Oh well, then I’ll stick to my plan and speak to my future kid Swiss German, read them bed time stories in German, my boyfriend will speak to them in Chinese, his parents will speak Hakka, she/he’ll learn Taiwanese in school and we’ll all speak English when the whole family gets together. How does that sound. My poor future, not yet born nor produced kid…aiyoooo
Expectations must play a role but it’s such a complex equation. Exactly how they affect language ability would require a huge study and even then the findings may not be conclusive. Anecdotal evidence isn’t really any kind of evidence at all, but it does provide plenty of ammo for squabbling in fora!
Perhaps it’s not so much appearance as cultural identity. I think a kid’s appearance would affect, to a certain extent, how a kid identifies with the culture in which he or she is growing up, and this in turn could influence which of the languages is more dominant.
Appearance would also affect how people perceived the child’s abilities. If a mixed race child looks western, people are more likely to heap praise on her/him for speaking Chinese and vice versa. That’s something to consider but I think overall this would have relatively little influence.
Another poster said above that kids are more or less unlimited in how many languages they can acquire when they are in their early years. I don’t think that is true.
IMO, whether or not a small child can acquire a language depends on the quality of input and the amount of time spent in the environment of each language. Even if both parents are perfectly tri-lingual (which is impossible), it would be nearly impossible for them to construct an environment for six languages. The limitation isn’t so much that the child’s brain has a limited capacity for cramming in languages (maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t); in my opinion, the main issue is whether or not the parents, family and community can provide a quality language environment in sufficient duration. Whether you are living in Taiwan or Switzerland, I doubt you will be able to provide quality input from the beginning in all six languages. I think they could learn all of these languages eventually, but not to the same level of competency. I think it would be good to prioritize.
My wife is a Cantonese speaker; her English is near native; Putonghua is a very distant third. English is my first language. I’m strong in Putonghua, but not native-like. While I’m sure your proficiency in your three languages is higher than my ability in Putonghua, which lanuages do you speak with native-like proficiency? I would make those languages the priority. If I have to, I’ll be able to teach my kid Putonghua, but it won’t be the priority because I know that it would be impossible for me to provide enough quality input for him to reach native-like proficiency in the language. If we happen to be living back in the US or in HK, I probably wouldn’t start speaking Putonghua to my kid until he’s about three years old.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is not really the kid’s faculties (or lack of) that decide how many languages they wil acquire. Perhaps if you could somehow provide quality input in equal amounts for ten languages, they’d acquire them all well; that’s not really possible, though. The decisive factor is how much quality input the adults can provide. If that is true, then prioritizing and staggering their exposure to languages makes sense.
I heap praise on my kid for speaking English and he knows that this is a good way to get attention these days. He has now taken to translating Chinese for himself. He used to say “wei sheme?” and his mother would say “mei you wei sheme”, he would in turn answer in Chinese when I asked him “why?” with “mei you weisheme”. Now he answers with, and I just about fell over when I heard the, somewhat direct, translation of “no why”, I don’t say that either, obvious grammar reasons aside, I say “because I said so”, I know, original ain’t it.
Point is that he is starting to shift his language preference to English, or perhaps his English is just getting stronger and he’s showing off.
[quote=“Bassman”]I heap praise on my kid for speaking English and he knows that this is a good way to get attention these days. He has now taken to translating Chinese for himself. He used to say “wei sheme?” and his mother would say “mei you wei sheme”, he would in turn answer in Chinese when I asked him “why?” with “mei you weisheme”. Now he answers with, and I just about fell over when I heard the, somewhat direct, translation of “no why”, I don’t say that either, obvious grammar reasons aside, I say “because I said so”, I know, original ain’t it.
Point is that he is starting to shift his language preference to English, or perhaps his English is just getting stronger and he’s showing off.[/quote]
Or perhaps he’s getting a head start on becoming a little smart ass. 
I have it figured out now. The reason we have been seeing so many mixed race kids out these past few weeks is because they are all the Taiwanese ex pat kids coming home to see their grandparents. That’s why they all speak English so well. And the mixed race kids who actually live in Taiwan all speak Mandarin better of course. So, you ask, why is it that the mixed race kids in Taiwan are more caucasian in apperance than the ones returning here from Canada or the States? Good question and the answer is, I’ll give you a moment to guess it. Still haven’t figured it out my little geniuses? Well, it’s the super sperm of course! We all know what a tough place Taiwan is to thrive and survive in. All that we are seeing is the influence of all those masculine, dominant qualities having their way with the reproductive process. What I am quesssing is that the sheer intensity of the mating process left the asian genes exhausted, with no option but surrender. I am sure most of us here can live with this explanation regardless of what the geneticists might say.
two words: Kristin Kreuk.
And that also means that they evolve a third finger for the standard photo ‘V’ sign. 
Jive Turkey, no my future, not yet produced kid will of course not grow up with 6 languages, but depending on where we live in the future and on whether you understand Swiss German as a language or a dialect he/she will grow up with 2-4. He/she will then get some imput from other languages around him/her, but I doubt that he/she will be fluent (as in native language fluent) in them. Anyways, I think it will be a poor little confused kid and I’m not yet willing to produce it…=)
It is also possible that many of these overseas kids that are heading back here for summer are 100% Taiwanese, but the good English abilities and western dress sense fooled you into thinking they were in fact mixed race ?
only a theory… although maybe not as i now recollect you mentioning seeing them out with both parents ?
[quote=“mesheel”]So here is a question: Suppose me and my boyfriend have kids one day, how many languages do you think a kid can cope with?
I’m asking cause I myself am from Switzerland and therefore would speak Swiss German and German to my kid. My boyfriend is Taiwanese, he speaks Chinese and Taiwanese and his parents speak Hakka. We mostly speak Chinese together but sometimes English as well. So is our kid either going to be a super brain or just totally fucked up?[/quote]
Well, mine deals okay with Mandarin and English as primary, Hakkanese as secondary, and shows a marked interest in Spanish. However, he sometimes get 2-3 in the same sentence, but that will iron itself out.
Oui senorita, ich bin crazy 
Oui senorita, ich bin crazy [/quote]
Well my son has black hair and black eyes… and looks more aisan than westerner… up here in the mountains people expect he has no English at all… he speaks Chinese and Cou Aboriginal language on the street and English at home…
He’s 13 and flips between languages without any trouble at all… he’ll be chatting away in Chinese and then finish off a sentence in Cou or English… He loves to quote lines from movies… like Snatch and Full Metal Jacket…
YOur kid is 13 and has watched Full Metal Jacket!!!???
several times…
several times…[/quote]
Yeah, you’re proud now, but wait until you walk into the john one night to take a leak and you discover your boy holding a locked and loaded carbine. Just a word of advice: don’t follow the drill instructor’s example. 
[quote=“acearle”][quote=“mesheel”]So here is a question: Suppose me and my boyfriend have kids one day, how many languages do you think a kid can cope with?
I’m asking cause I myself am from Switzerland and therefore would speak Swiss German and German to my kid. My boyfriend is Taiwanese, he speaks Chinese and Taiwanese and his parents speak Hakka. We mostly speak Chinese together but sometimes English as well. So is our kid either going to be a super brain or just totally fucked up?[/quote]
Well, mine deals okay with Mandarin and English as primary, Hakkanese as secondary, and shows a marked interest in Spanish. However, he sometimes get 2-3 in the same sentence, but that will iron itself out.[/quote]
mesheel, there have been studies done on this. it is very important for each parent to stick to one language at the beginning and not mix left and right. that way, the kid (in the formative language process stage) can get hardwired right. so it’s ok if you speak german, and he speaks chinese, just don’t mix in english, hakka, french. later on, maybe it’s ok.
my chinese was a little messed up, because my parents continually and casually switched between 3 dialects as well as english. hard to build a foundation that way.
as for full metal jacket, hey, it’s got a kids scene you know, M I C K E Y, M O U S E.
To Bassman and others
a couple of questions since my wife has the bun in the oven
- Is the kid made aware by people that he is mixed blood? Does this matter to you or him?
- What does he identify himself as, Taiwanese or British ? ( maybe he is too young to have thought about this)
- How do you hope to give him the best of both worlds ( Taiwanese and Brit culture) if he is exposed more to Taiwanese culture when he is this young ( most of the day it seems from what you said are spent with a-gung and a-ma)?
- Are you worried he will become one of those mama boy bitches that some Taiwanese guys become cause Taiwanese grandparents treat boys like little emperors ?
- Do your parents have concerns about his cultural identity and if he can talk to them and they to him? I assume his Chinese and Taiwanese is shit hot but his English maybe lagging
- Does he or did he ever refused to speak English?
- Do Taiwanese always want to grab and hold him cause they think mixed bloods are so cute? ( the guy downstairs has offered his daughter or son to marry our kid)
[quote=“TNT”]To Bassman and others
a couple of questions since my wife has the bun in the oven
- Is the kid made aware by people that he is mixed blood? Does this matter to you or him?
Other people try to make him aware of it. I don’t care, he is my son and that is all that matters.
- What does he identify himself as, Taiwanese or British ? ( maybe he is too young to have thought about this)
Too young. But, when he watches HBO he says there are other Daddy’s.
- How do you hope to give him the best of both worlds ( Taiwanese and Brit culture) if he is exposed more to Taiwanese culture when he is this young ( most of the day it seems from what you said are spent with a-gung and a-ma)?
I allow him to express himself and let his talents come out.
- Are you worried he will become one of those mama boy bitches that some Taiwanese guys become cause Taiwanese grandparents treat boys like little emperors ?
No, I won’t allow him to be spoilt. Oh hell, he is spoilt, but it has to stop.
- Do your parents have concerns about his cultural identity and if he can talk to them and they to him? I assume his Chinese and Taiwanese is shit hot but his English maybe lagging
Yes they do, but they don’t say much. Yes, his English is lagging.
- Does he or did he ever refused to speak English?
Yes, all the time.
- Do Taiwanese always want to grab and hold him cause they think mixed bloods are so cute? ( the guy downstairs has offered his daughter or son to marry our kid)[/quote]
Yes, and I hate it, especially strangers and freaks in the street. I want to beat the shit out of them, no, not really, but I do want to tell them not to touch him and it’s not good manners.
BTW, not Brit culture, it’s Kiwi culture.
[quote=“TNT”] To Bassman and others
a couple of questions since my wife has the bun in the oven
- Is the kid made aware by people that he is mixed blood? Does this matter to you or him? [/quote]
Both my daughters are aware of that. They are not tiring of telling people that their mother tongue is Mandarin.
Well British??? that would come as a surprise to Bassman the Kiwi. My oldest daughter define herself as being from both worlds, and my younger one is Taiwanese in all but looks.
Well, for the big one, she spends 2 months every summer in Denmark alone with her Danish grandparents. The little one… Haven’t figured that out yet, but well she’s with A-gung and A-ma, and is therefore very Taiwanese. I’d say that I will do the same - make sure that she has time alone with Danes - and make sure that she’s with me a lot.
Not my girls, but they are girls. They are not spoiled.
Yes, for my little one. The big one is quite fluent in Danish.
The little one does not speak Danish to me. She understands it, but only throw a word or 2 in for good measure. The big one has refused in periods, but not often.
Yes. I tell them that when they teach their brat to behave, but… when the girls reach that age, they will be in the west. I would have a problem seeing them marrying a local man, as mores are very different - my girls aren’t brough up to be servants in a traditional Chinese household.