然會受當地語言影響和改變，
這是無可避免，
就算自己可以控制到，
下一代也會失去了中文的能力。
新鮮兄: 我同意，由其是第二代, 能聽懂已算難得, 能寫能讀更是少之又少了！
這是必需要有心理預備，
否則自己會好失落。
新鮮兄:
在加國生芽的新楓樹,總不是和插枝的茉莉花一樣. 真的,我有些朋友對子女不能或拒絕說中文是感到非常失望.
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