Reply to Bilingual Kids in Language Immersion ES Programs, Which Programs Have Many & Strive to Attract Them?

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Reply to "Bilingual Kids in Language Immersion ES Programs, Which Programs Have Many & Strive to Attract Them?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]can someone dumb this dialect discussion down a bit. Mandarin is a different language than cantonese, right. people keep using "dialect" like it's the difference between American English or British English. from what I've learned the comparison is actually akin to portuguese and spanish- different LANGUAGES. So, if this is the case, why could cantonese speakers get preference? They don't speak the target. They may be able to pick it up "easier", but how is that a boon to the other kids. They're all non-native then.[/quote]

Oh, I'd be careful about calling an ethnic Cantonese speaker a non-native Chinese, or describing Cantonese and Mandarin (or any other dialect) as different languages.  Remember to duck.  Han Chinese culture encompasses all dialects.

I did the transition from Cantonese to Mandarin at my government school in China in first grade, after K as a bridge year.  Schools in Guangdong and Guanxi Provinces (where the Cantonese-speaking communities are located) now do it in K, in accordance with the law.  They can because kids arrive at school with enough exposure to Mandarin (mainly from TV) unlike in my day.  I'd be surprised if you could transition entirely from Portuguese to Spanish in K, maybe.  If you speak Cantonese and learn Mandarin, you have an accent identifying you as a Southerner.  It's OK though, everybody understands you.

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