Interview with 3 generations of Hokkien speakers in Hong Kong

Interviews

In order to understand the usage of Hokkien in Hong Kong context, we have interviewed three members of a Hokkien family, Grandma, Mrs. Chan and Sonic, who have settled in Hong Kong for 32 years, as well as 2 two post-80s guys, Joe and Ah Fat, from Hokkien families. By comparing their responses in the interview, we can investigate the views and options of Hokkien community in language usage in Hong Kong.

Sonic(left), Grandma (middle), Mandy (right) 

Background information:

Generation	1st			2nd	3rd
Name	Grandma	Ah Fat		Mrs. Chan	Sonic	Joe
Age	71-80		21-30	41-50	21-30	21-30
Profession	Housewife		Partner of tutorial center	Housewife	Student	Student
Birthplace	Fujian		Fujian	Fujian	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
No. of years staying in HK	32		12 years (moved to HK in 10)	25	Since born	Since born
Educational level	No schooling		Secondary School	Secondary School	University	University
Mother tongue [1]	H, M		H	H,M	H,C	C
Other languages acquired [1]	C		C, E, M	C	M,E,S	E, M

[1] Index: H-Hokkien, M-Mandarin, C-Cantonese, E-English, S-Spanish

Results:

Now,let’s look at the results on  language choice in different domains.

"I speak Hokkien to Hokkien people, Cantonese to Canton people in Hong Kong"

-Grandma

For Grandma, the first generation of Hokkien immigrants to Hong Kong, she still adopts her traditional dialect in her daily speech. As she is living in a Hokkien community, which is in Hung Hom, many of her neighborhoods are able to speak Hokkien. Therefore, she has no problem to keep up her dialect every day in Hong Kong.

"Nobody speaks Hokkien in my neighborhood, neither do my children speak it."

-Mrs. Chan

The situation is slightly different when it comes to the second generation. Mrs. Chan moved to Hong Kong from Fujian 25 years ago. Isolated from the Hokkien-speaking community, she starts to learn Cantonese and use it in her daily life more than the dialect as she has to integrate with the local, the Cantonese speakers. Except to her mother-in-law, husband, relatives and 2 elder daughters, she almost has no chances to speak her local tongue.

Photo after interview: (Right) Mandy, (Center) Joe, (Left) Yuffie

The results of the 3^rd generation are not surprised. No matter where they were born and raised, once they have settled in Hong Kong, Cantonese would be the only language choice for them in many occasions. Meanwhile, they also acquire to speak English and Mandarin as they receive schooling in Hong Kong. As the educational level of the post-80s gets higher in this day and age, Sonic, one of the interviewees, even study one more language - Spanish as her major in the university. It shows that the third generation of Hokkien community is transforming into more globalized in respect of language choices.