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Introduction

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Becoming Bilingual in School and Home in Tibetan Areas of China: Stories of Struggle

Part of the book series: Multilingual Education ((MULT,volume 34))

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Abstract

The developing of bilingualism in Tibetan areas of China spans a period of 67 years, beginning in 1950 and continuing to the present. Nowadays bilingualism is the norm of everyday life for Tibetans, but research in this field is very limited. The world lacks the knowledge on Tibetan individuals’ experiences of developing bilingualism; I believe this is the significance of this research. My personal experience of developing bilingualism was full of struggles and sadness, which leads me to the path of researching Tibetan individuals’ bilingual experiences. In addition, in this chapter, I also reviewed the historical development of Tibetan traditional education.

My ability in speaking Chinese shows my knowledge and capability, however, I would not feel ashamed if I were not able to speak Chinese. But if I could not speak Tibetan, and were not able to write the Tibetan language, it would be a shame and a stigma in my life forever because I am a Tibetan.

The Tenth Panchen Lama (translated from Tibetan)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Tibetan Culture & Language, Northwest Minzu University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China

    YiXi LaMuCuo

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  1. YiXi LaMuCuo
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LaMuCuo, Y. (2019). Introduction. In: Becoming Bilingual in School and Home in Tibetan Areas of China: Stories of Struggle. Multilingual Education, vol 34. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14668-9_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14668-9_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14667-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14668-9

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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