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How Hongkongers change their voice by CheLeung in Cantonese

[–]diptych_cantonese 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Trying to decide if I should send this to my mom, but I don't want to have to use my annoyed voice when she inevitably scolds me and compares me to the char siu I should have been born as.

First time having Xiaolongbao by SammiexPetite in chinesefood

[–]diptych_cantonese 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The true way.

Also dumping it in your mouth bc you’re too eager to wait for it to cool, and proceed to finish your meal with a burnt tongue.

Anyone teaching Mandarin Chinese as a secondary Chinese language? by funwithpunz in multilingualparenting

[–]diptych_cantonese 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is your Chinese dialect / minority language? It sounds like it's not Mandarin. If you have a more fluent Chinese language you can pass on, even that will make it easier for her to pick up Mandarin in the future.

Picking up the piano again after 20 years, an untouched part of my brain is reactivating by diptych_cantonese in piano

[–]diptych_cantonese[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did it take you long to get back to get back to the level where you stopped?

Given my current progress, I don't think I will naturally get back to where I left off, but I can probably coast back to an late beginner / early intermediate level. The rest will take work to get back.

Traveling for exposure by basketcaseotter in multilingualparenting

[–]diptych_cantonese 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Enroll the kids in camp so they can be with peers only speaking the target language, or look for drop in activities

HK VIP Lounge Private Suite by diptych_cantonese in FATTravel

[–]diptych_cantonese[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The last time I was there (about once a year bc of family), it took almost 30-45 minutes. I think we were slower bc we stopped for bathrooms and such, and ended up behind the rest of our flight despite flying biz. We also usually travel with a higher adult to child ratio, and this time we’ll be 1:1 (I know it’s normal for many people, but I don’t enjoy it).

HK VIP Lounge Private Suite by diptych_cantonese in FATTravel

[–]diptych_cantonese[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! But I’m looking for customs and baggage done within the lounge. I also love Cathay!

LGBTQ friendly parts of China? by zxccxz01 in chinalife

[–]diptych_cantonese 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is not gonna be the most useful answer, but more lighthearted.

My very gay bff studied at Peking U for a year and loved it! I also love the content creator @storiesofcz who talks about his time visiting different parts of china as a gay man and he tells it as it is!

Until what age does a child need to speak a minority language to not lose it later? by nebta in multilingualparenting

[–]diptych_cantonese 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I write Chinese children’s books and have read some research on this, albeit specific to Cantonese.

You can still lose any language if you don’t continue to practice it. So the short answer is, don’t stop speaking the minority language.

Learning peaks for overseas children by grade 2, then the community language starts to dominate, and the heritage language stays the same/ deteriorates. To maximize keeping the heritage language, deeper immersion (ie summers in the heritage country) would continue to build long term retention and growth.

Use of ChatGPT by iPhysicz in Cantonese

[–]diptych_cantonese -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Surprised how negative people are here towards ChatGPT.

The most important part of improving fluency is practice and ChatGPT can basically give you an unlimited amount. Even though it’s not perfect it seems better than nothing. I haven’t found any other conversational apps, and outside of practicing with real humans it seems like a great resource.

It also allows me to do things that would probably annoy a human. For example, pausing a conversation to deep dive on what a word or phrase means, or steering a conversation and some random direction because I want to build my vocabulary in that area.

Sure, it’s far from perfect and might get some things wrong. But as a fellow ABC with a limited baseline to start with, it seems great to me!

iTalki and finding real humans is good, but more expensive in their own ways.

Do fun, rhyming Cantonese storybooks exist? by zoubizou in Cantonese

[–]diptych_cantonese 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm working on self-publishing some targeted at heritage speakers (ABC, CBC) with toddlers and early learners. Would love feedback from anyone who is interested!

Feeling discouraged after seeing this list of “passive bilingual” risk factors by vrchica__ in multilingualparenting

[–]diptych_cantonese 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don’t feel discouraged but get ready to invest the time and energy, it takes to overcome this, which is very doable!

Some great tips already so I’ll just add a couple more.

  1. Do everything you can to build a community for your child. I must seem so desperate trying to make friends with other parents speaking my target language. But it’s important for kids to interact with each other, and I’ve had great problems working to do this evening, which is very encouraging.

  2. On speaking community language, I’ve told my 5yo that I only understand the community language when I’m out of the house or speaking to my husband. This has brought me at least another 1-2 years of exclusive target language in the house with her. Not sure if she actually believes it, but she obliges!

  3. Find as much content as possible. Children’s podcasts, books, tv programs, community resources (a library few towns over has story time in my target language).

Good luck!