<![CDATA[Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home?]]>my little boy speak english at childcare, speak chinese at home …

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/topic/70975/do-you-speak-mandarin-to-your-toddler-at-homeRSS for NodeFri, 16 Oct 2026 20:24:30 GMTWed, 17 Dec 2014 13:06:50 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Wed, 16 Jul 2014 09:25:37 GMT]]>Kids are great learners, try to teach them as much language as possible at their early age.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1334149https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1334149Wed, 16 Jul 2014 09:25:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Fri, 11 Jul 2014 08:26:04 GMT]]>Yes, sure! We both speak mandarin to our LO and we also let our kid listen to mandarin speech. I am not a native speaker but I still speak mandarin and English to our LO so that he knows that I understand Mandarin.


BTW here's our favorite video for kids in Chinese:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2SPDR6orCg

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1329817https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1329817Fri, 11 Jul 2014 08:26:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:54:33 GMT]]>I spoke dialect to my girl too.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1312811https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1312811Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:54:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:51:26 GMT]]>I suggest to let the child watch Chinese version of Sesame Street if you hardly speak Mandarin to your child.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1312809https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1312809Sat, 14 Jun 2014 15:51:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Fri, 23 May 2014 05:07:19 GMT]]>i also agree to just leave it as it is.


My younger gal was also like this up to 3yr old do not know english at all, the elder bro would speak to her in chinese…but by the time she go K1s, she suddenly speak so much english that she refused to speak chinese even to the grandpa.

As I have a bigger kid at P3…I know the importance to keep speaking chinese at home, so that he can do well in chinese…so Now its my turn to begged them pls speak chinese to me…

so really keep up the good habit of speak chinese at home…it will be helpful next time in primary.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1298130https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1298130Fri, 23 May 2014 05:07:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Fri, 23 May 2014 04:49:49 GMT]]>Just continue as it is.

But for your part, make sure you continue using Mandarin.

Learning a language has some fundamentals. For example, familiarity with the language is important. So while your child does not speak, you immerse him in that environment. Over time, his resistance to Mandarin will decrease.

Some other thing you can do is to rephrase his English into Mandarin. Don't do it so often but on and off, just repeat what he said in Mandarin. It's possible that your son is not able to construct the sentence in Mandarin. By rephrasing for him, you help him do a mental mapping between AngMo and Mandarin. I'm not a brain scientist but I think it will set up some connections in his brain and trigger some brain development.

When his Mandarin sound strange, repeat for him the correct sounding but make sure you don't turn him off by making him feel awkward.

I came from a English primary school but went to a SAP school. My pronunciation was awkward too. I was already very good in HYPY. (And I notice that people very good in Mandarin do not necessarily have good graps of HYPY.) But somehow, when I speak, the tone just didn't come out right. One day, I decided to pick up my school textbook and read aloud for a few minutes each day. When it sounded funny, I just repeat and read correctly. Just continue doing it. After 1-2 weeks, I got the tone correct from then onwards.

Do not force him to learn. This is is the worse part of it. If he feels pressure, he will alienate himself from the language. However, whenever he shows improve, make sincere remarks that he has improved. Praise him. People respond to encouragements.

I don't have this problem cause both my kids, I speak Mandarin to them since young. But lately, due to homework discussion, we also use English. And honestly, my Mandarin also not so good. Just that I speak often and it improved. I can speak English much better than Mandarin.

Just my 2 cents.

Popcorn:
My DS does not speak Chinese at home despite the fact that we do speak mandarin at home. He will reply in English whenever we speak to him in chinese. The ultimate thing is he told us he doesn't like chinese. :faint:

This got me very worried and I signed him up for chinese enrichment to make him have interest. 🙏 After a few lessons, now he tells me he likes chinese and starts to speak Chinese at times. 😓 However, his chinese accent sounds strange, like Ang Mo speaking chinese. Is there anyway to make him speak properly?

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1298111https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1298111Fri, 23 May 2014 04:49:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Sun, 13 Apr 2014 13:00:33 GMT]]>

mummyJune:
My 3yr old daughter does not like to speak English because before she went to childcare, she was looked after by her grandparents who speak Chinese to her. she always speaks to us in Chinese. my 5yr old son speaks to us in English because he doesn't really like Chinese, and the way he speaks Chinese sounds like any mo speaking Chinese. He always speaks to his sister in English & she will answer him in singlish. When I tried to read story books to my daughter, she don't show interest, only flip the pages to see the pictures.


how to make my daughter show interest in English?
Let your child watch Nursery rhymes on iPad for short durations. My girl likes to watch The Voice and sing along with those singers. Sometimes she will go to Youtube to sing along the song with the lyrics. This is one of her favourite.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DGVNuSYDbvo

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1265216https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1265216Sun, 13 Apr 2014 13:00:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Sun, 13 Apr 2014 00:30:04 GMT]]>

mummyJune:
My 3yr old daughter does not like to speak English because before she went to childcare, she was looked after by her grandparents who speak Chinese to her. she always speaks to us in Chinese. my 5yr old son speaks to us in English because he doesn't really like Chinese, and the way he speaks Chinese sounds like any mo speaking Chinese. He always speaks to his sister in English & she will answer him in singlish. When I tried to read story books to my daughter, she don't show interest, only flip the pages to see the pictures.


how to make my daughter show interest in English?
Hi mummyjune, I think in singapore, it is easier to pick up English when the child goes to school since that will be the dominate language. Try to let her watch English cartoon and listen to English nursery ryhmes. Read to her English story books as well. Give her time to pick it up since she is still young. I have the same problem with my DS who dislikes chinese initially. After attending chinese enrichment, he starts to show some interest in chinese now. His chinese sounds like ang mo speaking chinese too and I am hoping that he can speak proper chinese like the chinese or taiwanese. Headache... Though I am thankful he starts to speak chinese at times now...

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1264837https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1264837Sun, 13 Apr 2014 00:30:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Thu, 10 Apr 2014 09:17:29 GMT]]>My 3yr old daughter does not like to speak English because before she went to childcare, she was looked after by her grandparents who speak Chinese to her. she always speaks to us in Chinese. my 5yr old son speaks to us in English because he doesn’t really like Chinese, and the way he speaks Chinese sounds like any mo speaking Chinese. He always speaks to his sister in English & she will answer him in singlish. When I tried to read story books to my daughter, she don’t show interest, only flip the pages to see the pictures.


how to make my daughter show interest in English?

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1262640https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1262640Thu, 10 Apr 2014 09:17:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Wed, 09 Apr 2014 01:55:27 GMT]]>My DS does not speak Chinese at home despite the fact that we do speak mandarin at home. He will reply in English whenever we speak to him in chinese. The ultimate thing is he told us he doesn't like chinese. :faint:


This got me very worried and I signed him up for chinese enrichment to make him have interest. 🙏 After a few lessons, now he tells me he likes chinese and starts to speak Chinese at times. 😓 However, his chinese accent sounds strange, like Ang Mo speaking chinese. Is there anyway to make him speak properly?

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1261342https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1261342Wed, 09 Apr 2014 01:55:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:02:46 GMT]]>My SIL speaks Mandarin to her toddler while the husband uses English.


The husband’s parents do not speak Mandarin, so the toddler has a lot of English exposure during weekdays.

Come weekends, he gets to hear us speaking Mandarin at MIL’s place.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1253293https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1253293Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:02:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Mon, 31 Mar 2014 08:52:23 GMT]]>I learned my 成语 from watching hongkong swordfighting drama.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1253111https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1253111Mon, 31 Mar 2014 08:52:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Mon, 31 Mar 2014 08:47:23 GMT]]>Yes, we do speak mandarin to the kids at homes (albeit not often). Only during intentional periods, i.e. ‘come and have your dinner! How do you say dinner in Chinese?’ things like that.


One good way is to get them to watch more Chinese programmes… I have a lot of Malay friends who picked up the language purely from watching our many Chinese soaps!

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1253106https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1253106Mon, 31 Mar 2014 08:47:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Fri, 21 Mar 2014 10:33:12 GMT]]>

starlight1968sg:
Dh and I spoke dialect to dd when she was young.

A few more decades down the road , dialects wil restricted to just the old people.
Nowsaday, the kids are not taught to speak dialect.
If i dont want them to know our conversation, i wil jus speak hokkien w my DH.

DH and i never teach our kids dialects. We speak only dialect to our parents. My parents only know how to speak dialects as they r not educated. My kids seldom visit their grandparents and they dont communicate w them as well.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1244664https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1244664Fri, 21 Mar 2014 10:33:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 13:14:20 GMT]]>Dh and I spoke dialect to dd when she was young.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1243163https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1243163Wed, 19 Mar 2014 13:14:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 13:12:40 GMT]]>thanks all for your golden advice

as my kid was a late speaker, i concentrated on english first.
Now i shall converse as much as possible in mandarin to her.
Yes, reading is the best way to improve language. I cant agree more!

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1243162https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1243162Wed, 19 Mar 2014 13:12:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:45:23 GMT]]>DoraTan

Before the age of 3, the child is like a sponge. They absorb very fast esp language. This is the time to teach them multiple languages.
You can try reading to her simple chinese story books or sing simple chinese songs to her.
Jus like english, mandarin need alot of reading to beef up the knowledge of language. Reading is the best.

Though my kids are from mandarin speaking family, but when comes to reading (认字)and 造句, my kids are still weak bcos we emphaise too much on english enrichment when they are young as i thought we are mandarin speaking family. So it does not mean that mandarin speaking wil naturally b strong academically in chinese. My kids stil need spend equal amt of time in reading and writing both english and mandarin to be gd academically.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1243079https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1243079Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:45:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Do you speak mandarin to your toddler at home? on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 02:41:15 GMT]]>Actually u can try speaking to her in mandarin already. I start speaking mandarin to my girl ever since she is born, partly also because my english is not that fantastic also.


But when she reach playgroup, she start talking in English to me. English is actually much more easier to pick up than mandarin. So normally of my friends can speak mandarin, I will encourage them to speak mandarin. Because once they g to schooling age, they will expose to english most of the time.

If i remember correctly, they say kids are able to take up to 5 language at age 2 onwards.

]]>https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1242791https://forum.kiasuparents.com/post/1242791Wed, 19 Mar 2014 02:41:15 GMT