Here’s a picture of my paternal grandmother and I. Luckily, I was able to become somewhat fluent in Mandarin before she passed and I was so grateful to hear stories about how she and grandpa met. However, there was still a slight distance in speaking Mandarin with grandma because her first language was Taiwanese (Minnanhua), then Japanese, then Mandarin. I’m currently studying Japanese now and improving my Mandarin. I’d like to pick up Taiwanese again (I spoke it as a child), but the incentives and number of resources are much higher for Mandarin and Japanese. I recently met a Jewish-American man in his 20s that learned Taiwanese and Hakka for fun and I feel newly inspired to relearn Taiwanese as an adult. I think guilt and shame are not great ways to push someone into learning a language, I think interest/fun (through books, movies, travel) and love (family. partners) are better ways in.
PHOTOS