Comments | trilingual: My Trilingualism: Indonesian, English, Dutch or Indonesian, Dutch, English?

trilingual

My Trilingualism: Indonesian, English, Dutch or Indonesian, Dutch, English?

Sep 13, 2007 14:42

Sarah of Baby Bilingual once wrote a very interesting entry about how she acquires French, which inspires me to write this post. I myself have been working almost all my life to keep my two foreign-languages alive. I enjoy doing it very much and have no regret with the outcome, hence there is something I wish I could change easily.

My Dutch and ( Read more... )

mama's origin, chicago, third culture kids

Comments 33

wow! anonymous September 15 2007, 23:54:03 UTC

what an interesting story of a tri-lingual person! you're lucky to be exposed to multi-language world in your childhood years, I think. that's the best moment. no wonder you're so fluent in three languages and in tri-lingualism too :)

hey, i envy you :) i grew up with sundanese and indonesian. my encounter with english was only through regular "kelas bahasa inggris" in high school years (very ineffective). but anyway, i tried my best to learn english, and still keep learning.

mer

Re: wow! trilingual September 16 2007, 01:10:14 UTC

Oh teh, I envy YOU. I wish I could speak my parents' native languages. I've been wondering why they speak only Indonesian to their kids, while they still speak dialects with their siblings. For me, it's weird to be Indonesian without being able to speak any dialect.

Gosh, you must be very gifted .. your English is absolutely super2 perfect!! My fluency is nothing compares to yours!
Posted on Sep. 16th, 2007 01:08 am (UTC) | Link

Re: wow! anonymous September 16 2007, 06:20:15 UTC

San, i think your English is flawless. i still do so many mistakes in english.. ugh.

oh, btw, i forgot you're part sundanese.. hey, you should really try this language (i refuse to call it a dialect because sundanese is not a variety of indonesian.. hehe), it's a fun language! if you hang out with me often, you'll pick it up fast.. it's in your blood, dear ;)

Re: wow! trilingual September 17 2007, 03:05:11 UTC

I know only kumaha, mangga, punten, atos. Once I went to WSAB and didn't understand any single word :D. You will have a hard time in teaching me, teh :).

Thread 5

Impressive jenniesbev September 16 2007, 01:45:22 UTC

Super impressive, Santi. :) So far I'm somewhat fluent (if I dare to call it) in Indonesian and English. Chinese is so-so, I can survive bargaining in Chinatown and ordering dim sum. And I'm learning French. Heheh. :) Language makes the world goes round.

It's very nice to know you, Santi. I love seeing the world through your eyes.

Re: Impressive trilingual September 16 2007, 05:10:39 UTC

Wow... you rock, Jen. French is a beautiful but difficult language *at least for me*. Surrounded by a French husband and preschooler only improve mine a little. How long have you been learning French?

Re: Impressive jenniesbev September 16 2007, 07:08:31 UTC

Used to learn French in college but have just re-started again after years of idle. :)

ckristanto September 16 2007, 13:45:12 UTC

Hi San, why don't you speak dutch with Nico ? And if you want, you can speak sundanese 'pasar' with me... hahaha.
I re-discovered my pinkeltje book few days ago, too bad I forgot most of the vocab already.

trilingual September 17 2007, 03:07:52 UTC

Unfortunately, like many French people, Nico doesn't like to speak Dutch :). I don't speak Sundanese at all, not even the pasar one haha.

madridkate September 17 2007, 10:30:24 UTC

Hmm, this is interesting, to see how important the personal connections are for learning a language. Now that you're blogging in English, maybe you'll feel more of a connection to it? I would love to be able to speak more languages. I was so tempted the other day when I saw a book for learning Romanian (there are quite a few Romanians here) but I know that will have to wait a LONG time because now I need to concentrate on my classes and my kids (and soon one more!)

trilingual September 20 2007, 02:03:25 UTC

I think I have to wait some more years to see how I feel about English :D.

I admire you, Kate. Raising two kids while taking a degree is already something, and now with number three on the way it's like a big WOW!

Interesting anonymous September 17 2007, 15:15:45 UTC

You know, San, reading this I feel that I'm seeing my son's world through your experience. He is an Indonesian, taught to speak Indonesian, learned to speak Japanese effortlessly (and more fluently than I do), and absorbing English naturally.
Now, it is my job to make sure that the languages don't disappear...

As for my self, besides Indonesian, English is my second language. I absorbed it from my Dad. Unfortunatelly, I failed to master his Russian. I'm still curious until now. Learning Japanese is my escape :D

Thanks for the sharing!

ps: Di Pramuka, San.

mariskova

Re: Interesting trilingual September 17 2007, 21:11:50 UTC

Agreed, we need to take good care of languages we already acquire. Your parents did a good job with you, I'm sure you will do the same *if not better* with Hikari :D.

Re: Interesting anonymous September 18 2007, 14:07:24 UTC

Hahahaha... I hope I can be as confident as you are. Thanks!

-mariskova-

dutch since 1900 anonymous September 23 2007, 12:21:51 UTC

i think almost all educated people in indonesia can NORMALLY speak dutch since 1900 and was cut after japan occupation. and, now you start it. good on you, pretty. keep it as your normal.

Re: dutch since 1900 trilingual September 24 2007, 02:01:43 UTC

Thanks, anonymous :D.