how do you manage your kids mother tongue fluency?

[Autumnn]

hello fellow parents, I'm wondering how you make sure your kids are fluent in their mother tongue?

my husband and I try to mix in spoken Chinese when we communicate with our kids but it doesn't seem to have a great effect because:
1. our Chinese isn't that fluent in the first place
2. they watch mostly English media

so please share if you have any tips.

[jenzz]

hello fellow parents, I'm wondering how you make sure your kids are fluent in their mother tongue?

my husband and I try to mix in spoken Chinese when we communicate with our kids but it doesn't seem to have a great effect because:
1. our Chinese isn't that fluent in the first place
2. they watch mostly English media

so please share if you have any tips.

i tink some things are out of our control. for example, the friends that our kids mix with will have a big influence too. like if their friends speak chinese or their mother tongue too, then it will seem 'normal' to be good at mother tongue. if their friends think speaking in chinese or mother tongue is 'not cool', then our kids will be affected too.

[NewtonsAdamsApple]

hello fellow parents, I'm wondering how you make sure your kids are fluent in their mother tongue?

my husband and I try to mix in spoken Chinese when we communicate with our kids but it doesn't seem to have a great effect because:
1. our Chinese isn't that fluent in the first place
2. they watch mostly English media

so please share if you have any tips.

My kid isn't exactly fluent in his mother tongue but he's better than how he'd be if there's no YouTube.

My kid and us have a shared Google/YouTube account so my wife and I will add Chinese videos to the playlist for him to watch. Not just from the PRC but also TW, SG, MY. Basically, family and kid-friendly videos that he can enjoy and learn Chinese at the same time.

Some videos are even bilingual, which can make things easier especially if your kid isn't super fluent like mine.

An example:

[Autumnn]

My kid isn't exactly fluent in his mother tongue but he's better than how he'd be if there's no YouTube.

My kid and us have a shared Google/YouTube account so my wife and I will add Chinese videos to the playlist for him to watch. Not just from the PRC but also TW, SG, MY. Basically, family and kid-friendly videos that he can enjoy and learn Chinese at the same time.

Some videos are even bilingual, which can make things easier especially if your kid isn't super fluent like mine.

having a shared youtube playlist is a nice idea! i think i will start one for my kids soon.

[monstafish]

hello fellow parents, I'm wondering how you make sure your kids are fluent in their mother tongue?

my husband and I try to mix in spoken Chinese when we communicate with our kids but it doesn't seem to have a great effect because:
1. our Chinese isn't that fluent in the first place
2. they watch mostly English media

so please share if you have any tips.

im malay and i also noticed most young malay people and children cannot really speak their mother tongue too. but i think its important to continue your own culture, regardless of your race, so im quite happy that my childrens grandparents still communicate in malay with them.

[berry_good]

im malay and i also noticed most young malay people and children cannot really speak their mother tongue too. but i think its important to continue your own culture, regardless of your race, so im quite happy that my childrens grandparents still communicate in malay with them.

Yes I agree 100%! Even though my own mother tongue proficiency isn't great, I'd like my kids to be at least conversationally fluent.

[kxingstar]

My kid isn't exactly fluent in his mother tongue but he's better than how he'd be if there's no YouTube.

My kid and us have a shared Google/YouTube account so my wife and I will add Chinese videos to the playlist for him to watch. Not just from the PRC but also TW, SG, MY. Basically, family and kid-friendly videos that he can enjoy and learn Chinese at the same time.

Some videos are even bilingual, which can make things easier especially if your kid isn't super fluent like mine.

An example:

Thanks for the tip! Curating a YouTube playlist to watch together with your kids is quite convenient, not to mention it also exposes them to different types of languages.