Anyone here that is Asian American or Western Asian that can speak their "ethnic" language?

I noticed that most Asian Americans just speak English to their parents. For those who can't speak their ethnic language, what is your relationship with your parents like? Communication problems? Or you just speak English to them like most Asian Americans?


By the way, Anyone here an ABC that can speak Chinese?


Also there are some very ignorant people that seem to fault Asian Americans/Western Asians because they can't speak their ethnic language. Though, I have to say it is incredibly hard to learn another language, and the people who don't understand why Asian Americans/Western Asians can't speak their own ethnic language are just plain ignorant and idiotic.

jennibear01 said: I can speak my ethnic language. I can understand it too when spoken. But, I'm better at the English language, since I was born in America.

I can speak my ethnic language as wellI'm korean and I'm fluent in both korean and english - reading, writing, speaking, etc.
the reason why i'm fluent is because my parents are in korea - so I always talked in korean with them and never really forgot I've been in America since I was 9 

I can speak my ethnic language.
Sometimes at school, I'll order at Chinese joints in Chinese.  And the person at the counter (my age, Chinese) will roll their eyes at me.  Then I order in English (with a complete native accent).
Really stupid.  My Spanish friends can go to any Spanish joint, speak Spanish, and it'll be "cool."  But lame, low self-esteem Chinese losers think it's "weird" to speak it or they're ashamed of it.  Like it's "cooler" to speak English.  My Hispanic friends never have this issue.  
Also, if I meet an Asian chick, and she can't speak her native language.  I won't date her.  No excuse from her, just means she's dumb  (unless her parents both do not speak it).  I grew up in the boonies with 99% white kids - I can speak it.  
  

speedredefined said: I can speak my ethnic language.
Sometimes at school, I'll order at Chinese joints in Chinese.  And the person at the counter (my age, Chinese) will roll their eyes at me.  Then I order in English (with a complete native accent).
Really stupid.  My Spanish friends can go to any Spanish joint, speak Spanish, and it'll be "cool."  But lame, low self-esteem Chinese losers think it's "weird" to speak it or they're ashamed of it.  Like it's "cooler" to speak English.  My Hispanic friends never have this issue.  
  

Viet/Chinese here that can only speak Viet. My mom's side is Chinese but my grandparents are the only one that can speak it, everyone else just speaks Viet. 
I agree with speed about not dating an Asian chick that can't speak her native language.

I am born and raised in America, and I can speak, read, write my ethnic language (Chinese) fluently. My Chinese was never actually that good before I graduated from university, I only knew basics. However I guess, after I graduated, I was working, and have a lot of "spare time" and got into watching Chinese dramas however at first I could barely speak it, thus I went onto youtube and listen to songs and wrote down the lyrics, and kept writing and practicing, until around 2 months later my Chinese had a major improvement, and thus over the years [2 years since then] I've become practically as fluently as a native born in China and I can communicate with them without any language barrier issues. Actually my number one rule for a boyfriend is that they have to be Asian, and if they are Chinese, must (at least) speak their native language. I guess I have an interest in learning it, and would always love to keep practicing and improving, even nowadays.

As for relationship with parents....my relationship with parents are kind of distant, not because of language communication barriers, but personality differences.

Kerriganton

said:  

I moved away from my home town where all my cousins were. I wasn't very close with my parents. I didn't know many people. So I didn't use my native language as much anymore. One day my parents started making fun of my accent and now I only speak to my parents in English. 
If I needed to, I could speak my native tongue and get by. I can hold a conversation for several minutes but if you ask me to sit and do it for longer than 30 minutes I may start to get tired. I'm better at soaking it up. I will understand every word you say.  I can even write in my language. BUT it'll take more time for me to retrieve the vocab and communicate back like a normal person.
It's almost like a foreign language to me. It's actually pretty easy for me to learn. If I study it for a while I'll be able to read and write it. I can make out what you're saying. But if you ask me to hold a conversation, I'd tense up fast. 
So sad. Haha.

I speak better Cantonese than either of my brothers though I will add a little English in there. The reason is because I don't talk much to other Chinese people in Cantonese, just English. I'm self-conscious about saying the wrong thing. I'm not great at reading or writing Chinese characters either.

I can speak/read Mandarin at a 5th grade level. Um, most of my friends are fairly fluent, I'd say they're bilingual. Then again I live in a place with 60%+ asians, most of them Chinese so that helps. My parents are generation 1.5 and they are probably at a early high school level of Chinese. I'm trying to improve to the point I can be at their level. However they always speak to me in English out of habit, so I practice my Chinese with friends.
Oh yeah, my parents speak Cantonese, so learning mandarin was really difficult. I quit studying Chinese for many years and only recently started reviewing it in the last 2 years.

speedredefined said:

Kerriganton

said:  

What exactly are 1.5 gens?

Born somewhere else and then immigrated at a young age?

@Kerriganton
Yah, they're in-between.  So they're usually born in another country, then they move to the U.S. or Canada during middle school or high school.  Usually teen years, enough to be in their native country long enough that they speak their native tongue perfectly.  The biggest weirdos I meet are always in this category.  

Yeah I can speak Vietnamese. duma may

I speak Chines ~ yes ~

my mom was very strict about making me speak chinese to her at home ~ she threatened that for each word of English I spoke [when I knew the Chinese word], she'd take a dollar from my wallet hahaha .. and given i was really young, I didn't have much to offer
so I challenged her and when she really did take the dollar I started speaking heaps more Chinese

thanks to that my Chinese is quite fluent and I have little ~ no ABC accent
just due to the limit of conversation I normally have with my mum, my vocab is limited to casual conversation/slang/what I hear in TV shows .. like I won't know how to say chemistry or complicated business terms

I took the intensive reading and writing Chinese class at my uni which really boosted my literacy, and now I've made close friends with the Taiwan international students in my classes so I can further my Chinese speaking abilities

I personally feel the ability to speak another language is very rewarding ~ it increases the amount of people you can communicate with, and the best part is when you understand the puns or jokes in a language outside of English


I don't look down on people who can't speak their ethnic language cos I'd be in the same position if my mum weren't as stubborn as she was
what I don't understand is if your english is bad and chinese is bad and you don't know any other language then ?????? how will you communicate? you could be the world's biggest genius thus far but if you can't communicate your idea then no one will know what you're thinking

I can speak mandarin well, read/write chinese at a 4th grade level, and understand cantonese. Most of the kids in my school can speak their ethnic language because most of our parents were immigrants, and talk to us in that language while we reply back in that language or in english. Plus my school is mostly Asian, so nobody judges you for being able to speak (if you speak well we're in awe, actually XD)

And as for accent, a lot of kids have english accents, but it's still kind of like a regional accent like in china. Everyone speaks differently because most of us learn it from our parents. My friend who speaks with a Hubei accent always claimes that I have an accent (as in american accent), but honestly I just have a Guangzhou/Canto accent.