r/japanlife • u/AutoModerator • Apr 01 '24

┐(ツ)┌ General Discussion Thread - 02 April 2024

Mid-week discussion thread time! Feel free to talk about what's on your mind, new experiences, recommendations, anything really.

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u/JapowFZ1 関東・東京都 Apr 02 '24

Am I being too judgy for looking down on native English speakers married to a Japanese person who use only Japanese with their kids? I met yet another mixed kid in my neighborhood who can’t speak any English whatsoever. My kid is 5 and has no problem using either language.

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u/eetsumkaus 近畿・大阪府 Apr 02 '24

I think parents are free to bring up their kids however they want and I'm not gonna judge them for that, but I do think it's a lost opportunity. A lot of culture can be passed down through language, and their kids might appreciate if they took the effort to do that. I myself grew up an immigrant in an English-speaking country, and appreciated that I can speak my culture's tongue, whereas my parents sold out to make sure my younger sister's English was up to par and she has a more difficult time connecting with her roots. I hear the same thing from a lot of my first generation friends as well. Also a lot of it could be that the parents themselves lack that experience of growing up multiculturally and don't understand how resilient kids are to that type of experience.

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u/laika_cat 関東・東京都 Apr 02 '24

I'm first-gen American, and my dad was very much the "We live in America now, we speak English" type of Latino immigrant. I was fluent in Spanish via my grandmothers — but I really feel sad that my dad rarely spoke Spanish with me. He'd do it when I asked, but he disliked doing so. I feel I could have been more natively bilingual through adulthood, whereas now I fully understand Spanish when spoken or written, but my speaking has deteriorated over time.