Hello there, it has been a long while and I apologize for the very late update.
It has come to my knowledge in regards to the existence of Cantonese as a language used by people in the 80′s – 90′s generations has become a “secondary language” or perhaps just “another language” meaning that people in question all have another language that they use and use frequently. This does applies to both Cantonese people who are born overseas and or live overseas in addition to those that live within China as well. To a lesser degree this would apply to Hong Kong (香港). The point that I am trying to make is that despite how many people “know Cantonese” it is not being passed down completely at all to the next generation.
First and foremost, there are no institutions that teach Cantonese much less conduct lessons using that language at all that are government backed. Cantonese does not have a standardization scheme at all. We all know these and its because of this that the language is hindered. There is also no governing body aside from Hong Kong that utilizes Cantonese at all. Wherever Cantonese exists, another language is the main language of the nation, city, province or state. In Guangdong, China (廣東，中國) that language is Mandarin (普通話), in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, New York, Vancouver, etc. that language is English. One thing I would like to point out in particular (correct me if I am wrong) is that Vancouver has Cantonese as a secondary language although I believe it is has been supplanted by Mandarin Chinese by now.
Now that we are all on the same page, let’s get into the concept that I am trying to convey. If you are someone who is Cantonese that is reading this right now and is 80′s – 90′s generation, I am fairly sure you will understand this well. If you are someone who is bilingual and living in an adopted country, you might understand this fairly well too. When you live in an adopted country, you grow up with their standards, their beliefs, their background, their point of views, and most importantly their language. The institutions in the country of interest will facilitate your growth and knowledge of the language. Basically, this means for example if you grow up in America, Britain, or Canada, you will surely know English. This is assuming you are the majority of the population growing up in the adopted country and learning the language well. I will not rule out the possibility of minor abnormalities of where people in the system do not learn the language despite living in it the almost entirety of their life.
At the same time, whatever background you come from dictates another part of what your language and beliefs are. For the most part, this will be that of your parents and, if you are lucky to have extended members of your family within frequent contactable range, relatives. If they speak the language and celebrate the customs, then you yourself will be immersed in this tiny social sphere that is generated by them. If you are even more fortunate, the community you live in will have many more individuals such as yourself and your family who are just like yourself with your culture and language. For example if there are enough Cantonese individuals in this adopted land, then enough interaction with use of Cantonese, the language and culture, will be possible and the language can be successfully passed down while at the same time interaction with the adopted country’s language and culture will be just as immense as well. Ultimately, a person will be able to grow up with the two world views and be adept at both.
However, what if your adopted community does not have enough individuals who are just like yourself? Is having only a family setting use of your language enough for it grow? Would it be enough to say that “I am adept at this language” when you have never used words, phrases and terminology outside of the family setting? How can you gauge if you know the language or not if you do not know how well your parents are able to master the language itself? What if you become a parent in the future, would you be able to pass this language down to the next generation without the assistance of institutions or even a community? I believe the answer is a solid no. I have seen many individuals who are second generation and already lost even the basic use of their native language. You can attribute this partly to that of the parents, but at the same time you can attribute it greatly to the community that they were raised in.
In retrospect, you may think that this applies only to Cantonese born outside of native Canton who will suffer the above stated facts. Those in China won’t have this kind of problem because their society is pretty much Cantonese right? Unfortunately, with the great advancements that China has made, at the same time there have been some setbacks taken in the form of linguistic identity. Aside from the Cantonese protests that occurred earlier this year regarding the cancellation of Cantonese use in TV stations, academic institutions in southern China also enforce Mandarin Chinese use and discourage Cantonese use. Tell me, how different is this from living in a foreign country where your language (in this case Cantonese) is not the native language? What is worse is that Cantonese seems as if it has no home of its own. Many of you who see this as frivolous I understand it is hard to understand what Cantonese is going through, but ask around and look beyond bias and stereotypes you may have against Cantonese first before you think anything else.
In lighter news, today is Winter Solstice (冬至). I hope you all have a good time with your family tonight.