Real reason behind Singapore’s obsession with tuition

[Imami]

Melodies:

Oh dear, I am hokkien too but only speak to my hubby when we don't want my girl to hear our conservation and hokkien has become a secret code between myself and my hubby! My girl does not understand Hokkien

hokkiengirl:

[quote=\"jtoh\"]Hokkiengirl, do you teach your children hokkien?

Of course! All 3 can understand very well and speak somewhat. The baby (almost two) has Hokkien dreams! He had a nightmare one night and in his semi-conscious state, muttered, 'Peng Ko! Peng Ko!' (that's 'apple' in my mother tongue)
He doesn't say 'yes' or 'no'. He says 'ai' or 'mai'. I think it's so cute!!! Gush, gush.

[/quote]I speak hokkien. Had intended to teach my child hokkien too cos I think little children speaking dialects are so cool... :rotflmao: I see little ones speak French/Spanish/Japanese etc as their second/third language but I have not seen anyone speaking hokkien/teo chew yet. Cantonese got la, but I think they shd be excluded cos the family just moved to sg from honking.

Unfortunately, I don't have much opportunity to speak hokkien to my child although he listens a lot - I speak hokkien to hubby/my parents and parents in law. I don't think he understands it fully although sometimes he surprises me by answering correctly. Maybe I shd really start now, if not he would probably not pick up at all. :? Maybe not? Since he is already learning spanish and Japanese, on top of English and Chinese...?

Just in case anyone is curious - my child is attending one enrichment class which is mainly conducted in Japanese, french and german. He picks up Spanish from his cc teacher who can speak Spanish.

[verykiasu2010]

hokkiengirl:

Chenonceau:

[quote=\"hokkiengirl\"][quote=\"verykiasu2010] hello, thanks for the clarity on the matter discussed.


appreciated !

btw, you taught hokkien or not ? or just hokkien songs ?

Glad it's all cleared up.

Oh, I taught Higher Studies in Hokkien poetry and Conversational Hokkien 101. I just burst into song in class on occasion on a sleepy afternoon.

[/quote]I wanna sign up.[/quote][/quote][/quote]

Ha ha I'm gonna set up myself up as the atas Hokkien Enrichment Institute of Singapore. Not just anyhow anyhow tuition centre, k?

So... as with all high-crass edu institutes in Spore nows-adays, you must first pass my qualifying test!!! Otherwise, how will I know if you can learn Hokkien well enough to survive in Penang, Taiwan and Fujian? ke ke ke :evil:

Incidentally, one auntie at the playground asked me if I was Taiwanese!!! And someone from China thought I was from China cos my Mandarin had a Hokkien accent! Kam Siah, Ah Ma, for teaching me well. [/quote][/quote][/quote][/quote]

The Hokkien Learning Lab ?

[cherryc]

Thanks Melodies! Sometimes it is quite worrying seeing the "holes" becoming more and getting bigger as the years go by. And when these "holes" get reported in the news, the reply is always please get around the holes by "seeking alternative paths" !! But people already drop into the holes wonder how to seek alternative paths ? We parents have to constantly build planks or find detours to let our kids go up from one level to another. If more concerned parents are aware and question about the "holes" and request that we want a happy and effective path for our kids, maybe things will change for the better??

[Melodies]

Sounds cool! I wonder which enrichment class which is mainly conducted in Japanese, french and german? Spanish is good to pick up now because they will have spanish as 3rd language eventually in secondary.

Imami:

I speak hokkien. Had intended to teach my child hokkien too cos I think little children speaking dialects are so cool... :rotflmao: I see little ones speak French/Spanish/Japanese etc as their second/third language but I have not seen anyone speaking hokkien/teo chew yet. Cantonese got la, but I think they shd be excluded cos the family just moved to sg from honking.

Unfortunately, I don't have much opportunity to speak hokkien to my child although he listens a lot - I speak hokkien to hubby/my parents and parents in law. I don't think he understands it fully although sometimes he surprises me by answering correctly. Maybe I shd really start now, if not he would probably not pick up at all. :? Maybe not? Since he is already learning spanish and Japanese, on top of English and Chinese...?

Just in case anyone is curious - my child is attending one enrichment class which is mainly conducted in Japanese, french and german. He picks up Spanish from his cc teacher who can speak Spanish.

[verykiasu2010]

atutor2001:

verykiasu2010:

oh yeah, thanks for bringing it up. And if you think you your estimates are good, so be it, but please don't mislead other parents. Your estimates may be close but without basis. That is just your thoughts on it.

For a long time, I refused to acknowledge that we are given a few cohort's raw scores of the prelim (without names) for a number of years and these were tiredlessly worked into the t-score formula and the school database (not MOE database) and the prelim t-scores were compared with the kids' actual t-score after PSLE, and the school could say with confidence at every Pri 6 briefing that every year, their actual is better than prelim by between 5 to 70 points. The numbers I quote on the school are based on actual data.

I didn't know that your mathematical understanding is so limited. I have written all the workings on how the PSLE results were used for the computation of the estimates and you again said there is no basis. Oh I forgot, it is just another art that civil servants are good at - at blur and deny to the end. They will then go on to side track, bring in unrelated topics like schools using prelim results ... which was never in our discussion. You are good man.

well, :rotflmao: :rotflmao: civil servants ....ok ok, let me be very civil with you, this shall be my last response to you on this, your bullshit estimate from thin air has mathematical understanding so superior you can have the last say on this .... * bow *

[Imami]

cherryc:

maybe things will change for the better??

No offense meant, but u think so? I don't think so. I always thought, if my child cannot make it in terms of academic, then maybe he can be a car mechanic? Can still be own boss if he run his own shop? Hahaha I still feel the pinch of forking out close to $2k for a repair job when I bang hubby's car two years ago.

[verykiasu2010]

Imami:

cherryc:

maybe things will change for the better??

No offense meant, but u think so? I don't think so. I always thought, if my child cannot make it in terms of academic, then maybe he can be a car mechanic? Can still be own boss if he run his own shop? Hahaha I still feel the pinch of forking out close to $2k for a repair job when I bang hubby's car two years ago.

these days car mechanic also not easy, quite a lot of electronics.....

some of the German manufacturers in fact made some modules inaccessible to non-authorised workshop, and users got no choice but go back to dealer who has the facility and the code to hook up to the main computer in Germany to reset the system, eg those on 7G-Tronic

[cherryc]

Whether or not my child can make it academically is another matter cos it is his aptitude. We just discussed over seafood dinner just now that my son will learn to be a great cook and we are dreaming of some chain restaurants for him one day. But before he reaches there, from p1 to sec 4 , there will be 10+ long years of being "lost" in school and tuitions, frustrations, etc. "thing will change for the better" meaning there will be drastic decrease of the current >90% of students attending tuition.


I saw another thread today a mother mentioned finance is tight and she has to cut her insurance expenses to fund her kids’ tuition. This is v worrying. Not sure what else people have to do to fund tuitions .

[Imami]

verykiasu2010:

Imami:

[quote=\"cherryc\"]maybe things will change for the better??

No offense meant, but u think so? I don't think so. I always thought, if my child cannot make it in terms of academic, then maybe he can be a car mechanic? Can still be own boss if he run his own shop? Hahaha I still feel the pinch of forking out close to $2k for a repair job when I bang hubby's car two years ago.

these days car mechanic also not easy, quite a lot of electronics.....

some of the German manufacturers in fact made some modules inaccessible to non-authorised workshop, and users got no choice but go back to dealer who has the facility and the code to hook up to the main computer in Germany to reset the system, eg those on 7G-Tronic[/quote]Ok la, then air con repair man? Shd hv lesser parts? I know nuts about car, so maybe U are right - it's not easy to be a car mechanic too. But the two men at home are good with cars. Hubby picked up vehicle repair skills during ns. He is my car god - in terms of driving and car knowledge :love:
Kiddo is good with his Thomas trains maybe he would takes after his father? :rotflmao:

[hokkiengirl]

fightingmom:

Haha.. My DD can understand and speak teochew and hokkien - though not fluently but good enough to communicate with my parents and elderly relatives. My mum used to tease her when she was a toddler by asking,\" Li si teochew nang, ka si hokkien nang?\" [ Are you teochew or hokkien ?] and she replied,\"cham cham.\" [rojak, mixed]

Anything she is not sure of, she likes to reply ,\" wa em zai\" (yes, even now )

Ha ha I like!! Hey, how old is your DD, fightingmom? Maybe can match her with one of my three boys. We can build our little dialect empire. Seriously, though, I think it's terrific that she can communicate in two dialects!