Thank you for the helpful reference!

Thank you, Diana, for that helpful report! It’s really interesting to hear that young people growing up in Macao may not have a whole lot of opportunities to learn Chinese …

I almost forgot to mention this article, which discusses why, aside from Chinese and Portuguese, English is basically the de facto official language of Macau, besides being its lingua franca: https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/use-of-english-in-macau-a-de-facto-official-language.html

I do regret not having learnt Chinese, as it still is the main language of Macau, but I have never been able to practice speaking Chinese because I have been surrounded by people that converse in English my whole life. I know basic conversational Chinese (Cantonese specifically) because some shopkeepers (mostly the elderly) cannot speak English. With that said, it is quite easy to survive in Macau as most of the populace is already capable of speaking English in a communicative level (w/ the exception of some of the elderly as mentioned). I have also retained my parents’ native tongues because, in addition to communicating with them in their native tongues at home, Macau is home to multiple Catholic churches that offer mass in four languages: Chinese, Portuguese, English, and Filipino (due to most Catholics in Macau being Filipino).

Apart from education and tourism, many people from all over the world come to Macau for work (mostly Westerners or Southeast Asians), which leads to English being the medium of intercultural communication. This is all I have observed from my experience within my community, which obviously differs from the experience of someone from an all-Chinese community. My friends and I have compared our differing experiences growing up in Macau, so I have a semblance of what life is like for them here. However, I do not want to go into detail because it would not be authentic and I would never be able to explain it as well as they could.

Anyway, thank you for beautifully capturing the essence of Macau in your writing! ¬¬¬¬

Thank you, Enkhzaya! Sadly, as often as not, the story of language and culture contact is one of conflict and loss …

Thank you, Ness, for taking us on this fascinating trip to Tres Fronteras! Borders are such a ridiculous invention, as your example beautifully illustrates.

For sure, Yuxuan – money makes the world go around, as they say. That’s true of language and culture contact, too. You might also enjoy this post about Chinese in Dubai: https://languageonthemove.com/money-talks/

Thank you, Siyao! I’ve just checked an we have 52 articles here on Language on the Move that explore multilingualism in Tokyo: https://languageonthemove.com/?s=tokyo. Enjoy!

Thanks, Alicia! What a great observation! I should add announcements on public transport to the list of research projects …

Thanks, Kelly! Once you start looking, you find diversity everywhere … diversity is the normal human experience, as Ward Goodenough put it.

Thank you, Khai, for this important observation! Couldn’t agree more about the role of politics in language and culture contact. One of the reasons I find histories of language and culture contact so fascinating is that they remind us that the seemingly monolithic hegemony of English will be transient, too …

Thank you, Frances, for this intriguing example! Are the minority languages and cultures an attraction in itself? I mean, do tourists go to Sapa for the natural beauty and leisure attractions, or also to experience minority cultures?

Reference:
https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-brooklyn-manhattan-language-maps-2018-5

https://www.holidify.com/pages/singapore-languages-629.html

Reference:https://mvorganizing.org/what-is the-origin-of-Spanglish/