Bi-lingualism at school a mistake ?
-
watmekiasu:
Does she read books regularly? It is important to read for both EL and CL.
My P3 dd is going through what you did. Non-mandarin speaking background, no chinese enviroment. Attended all the right Chinese enrichment classes. P1 Higher Chinese, average 95. P2, average 90, P3 now, just barely clinging onto Band 1 around 86. She spends a ridiculous 70% of her time on chinese, leaving just 30% on math, sci and music. It is a tough road ahead of her. Do not underestimate how difficult it is for a strictly non-native chinese speaker to learn that language. My dd is lucky in the sense that she likes the language so there is little resistance to learning it.
And the difficulty level has to be increased at stages as she moves up the
ladder. Eg. My P1 girl has moved from Robins readers to Junior Picture
books to Junior Simple books, now reading Ladybird mini Classics and Geronimo series.
For Chinese, borrow any JP books from National
Library, all reading the CLIPS supplementary levels (she can manage up
to P3/4 now with guidance).
Generally she reads about 4 to 5 books each for EL & CL every week
during non-exam period. During exam period, average 1 book each week.
Tailor the books to be introduced to your kid according to his/her interest
and level of competency to maintain interest.
-
...with regular reading, should not need to spend so much time on
Chinese only. I think for study time, 50% for Math, 50% for Science.
Chinese and English is a ongoing thing. Should only need time to
practice assessment by chapter (for Chinese) and revise spelling.
Anybody else can comment? :?: -
For English, she reads the same type of books as her P3 classmates, namely Harry Potter, Spiderwick, Roman Mysteries etc.
For Chinese, it is CLIPs readers, the "naughty school-boy" reader, Doraemon and another comic series about school teachers (sorry, I cannot even tell you the name of the books cos I am totally illiterate in that language). The main problem is, her low level of chinese does not allow her to read books that interests her like mystery and adventure books.
She also watches chinese dramas, mainly for the mandarin exposure. She loves some of those Jin Yong shows like Legend Of The Condor Heroes, Laughing In The Wind, Tian Long Ba Bu so much, that she has even read the english translation of 2 of these novels. When she finally found a mandarin comic of one of those novels, she tried reading it but threw it away in disgust cos there were just too many words she couldn’t make out. It’s no fun checking into your BESTA every few pages. -
all.in.one:
OMG, is that all the time spent on Mandarin by a normal student? Assessment by chapter can be a 1hr a week thing.
Should only need time to
practice assessment by chapter (for Chinese) and revise spelling.
Anybody else can comment? :?:
My dd's 70% (of her time in learning Chinese) includes a 1.5hrs/wk coaching by a tutor, a 1.5hrs/wk chinese enrichment, homework on assessment books fm tutor and a few episodes of a chinese drama per week. -
Fundamentally its a discussion here between those who are from chinese speaking backgounds and proficient in the language, fighting against the gradual decay of the standards of the language, and those who are not, and have personally struggled or have children who are doing so.
If you are the former, you may never understand what a struggle it is for the latter. LKY experienced it himself, where his own sons, academically brilliant as they were, applying themselves fully, never ever excelled and even struggled with the language. I faced the same issue, and despite my best efforts, I fear the same for my children. This is the reality, Chinese is a very difficult language to learn if you are not immersed in it. English is far easier, it doesn’t even compare. As watmekiasu illustrated, its actually a competitive DISadvantage already, her DD spending 70% of her time doing ONE subject, and I believe it.
So pardon if I take a very functional view of this. Would I like to be proficient in Chinese? Absolutely, and I had taken a good hard stab at it for the better part of 12 years. And I believe the MOE has taken the same view, functional competency.
Its not as if I have no regard for chinese culture. My grandparents were immigrants from China, we spoke Teochew in the home, not mandarin, we celebrated CNY like everyone else, held weddings the chinese way, speaking Teochew all the way, so MY chinese culture had nothing to do with speaking mandarin, and I do not relate to mandarin speaking as the link to MY culture as a chinese.
Those of you who are passionate about the language, kudos to you and all the best to your efforts. However, do not use the ‘culture’ as a stick to ding others over the head with, or force the issue with MOE. There are several mechanisms in place, including higher mother tongue, for which those proficient in the language may pursue greater challenges. I will encourage my boys to pursue that dream, but I am not betting on it happening. -
all.in.one:
Not my experience, and I was good in school (except for Chinese)....with regular reading, should not need to spend so much time on
Chinese only. I think for study time, 50% for Math, 50% for Science.
Chinese and English is a ongoing thing. Should only need time to
practice assessment by chapter (for Chinese) and revise spelling.
Anybody else can comment? :?: -
watmekiasu:
Which Chinese enrichment is your dd attending now?
OMG, is that all the time spent on Mandarin by a normal student? Assessment by chapter can be a 1hr a week thing.all.in.one:
Should only need time to
practice assessment by chapter (for Chinese) and revise spelling.
Anybody else can comment? :?:
My dd's 70% (of her time in learning Chinese) includes a 1.5hrs/wk coaching by a tutor, a 1.5hrs/wk chinese enrichment, homework on assessment books fm tutor and a few episodes of a chinese drama per week.
Mine goes to Berries and that helped me reduce time to recap what is taught in school. She goes to Xuele to \"review\" her lessons and read
P2, P3 etc.. online \"textbooks\" and play with the various extra functions
like strokes and singing, Shen Guang (In-depth text).
Sigh.. can understand that your girl does not have someone to coach
her day in and day out.
-
Some traditional ways of learning Chinese is still essential. Personally against using computer to type out chinese words, will tend to forget how to write eventually.
-
insider:
Hur ? Can drop O level Chinese ? :?
PS: My son is also struggling with his Chinese (C5/6/D7 kind of results, depending on luck.) I will be giving him green light to drop his Chinese for his O level next year... At least he completes almost 10 years of Chinese education and that itself is enough for me... -
Hmm, I din score well for English and General paper, how come I dont hate english ah :?
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login
7
Online211.3k
Users34.5k
Topics1.8m
PostsMaths
English
Chinese
Multiple subjects