Let the dialects die?

Were you one of those who was nodding in agreement when last night's news were talking about this, and this? Or were you like me, feeling disappointed that this is happening?

Honestly, I couldn't count the times when I really regretted not picking up at least one of the common dialects spoken in the house. Even though I'm one of those lucky few with grandparents understanding or speaking Mandarin, there were still times when ah mah talked to me in Teochew, and I replied in Mandarin, there was this feeling of a "broken link". No doubt we understood what each other was trying to say, but somehow I always felt that if I knew Teochew, I might get my point across better, and the connection between generations will be stronger.

What about those grandparents who do not understand Mandarin at all? And their grandchildren do not understand their dialects? How are they going to communicate? Among the many campaigns that Singapore has, I'm sure there is one about family togetherness somewhere. So, how do these two generations, who do not understand each other, get together? Will the grandparents feel that they have "lost" their grandchildren? And will the grandchildren feel that their grandparents are "extras" who just happened to be around?

And the argument about learning and speaking Mandarin at home early is :

"With Mandarin, the reach is far greater than dialects: 'If you speak Hokkien or Cantonese, you reach some 60 million in Fujian and Taiwan, or about 100 million in Guangdong and Hong Kong. With Mandarin, you can speak to 1,300 million Chinese from all provinces in China,' he said. "

Does that mean that, if I managed to speak Cantonese, I will be able to talk to another 100 million on top of the 1,300 million... isn't it better than someone who only speaks Mandarin?

But at the end of the day, whether to let your children learn dialect or not is really up to the individual family. The husband is one good example. He speaks wonderful Teochew, and it didn't seemed to affect his ability to perfect Mandarin and English. In fact, the same goes for his two sisters and other cousins. If the child can pick up a dialect, why stop him/her from learning?

Although I don't speak any fluent dialects, I do understand a few. And I'm going to make sure my future kids (if there are any) to know some dialects too. At least they will know whether people are scolding them or teaching them any bad words.