When of Chinese descent, speak as the Chinese do? Dee Hsu’s daughter, Lily Hsu, found herself under fire from Weibo netizens when a response from a Q&A session she did was shared on the social media platform.
According to a screengrab of her Instagram Story, Lily, 15, was asked why she spoke more English. She replied: “My English is better than my Mandarin.
“Because English is my mother tongue. Whether it’s at school, at home, or with friends, I always use English to converse so it’s become a habit to use English to communicate.”
She also added that she needs to practice her Mandarin.
According to Taiwanese media, Chinese netizens shared the screengrab on Weibo which caused an uproar. They flooded her Instagram post with comments and took issue with the fact that she said English is her mother tongue.
The comments were harsh and ranged from asking her to migrate — presumably out of Taiwan — to questioning whether she knew the meaning of “mother tongue” and whether she needed a translator to talk to her mother.
However, a quick check of Lily’s Instagram page showed that while she prefers using English to communicate, she regularly posts lengthy captions in Mandarin.
It was also reported that Dee shared a video where she celebrated Lily’s birthday and both mother and daughter conversed in English.
Dee has also posted several clips on her Instagram where she converses in English.
We guess that answers at least one of the questions her ‘haters’ have
This article was first published on AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.
