Singapore students, I realised, are very fortunate people. They get to master two native languages while others are struggling to learn a second foreign language. It is really different when you learn a native language as opposed to a foreign language. Because a native language is like the basis of your thoughts. You think in your language. It’s very different for a foreign language though. Even for billinguals like us, there is always a stronger language that can change over time. For me, I definitely can read English faster but in terms of speaking ability in daily conversations, I may or may not speak Chinese better. That is why, when I watch Japanese dramas with Chinese subtitles, I somehow take some time to understand the Japanese phrases used and process them. That’s mainly because my language of instruction when learning Japanese is English (even though for Kanjis, I always translate Chinese–>English–>Japanese to get the meaning). 

Weirdly, this does not happen when I watch Korean dramas with Chinese subtitles. I have no problems understanding both Chinese and English subtitles straight away.

Language is a tool of communication and I’m glad in many ways that I know more than one language which allows me to communicate with people of vastly different cultures with ease.