Interview with Ms. Z

"When it comes to raising children, most Chinese parents I know still hope their kids will keep some connection with China. But in practice, it plays out in different ways. Some parents don’t speak Japanese well themselves, so their children end up using Japanese even at home. Others speak Japanese fluently and naturally use it with their children, but still insist that the kids learn at least a little Chinese. And then there are families like mine, where the parents speak good Japanese but deliberately address the children in Chinese. In those cases, the kids often understand what’s being said but respond in Japanese.

The common thread is this: while parents want their children to know Chinese, the reality is that once they’re in school, their daily environment is overwhelmingly Japanese. Their friends are all Japanese, their textbooks are Japanese, their lives revolve around Japanese customs. Under those conditions, it’s hard for children to build a deep relationship with the Chinese language or culture. In this sense, the experience is very similar to what overseas Chinese families go through in America—the kids grow up speaking English as their main language, and Chinese inevitably takes a back seat.

As for me, I’ve made up my mind. I want my child to learn Chinese. Not only because it connects her to where we come from, but also because I believe it will be an important advantage in the future—a kind of core competitiveness that will set her apart."