Advice needed - for young children

[xiaotao]

Longron,

I understand your strong feeling to have your kids do both Cantonese and Mandarin. Your kids will let you know when they no longer enjoy learning both. I always prefered Mandarin because I was able to pass the Cantonese to them at home.

Since your wife knows some Chinese she will probably be the lead in selecting Chinese tutors/school in the future. She most likely can help the kids in their Chinese learning more than you think she can. if she doesn't read Chinese well, she can learn pinyin and zhuyin then teach the kids. She can pick books and video for the kids. She can do lots to support them in learning Chinese.

[Meng Lelan]

Your children will have no problem learning Cantonese, Mandarin, and English as long as they are in Hong Kong. Once you move to an English environment the Mandarin and Cantonese will be very challenging to keep. I believe that there is nothing more powerful than mother tongue.

As both parent and teacher, I agree that the language environment is more powerful than any kind of schooling or tutoring. In all the years I've lived in the United States and in all the Chinese heritage children I've known here, I've only met maybe one or two teens of Chinese heritage who are still able to speak Mandarin.