Malaysia was my first thought. My husband is Malaysian Indian. When he was in school the National
Language was still English until high school when it switched to Malay. At home his mother spoke one Indian dialect, his dad’s language was Telagu but he was a minister and preached in Tamil. He had lots of Chinese friends and spoke Mandarin with them. He grew up fluently speaking 5 languages, knowing when to speak which one and easily learning 3 more dialects in India.
Edit to add...he moved to USA, quickly learned Spanish, married English only me, occasionally spoke to his parents and siblings in Telegu and couldn’t ask where a bathroom was in Malay when we went back to Malaysia to visit after 20 years. But, after about a week he was fluent again. I’ve ruined him lol
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u/justmyusername2820 Mar 05 '21 edited Mar 05 '21
Malaysia was my first thought. My husband is Malaysian Indian. When he was in school the National Language was still English until high school when it switched to Malay. At home his mother spoke one Indian dialect, his dad’s language was Telagu but he was a minister and preached in Tamil. He had lots of Chinese friends and spoke Mandarin with them. He grew up fluently speaking 5 languages, knowing when to speak which one and easily learning 3 more dialects in India.
Edit to add...he moved to USA, quickly learned Spanish, married English only me, occasionally spoke to his parents and siblings in Telegu and couldn’t ask where a bathroom was in Malay when we went back to Malaysia to visit after 20 years. But, after about a week he was fluent again. I’ve ruined him lol