Trilingual baby

While we have hoped to bring him up to be trilingual (English, Mandarin, Hokkien), 
One would usually think he's a hokkien baby. 

That's not surprising given that his favourite word is Mai2 (no) and second favorite is Bo2 (don't have).

Even the concerned teacher has asked me with concern what language we use at home. I said English, Mandarin and Hokkien. I don't think she buys it. 

Today, I was somewhat vindicated. 

Teacher told Ah Po that Cayen understands English quite well (duh?!) . While he is sprouting Hokkien usually , he actually understood their English instructions like put his legs down etc. 

My own take is that he understands all 3 equally well as we have tested on various occasions. Eat = 吃 = jiak4 , no = 不准 = Mai3 . Only thing is that Hokkien comes the most naturally to him from a pronunciation point of view. He can speak English and Mandarin but those usually are pronounced more softly and in a more refined fashion, but not as accurate as Hokkien sounds. 

Classic example of how he actually gets it - this is what we ask him that day.
 
What does the dog say ? "Wow wow" 
What does the cat say ? "Meow meow"
What does the fox say ? "No response" 
What does Ah Ma say ? "No"
What does Ah Pa say? "No"
What does Cayen say? "Mai3"


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