Please do not let the exploration and preservation of Chiu Chownese and its culture end here! Below are some limitations and difficulties that we have encountered during the project, for those who are intended to do further studies on the Chiu Chow community, feel free to have a look and see if they help!
Observation time is not enough
Given the nature of our course, we have to complete the whole project within 3 months, which means the time of research was also tight. Luckily the Wu family was very helpful and generous in catering our needs and sharing amusing stories to us, and we have got the essence from the interview. But if it is possible, we still hope to spend longer time to observe their use of language in detail for a few days, so that we could complete a more reliable domain analysis.
Lack of primary source from the first generation
The first generation, like Grandpa Wu and Grandma Wu, are usually elderlies who couldn’t speak in Cantonese, or are not available for an interview. We could only get the opinion from first generation through the help of other generation, which may not be the most accurate source. It would be better if some of the researchers are able to speak the specific language.
Rehearsal is crucial
We have conducted a rehearsal interview with our classmates, and during the process it allows us to identify potential problems. This is a very important step before actually conducting the interview to make sure it will go smoothly.
The relation between language promotion and culinary culture
Through this project we have noticed that food is a very effective starting point to arouse one’s interest in a culture. Academic research on this topic is still limited, but we hope our work could give an insight to those who would like to dig deeper in this topic.
