[Debate topic] Is it important to master our mother tongue language before learning any foreign ones?

  1. Ngoại ngữ

Some people think that we should be fluent & mastered in our own mother tongue language (Vietnamese) before learning any foreign ones. Like if I use any English word in my chit chat or texting, some people will be so harsh & ask me that: “Are you using your Vietnamese right? Why using English when you’re not even using your mother tongue language correctly?” (Thực ra nguyên văn câu tiếng Việt mình muốn nhắc tới là: Nói tiếng Việt đã sõi chưa mà đòi nói tiếng Anh? Cơ mà không biết dùng tiếng Anh kiểu gì để truyền tải sắc thái châm biếm của câu hỏi này. Mọi người có cách dịch nào hay thì chỉnh giúp mình nhé)
What do you think about their question? Must we use fluent Vietnamese befoore learning English? Or we can practice Vietnamese parallel to learning English?
Từ khóa: 

vietnamese

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english

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english debate

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ngoại ngữ

IMHO, we can & have to learn foreign languages in parallel with Vietnamese anw, since one can never be so sure whether his mother tongue language is "good enough" for him to move on to a foreign one.

Like, what is the standard!?

Even if you think that your Vietnamese is good enough, as long as others don't see it that way, they're still gonna judge you by your use of English in chit chat anw. :)))

So I think that it's not that important for us to master Vietnamese before learning foreign languages. As long as you feel that your languages are applicable enough, and that you enjoy your learning journey, then go for it!

Good luck!


Trả lời

IMHO, we can & have to learn foreign languages in parallel with Vietnamese anw, since one can never be so sure whether his mother tongue language is "good enough" for him to move on to a foreign one.

Like, what is the standard!?

Even if you think that your Vietnamese is good enough, as long as others don't see it that way, they're still gonna judge you by your use of English in chit chat anw. :)))

So I think that it's not that important for us to master Vietnamese before learning foreign languages. As long as you feel that your languages are applicable enough, and that you enjoy your learning journey, then go for it!

Good luck!


I don’t think that the idea of someone has to master their mother tongue before learning a new language is a good one.


I’ve read a study about benefits of raising children as bilingual kids and eventually made up my mind that I’ll definitely bring up my future child that way =)). The study had shown that when children aged under 5 years old learn second language, they can use the same part of their brain with which they use to learn their mother tongue. It helps them to easily learn more than one language at the same time. A part of that, learning foreign language at the early age also is easier for learners to overcome the fear of making mistakes, which is sometimes a barrier for older beginners.

It's based on what is your definition of "master a language".

If it means using Vnese without any mistake at all then my answer is NO. Actually, most of us still make some tiny mistakes when we use VNese in our daily life. Aw, we do not need that much, IMO if you can speak VNese fluently, communicate with other ppl without any major misunderstanding then you are free to start learning other language.

Beside, I think it's ok to use both English and VNese when you chit chat with your friends. Sometimes the English phrase is shorter and easier to understand.

i think it is no need to learn mother tongue language before leanring other languages because there is no clue between 2 languages.

I totally disagree with the point of view that "we should be fluent & mastered in our own mother tongue language (Vietnamese) before learning any foreign ones". There are 3 reasons for that:

  1. English becomes more and more popular in the world.
  2. A lot of countries using English as native language such as Singapore, and it makes them catch up the world. English is a gloabal trend inevitably.
  3. When you stub your toe or are shocked or surprised by something and feel like swearing, you will find that it feels more natural to do so in English.