教育王國

標題: 讀國際学校中文又吾好, 本地学校又大壓力, 仲可以点揀呢? [打印本頁]

作者: NLai 時間: 08-4-9 12:28 標題: 讀國際学校中文又吾好, 本地学校又大壓力, 仲可以点揀呢?

Any school can provide good Chinese standard but International school learning enviroment?

I saw many DGS, St paul kids have good standard of Both chinease and english standard, but honestly their family reallly pay a lots for this, stay with them for homework, exam, school competition, holiday...

But IS student just playing, reading, projecting, I dont think they know less thing then local school student, but just their Chinese is so......

I want to provide a happy 童年回憶 for my kids with me, therefore I choose IS, but now..their chinese is so upsetting me...

My sister daughter is 2 years old now, she need to think which way to go, honestly, 吾知点講...
How about you, any advise?

作者: WYmom 時間: 08-4-9 13:32

原文章由 NLai 於 08-4-9 12:28 發表
Any school can provide good Chinese standard but International school learning enviroment?

I saw many DGS, St paul kids have good standard of Both chinease and english standard, but honestly their fa ...

Have you sent your kid to learn Chinese after school? I think most Chinese parents with kids studying in IS will do so as usually IS students don't have homework (or just a little) from school, so they have more spare time than those studying in local schools, they can then afford some time to learn Chinese after school. If study in local schools, kids still go to tutor classes to do their homework and revise for tests and exams.

There are now some local bilingual DSS or private schools such as Victoria, CKY, ISF for those who expect bilingual teaching at school.

[ 本文章最後由 WYmom 於 08-4-9 13:34 編輯 ]

作者: jessicalau 時間: 08-4-9 15:56

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作者: WYmom 時間: 08-4-9 16:37

原文章由 jessicalau 於 08-4-9 15:56 發表
What is ISF?

弘立書院

作者: readers 時間: 08-4-9 23:09 標題: 回覆 #4 NLai 的文章

There are good local schools! Some DSS and private schools are very good. Also, parents' attitude is very important. If you are relax, kids will be relax. Choose a school with less homework for you kids. Not all local schools require students to study late. It seems that many people have a misconception that the only good thing about local schools is 'better Chinese'.

[ 本文章最後由 readers 於 08-4-9 23:12 編輯 ]

作者: christf 時間: 08-4-10 09:22

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作者: NLai 時間: 08-4-10 11:45 標題: 回覆 #5 WYmom 的文章

Yes, they have private mandarine class after school, but you know, they still never interest about chinese, I think is enviroment, they think they can speak and can read newspaper is much better then their friend at school is enough. But my standard is much higher, I am a 文科生, so I want they can understand more Chinese History, and culture. I think is far way to go, I will work hard on it by myself.

作者: WYmom 時間: 08-4-10 13:02

原文章由 NLai 於 08-4-10 11:45 發表
Yes, they have private mandarine class after school, but you know, they still never interest about chinese, I think is enviroment, they think they can speak and can read newspaper is much better then ...

I see, if then, it's really hard for you. I think if we send the kids to study in IS, we have to prepare to accept that the Chinese standard will not be so high as to "literature" level and the kids will be more westernised. I have no problem with it as I studied Science and business in the past and I grew up in a westernised family.

On the other hand, I found my kids studying in IS have higher initiative and interest in Science, history, geography, music, art and sports. As my kids have experienced, the teaching of general studies (include Science) in local school was very boring, most are instructional without exploration. It is so much contrasting in IS, where they can study factual information in much more interesting way with an inquiry mind.

作者: almom 時間: 08-4-10 16:36

NLai,

In ISs, English is the first language and Chinese is only an additional language. It is very difficult to expect children to have similar Chinese standard as their counterpart in local schools.

ISs have very limited time assigned for Chinese classes and the time is split into teaching the language itself, introducing Chinese culture (eg why eating mooncakes in mid-autumn festival, why having dragan dance during Chinese new year), and some Chinese history. You can imagine how much times is left for actually teaching the language. With the limited time spent, you cannot expect the teacher to be able to go through the textbooks in a very in-depth manner. For example, even if we are talking about the same Chinese poem 靜夜詩, local schools and international schools would probably be teaching it in a totally different approach. Local school children might be learning about the structures of different types of Chinese poem, while IS children would probably be just learning how to write the words and the meaning of the poem.

IS secondary schools have no special stress on teaching Chinese history and culture. They do teach cultures and history of different countries or nations, but would not spent more time on teaching about China. For example, my child in Year 7 have learnt about Japanese Noh Theatre "能劇" in Drama, and have leant some Chinese history in Humanities. My children's school (Renaissance College) has no national background. I think other schools like CANIS or AIS might spent relatively more time on Canadian and American history respectively. But what I notice so far, is that RC do not specifically spend more time on Chinese history or Chinese culture in classes, just because Hong Kong is a city in China. They do try to decorate the school a bit by, for example, putting up lanterns during moon festival and Chinese new year and encourage children (Chinese or western) to wear Chinese outfits during those times, and they have organised after schools fairs during those special festivals. However these are not part of the cirriculum, but rather merely after school events.

On the other hand, IS are learning English in a totally different way as local schools. English in IS is considered a first language and is "taught" as a first language. For example, even Year 7 English is mainly literature appreciation and critics. Students are asked to read certain books on their own at home, and then go back to school to discuss the content. Of course some time would also be assigned to do writing and grammar etc..

So, you can see that we are talking about different approach and expectations in teaching English and Chinese in local and international schools. And thus, we see very different results in the standard of the languages.

It is not practically and not reasonable to expect IS children to have Chinese standard comparable to local school children. So parents should be aware of this.

I think ultimately, it depends on what a parent want. I chose international school because of many reasons. Language was only one of the reasons (I want my children to have native English skills) and there are also a lot other reasons why I prefer international schools. Being weaker in Chinese is an unavoidable "result" of my choice. I feel perfectly fine with my children's Chinese standard. They are not as good in Chinese and are trying hard to keep up with reading and writing Chinese, but I am happy with their other skills they have acquired all these years. Skills that I think if I had chosen a local school, would not be as well developed as now.

作者: NLai 時間: 08-4-10 19:42

原文章由 WYmom 於 08-4-10 13:02 發表

I see, if then, it's really hard for you. I think if we send the kids to study in IS, we have to prepare to accept that the Chinese standard will not be so high as to "literature" level and the kid ...

I agree, they know many through their own explore, this is the reason why I say I dont think they know less then Local school student. I am fine with their current situation, And I think is not good for them to change any more. They are happy with their friends, teachers, school every details matter..

My sister baby is 2 years old and she have to choose which way for her baby, she ask my advice, honestly, is very hard for me to say, she is a working mom, and I am not, I can spent time for more chinese story telling to my kids, .. We are thinking as if any school in HK Island side can balance both things well will be perfect, is Chinese International school chinese is good and with international school enviroment? If yes, normally, which kindergarden they go?

作者: readers 時間: 08-4-12 23:18

christf, I understand you are a fans of IS. What I mean is that there are good local schools. They have caring teachers, convey important values and culture, teach you how to enjoy and appreciate arts, provide overseas study trips, not much homework, small class, etc. I know what good things IS have but we should be fair. There are good ones in local schools. We should not generalize and say all IS are better than local ones. So please don't overreact and be relax.

原文章由 christf 於 08-4-10 09:22 發表
**It seems that many people have a misconception that the only good thing about local schools is 'better Chinese'.**

Apart from 'better Chinese', another point is in general 'less expensive'.

Plea ...

作者: daisy17772 時間: 08-4-13 00:03

原文章由 readers 於 08-4-12 23:18 發表
christf, I understand you are a fans of IS. What I mean is that there are good local schools. They have caring teachers, convey important values and culture, teach you how to enjoy and appreciate arts ...

Hi readers and other moms:

Can you name some of the local schools that put not so much stress on the quantity of homeworks but are still good at academic levels, as well as teaching students good manners and values? Those schools that are most appreciated are always those that are highly competitive in admission and famous....e.g. st. paul's ed, DGS, st paul's convent, ISF...etc..... you know...........But besides these, what are other choices?

daisy17772

作者: readers 時間: 08-4-13 23:45

Pls see PM

作者: rororolee 時間: 08-4-14 00:02

原文章由 readers 於 08-4-13 23:45 發表
Pls see PM

Can you PM me also? thx!!

作者: brydenbobo 時間: 08-4-14 13:33

Can you please PM me too?

作者: daisy17772 時間: 08-4-14 22:47

原文章由 readers 於 08-4-13 23:45 發表
Pls see PM

Hi Readers:

Checked your PM already. thanks, please see PM again.

thanks very much

daisy17772

作者: mienmien 時間: 08-4-14 23:42

原文章由 readers 於 08-4-13 23:45 發表
Pls see PM

can u pls pm to me too? thanks!

作者: sam/josh 時間: 08-4-15 07:35

原文章由 readers 於 08-4-13 23:45 發表
Pls see PM

Can you please PM me too?

作者: NLai 時間: 08-4-15 09:55

原文章由 sam/josh 於 08-4-15 07:35 發表

Can you please PM me too?

Actually we dont have this list, we are just asking if any body knows about it, please share...

作者: readers 時間: 08-4-16 00:38

sam/josh, rororolee, brydenbobo,mienmien, pls see pm.

作者: sam/josh 時間: 08-4-16 08:43

原文章由 readers 於 08-4-16 00:38 發表
sam/josh, rororolee, brydenbobo,mienmien, pls see pm.

readers

thx~~~

作者: super8 時間: 08-4-16 11:21

Readers,

pls pm me as well, if possible. I'm also starting to make my decision for my baby who just turns 1.

Thanks.

原文章由 sam/josh 於 08-4-16 08:43 發表

readers

thx~~~

作者: super8 時間: 08-4-16 11:29

Hi dear,

I'd love the teaching style of IS and would like to develop the different valuable skills or personalities that IS can provide to my baby.  However, as a Chinese, I do hope she can have an ability to speak, read, write or even appreciate the Chinese language and also the culture behind.

I know there will be trade-off from both local or IS.  But may I know how those IS kids will usually do to enhance this area??

As far as everyone knows...China is a big and growing market and possibly our kids will work in or with this big giant when they grown up.  And I dont want my kid losing her inborn advantage of being a Chinese.  Maybe my thought is not correct or maybe even naive, I'd like to raise and share.

原文章由 daisy17772 於 08-4-13 00:03 發表

Hi readers and other moms:

Can you name some of the local schools that put not so much stress on the quantity of homeworks but are still good at academic levels, as well as teaching students good m ...

作者: WYmom 時間: 08-4-16 11:51

原文章由 super8 於 08-4-16 11:29 發表
Hi dear,

I'd love the teaching style of IS and would like to develop the different valuable skills or personalities that IS can provide to my baby. However, as a Chinese, I do hope she can have an a ...

Seems that parent "readers" has very good recommendation of local school(s) as solution for most parents who want win-win in English+Chinese+IS style teaching approach+low fee... Why don't "readers' just share your recommendations here instead of just pm and pm and pm? I believe a lot of parents are awaiting for your advice.

My wild guess: GT, 眞道, 浸小, 培僑, 港大同學會. Right?

[ 本文章最後由 WYmom 於 08-4-16 12:49 編輯 ]

作者: readers 時間: 08-4-16 23:42

Thanks for all parents' interest. May be I can quote some based on my personal experience or my friends' sharing. I am sure there are more:

Kau Yan School (private, Sai Ying Pun, my daughter is studying very happily in this school)

The Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union Logos Academy (DSS, Tseung Kwan O, my nephew is studying here)

GT (Ellen Yeung) College (Tseung Kwan O, DSS)

The True Light Middle School Of Hong Kong (Tai Hang, private)

St Stephen's College Preparatory School (private, Stanley)

North Point Methodist Primary School (subsidized)

I know how important Eng is but as a Chinese, I think I will regret if my kids cannot master Chinese well. They will miss a lot of valuable Chinese literature, poems, and even culture. I understand from my friends that their kids (graduated from IS) only have primary level Chi even after taking private tution on Chi. Another friend told me that her daughter (P4, IS) cannot read 'dim sum' sheet in restaurants which makes her very frustrated. I am working in the financial industry and most people now agreed that 21st century is the century of China. Chinese will become more and more important (of course, Eng is still important as an international language), unless your kids will not work in a Chinese society when he or she grows up.

But no school is perfect. We have to make the tough choice.

[ 本文章最後由 readers 於 08-4-17 10:19 編輯 ]

作者: citygirl 時間: 08-4-17 00:54

Your topic same with my case.
I have two child, 13 & 11 years old. They came from Canada and study in ESF-RC on 2006/9, but I feel their Chinese learning toooooo bad and slow, then I change to DSS on last year. Their Chi is very well, my son(P.5) in RC is K2 standard, but he can read 成語, 諺語, 每日一篇.....and my daughter (F.2) Chinese exam report is 4 (IB:1-7 level).
DSS in TKO name of CSS=Creative Secondary School. I chose that school because IB system and the principle is came from ESF-Phoenix. The school admin rules and system like RC.

作者: WYmom 時間: 08-4-17 07:10

原文章由 citygirl 於 08-4-17 00:54 發表
Your topic same with my case.
I have two child, 13 & 11 years old. They came from Canada and study in ESF-RC on 2006/9, but I feel their Chinese learning toooooo bad and slow, then I change to DSS on ...

citigirl,

Your case is quite different from most of the local parents.  Your kids are grown up in Canada, so their first language is English, right?  Therefore, it is very logical for you to put them in Creative to learn better Chinese rather than English.  My nieces in Canada who are Chinese also do not speak Chinese and cannot read or write well even they have learnt Chinese in extra tutor classes after school.

In HK, our local kids' first language is Cantonese and the English environment here is minimal.  So IS provides a more effective English environment for learning English.

In RC or other ESF secondary schools, the students are allocated to different Chinese groups according to their standard.  I believe your kids were assigned to a lower level than those local Chinese kids, so the learning is slower and standard is lower.  Creative is a local DSS which takes students from their local Chinese primary and other local Chinese students, so they of course have higher Chinese standard.

No one choose IS in order to learn Chinese!  Just something "nice to have"!  Ha!

[ 本文章最後由 WYmom 於 08-4-17 08:00 編輯 ]

作者: almom 時間: 08-4-17 17:57

原文章由 readers 於 08-4-16 23:42 發表
Thanks for all parents' interest. May be I can quote some based on my personal experience or my friends' sharing. I am sure there are more:

Kau Yan School (private, Sai Ying Pun, my daughter is stud ...

I am sure the schools you suggested must be good schools. And I am sure you (and other parents who chose these schools) have their reasons.

The schools you have suggested are all local schools. Students in those schools should of course have good Chinese. The students and even teachers are from local Chinse families and the main language used would be Chinese.

On the other hand, students and teachers at IS are from different countries and ethnic groups. Most students and teachers have English as mother tongue but even if they don't (eg they are from Japan or Korea, from Sweden or Germany) the common language, English, have to be used by all to communicate. The main language used at school would have be English, because not everyone can understand Japanese or German. Chinese is learnt as an additional language and very limited time is allocated for teaching the language. I think from Day 1, parents have to (and should) understand this and should not expect children at IS to have same of even compatible Chinese standard.

I did not choose IS because I do not care about Chinese language. On the contrary, I do think Chinese is important as we are Chinese. But I chose IS because of the cirriculum, the teaching methodology, the classroom setup, etc.

International schools have different cirriculum depending on the background of the school: CANIS uses canadian cirriculum, AIS uses american cirriculum, ESF used british or IB cirriculum, etc. These cirricumlum have very different criteriors and expectations from students when compared to local Hong Kong cirriculum. The teaching methodology and class setting of these western cirriculum are also very different from local schools.

Local cirriculum, the way they "test" children, the teaching methodology, etc are simply not what I like. Of course, there are also other things that determine whether I can or should choose IS for my children. For instance, our future plans for the family, our financial situation, our expectations of the children, the children's own will and expectations of their own future, etc.

Parents should ask themselves again, why they have wanted to put their children in an international school in the first place (since we are here in this 國際學校 section of BK, I presume that all parents must have considered IS as a choice, right?). Choosing a school is not choosing only the language. You are also choosing a cirriculum, a school culture, a school environment, and a community.

Yes, choosing IS would probably mean sacrificing Chinese to a certain point, but my children are also getting some other things, or have some other experiences that they would never had in local schools. It would be a tough decision. But after considering so many "conditions" or "criterior", I think we are gaining more than losing in general.

作者: mattsmum 時間: 08-4-17 18:25

if my son can understand the following Chinese, write in the similiar way, I would be satisfied, (not that difficult to achieve):

姜瑜说：“卡弗蒂的言论不仅是对中国人民的侮辱，也是对全人类良知和公理的挑战。中国人民不可欺，不可辱。我们再次严正地要求CNN严肃对待此问题，立即收回恶劣言论，向全体中国人民做出真诚的道歉。”

原文章由 citygirl 於 08-4-17 00:54 發表
Your topic same with my case.
I have two child, 13 & 11 years old. They came from Canada and study in ESF-RC on 2006/9, but I feel their Chinese learning toooooo bad and slow, then I change to DSS on ...

作者: almom 時間: 08-4-17 18:37

原文章由 citygirl 於 08-4-17 00:54 發表
I chose that school because IB system and the principle is came from ESF-Phoenix. The school admin rules and system like RC.

I read your story last year, and am glad that your children are doing well in the other school.

However, CSS is a local school. Comparing Chinese standards of RC with a local school is not totally fair. RC would never be a bilingual school and English would still be the main language of use at school. This was made very clear by the heads and the principal. RC would never be comparable in terms of Chinese language with local schools or other bilingual schools. Chinese would only be an additional language.

I do not know much about CSS. But as far as I can see on the IBO website, it is still not an IB school. Students would not get the IB cerificate if the school is not an approved school. It is going to affect the senior students at lot at university applications or changing to another IB school.

I also doube whether CSS would be really like RC. From what I observe, RC this year is not like last year. The school has also been improving in many ways and things are not even the same when compared to the beginning of the term.

Phoenix used to be a very "local" school, with the head being a Chinese and students mostly Chinese. RC, however, is very international now. The community this year is very different from last year. RC had mainly Asian students last year. This year, they have got much more non Asian students (especially the secondary section). There are different students from many different ethnic groups and the heads and principal are all western experts; not to mention the really good experience and connections of Peter Kenny in the IB circle. We also have lots of western parents that are extremely active in school volunteer work and in keeping the network of parents close. This also make the culture and community more western. Administration and school rules have also changed even within this year.

So RC might started out a twin sister of Pheonix, but now RC is herself. RC has grown to be quite unique and parents might be disappointed if they are expecting RC to be like Pheonix.

作者: readers 時間: 08-4-17 23:12

Sure almon but I think you misunderstand me. I am not comparing the Chi standard of local schools to IS schools. I am just saying that there are good local schools. It is of course up to the parents to choose which language or culture or education they want to give higher priority to. Parents who chose IS of course think IS are better than local schools, and parents who chose local schools of course have their own considerations too. So when I said there are good local schools and Chi is important, it does not mean I deny the good things of IS. Anyway, I have no intention to offense any people.

原文章由 almom 於 08-4-17 17:57 發表

I am sure the schools you suggested must be good schools. And I am sure you (and other parents who chose these schools) have their reasons.

The schools you have suggested are all local schools. Stu ...

作者: almom 時間: 08-4-18 12:30

Sorry. Message duplicated.

[ 本文章最後由 almom 於 08-4-18 12:41 編輯 ]

作者: almom 時間: 08-4-18 12:30

Sorry. Message duplicated.

[ 本文章最後由 almom 於 08-4-18 12:42 編輯 ]

作者: almom 時間: 08-4-18 12:39

Sorry. Message duplicated.

[ 本文章最後由 almom 於 08-4-18 12:41 編輯 ]

作者: almom 時間: 08-4-18 12:39

Sure almon but I think you misunderstand me. I am not comparing the Chi standard of local schools to IS schools. I am just saying that there are good local schools. It is of course up to the parents t ...

I did not misunderstand you. I just think you have been too defensive. No one has ever said local schools are not good. And parents must have their reasons looking for international schools.

Like I have said before, I am sure there are good local schools. Just that I think parents in this subgroup are probably looking for international schools. So, if you are merely suggesting local schools to them, I think that might not be what they wanted. I would have thought that if they have wanted suggestions of good local schools, they would have seek advices at the "local school section" of BK.

作者: ssspwong 時間: 08-4-20 21:04

Hi NLai ,
This Saturday (26/4) is the open day of St. Stephen College Preparatory School. Why not come and see whether it will match your requirements? For details, you can browse its website.

原文章由 NLai 於 08-4-9 12:28 發表
Any school can provide good Chinese standard but International school learning enviroment?

I saw many DGS, St paul kids have good standard of Both chinease and english standard, but honestly their fa ...

作者: homers 時間: 08-4-20 22:59

I am European, while my wife is Chinese. We wish our daughter to be rooted in Chinese as well as Western culture.
Before reading this forum we thought it best to choose an English medium school with up to 20% western kids, having a mix environment/exposure. Having read the comments in this forum we realize we can not accept the downside, being less Chinese proficiency and (much?) less exposure to Chinese culture.
Choosing an English medium IS curriculum school (whether Int’l school or ESF or DSSS) and later a Chinese medium school (still under IS curriculum) as the child progresses, might be a solution. Three years exposure to English or Chinese language as the primary medium surely should be sufficient attaining 100% language proficiency while cultural rooting should be addressed as well.
Are there disadvantages? Surely! Our daughter would feel unsettled for some time, needing to develop new friends. We think however this might be considered an advantage at the same time (adaptability, wider social circle, more exposure…). Furthermore we expect another disadvantage to be that it might be hard to connect smoothly between different schools (while maybe having to move district as well).
Still, this sequential approach might be the best compromise, unless somebody can point out a single school addressing all concerns of the readers here (PM message?).

Questions: Does anyone have any opinion what sequence to choose? For example K1 to K3 an English medium kindergarten, and P1 until P3 Chinese? The other way around? Furthermore most readers seem to favor the IS curriculum but we read that a Canadian curriculum connects better to universities outside Hong Kong (Ontario diploma). It is well known that the Canadian schooling system has an excellent name. Any thoughts on this, anyone?

作者: WYmom 時間: 08-4-21 08:13

原文章由 homers 於 08-4-20 22:59 發表
I am European, while my wife is Chinese. We wish our daughter to be rooted in Chinese as well as Western culture.
Before reading this forum we thought it best to choose an English medium school with u ...

Hi homers,

Does your child speak mostly English at home? I know some "mixed" kids mainly speak English as their first language, but can also understand Chinese and speak a bit. If so, you can let your kid study in local DSS or private school in primary first for learning better Chinese, then continue in IS later. I believe this is more feasible than the reverse, as Chinese language is more difficult, if an English speaking kid does not learn Chinese when s/he is small, it is more difficult to learn when s/he grows up. Besides, most subjects in secondary schools are better to be learnt in English.

For Diploma, heard from some parents with kids studying in US, they said that IB Diploma is more welcome by US universities now as IB is more global. Canadian Diploma is more popular for Canadian Universities. For UK or European Us, I believe you will have a better idea.

[ 本文章最後由 WYmom 於 08-4-21 08:23 編輯 ]

作者: thankful 時間: 08-4-21 09:37

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作者: NLai 時間: 08-4-21 18:48 標題: 回覆 #4 ssspwong 的文章

Dear SSSPwong,
thank you, actually is for my sister baby.

作者: readers 時間: 08-4-21 22:46

pls see pm.

原文章由 super8 於 08-4-16 11:21 發表
Readers,

pls pm me as well, if possible. I'm also starting to make my decision for my baby who just turns 1.

Thanks.

作者: mummom 時間: 08-4-23 16:42

I suggest DSS school like Pui Kiu College in Shatin.
They use Mandarin to teach Maths and Chinese from Grade 1 to 6. I found some "mixed" kids studying there. They use the canadian curriculum connects in English subject.

you can have a look in their website:
[email protected]

but the school is very new.

原文章由 homers 於 08-4-20 22:59 發表
I am European, while my wife is Chinese. We wish our daughter to be rooted in Chinese as well as Western culture.
Before reading this forum we thought it best to choose an English medium school with u ...

作者: almom 時間: 08-4-23 21:08

homers,

I know one half-Chinese-half-German family that put their child in a local kindergarten (not the so-called famous ones, but just a kindergarten near where they lived) a few years ago. I lost contact with them since and not sure which primary school the kid is in now.

I know a couple of western families living in Sai Kung now are also putting their kids in local kindergarten to learn Chinese. But, their future plans would be putting the kids back in the international schools for primary education, probably Renaissance College or Shatin Junior, whatever they can get by then.

Unfortunately, English+Chinese is just not the perfect pair for bilingual schooling; and time spent at school is quite limited. If you want more time for Chinese class, then you will have to sacrifice time spent for other classes.

If you are really asking me to give suggestions, you might want to investigate into how ISF might suit you. They put more emphasis on Chinese during P1-P3 (may be 70% Chinese), then gradually swifting the proportion to more English in the secondary school (probably only 30% Chinese). I have a friend with a child in this school for the first year. Things seems to be running OK, exept that the Chinese is really hard for the kid (the kid was from ESF school). It is still too early to say whether ISF would surely be successful in trying to keep both Chinese and English as "important" in their curriculum, since it is a really new school. So it is to see whether you dare to put a bet into this school.

Regarding the curriculum of IS, there are a great many choices. If you are really keen on the Canadian curriculum, then you can choose CANIS and CAIS; if you want American curriculum, you may consider AIS and ICS; and there is the Australian curriculum at AUSIS, British curriculum at most ESF schools up to Grade 11, and the IB curriculum at RC & DC (in fact all ESF secondary adopt IB at diploma level, ie the last 2 years of high school).

As a Canadian, I would surely be proud if the Canadian (or Ontario) curriculum is considered to be good. I personally think that the Ontario Diploma curriculum was great, at least at my times. Students have no problem applying and transiting from high school to any north american universities. However, from what I know, I would not say that the American or Australian curriculum are not as good.

In fact, within the few bigger cities, eg Toronto and Montreal, there are (and will be) more and more IB schools. And what I know is that IB schools are now very popular in those cities and the schools can usually get the best students in the area.

作者: homers 時間: 08-4-23 22:59

Thank you Mummom, Almon, Readers, Thankful and Wymom for your valuable and extensive replies on our posting concerning a mix child.

I believe the fact that our child is mix is not the issue though. We like her to identify herself later as 100% Hong Kong yan (which means cantonese, not mandarin), while learning to look over the fence being comfortable with proper english and modern style education. University admission is even secondary to that.

The subject line of this forum suggests the need to compromise when choosing education direction for ones child; english medium education (curriculum independent) compromising cantonese exposure and historic rooting vs HKCEE cantonese curriculum with extensive chinese exposure (language as well as cultural rooting) which most agree on is too demanding for the child.

Thank you (several people) for suggesting schools which may in fact bring the best of both worlds while not compromising chinese/cantonese cultural rooting. We will have a close look at the suggestions later and would be very happy if one of those suggested schools is the right one.

Still, we think our idea to send our child sequentially to different medium schools might be a very good option. Indeed cantonese and than english makes most sense (thankful reader; mmkoi). We understand the downsides of such a scenario (every advantage has a disadvantage ^_^).

We believe this sequential approach might be a valid solution for many readers here as well, ensuring Hong Kong cultural rooting while having sufficient exposure to english at a young enough age to become proficient.
We hope to have contributed to finding best solutions when choosing an education for ones child. And we'll check in again later after having studied the suggested schools.

作者: janiceyuen 時間: 08-4-30 12:19

Hi readers,

Can you pls PM me also?

thanks

原文章由 readers 於 08-4-13 23:45 發表
Pls see PM

作者: mom2twins 時間: 08-4-30 16:52

Hi readers, could you pm to me too? Thx in advance.

作者: yyvenus 時間: 08-5-3 01:30

Can you please PM me too?

作者: BUNNYLEE 時間: 08-5-7 02:12

READER

LS PM ME!!!THX!!!

作者: tingtingting 時間: 08-5-7 10:00

原文章由 almom 於 08-4-23 21:08 發表
Unfortunately, English+Chinese is just not the perfect pair for bilingual schooling ...

I agree to mostly what you said but would like to ask, if English+Chinese is not the perfect pair for billingual schooling, what in your opionion is the better pair for us Hong Kong Chinese? I ask this because I see a really interesting phenonmenum - a lot of my non Chinese co-workers and friends favour English+Chinese billingual education for their kids in Hong Kong but some of my Chinese friends insists that it is not possible for HK students to be good at both Chinese and English. Is English so difficult that we have to give up Chinese? Is English+French or Egnlish+Japanese or English+German really easlier than English+Chinese?

作者: christf 時間: 08-5-7 17:04

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作者: hjm 時間: 08-5-11 07:05

My own experience, has been Kindy - Eng, Primary - local Chinese, Secondary - Eng (IS). On the language side my son got the foundations just like that (phonics, reading skills) when he was six...surely without any Chinese learning entering into the local school was a pain about the subjects. But he picked it up and moved on...he's the lazy kind but did keep up with reading newspaper and "Kam Yung" fiction at P3 or P4...so there you go, he has the foundation of Eng too so has no problem at all during his years at Primary to be top in Eng. Now he goes to IS and uses his Eng alot.

Probably not the same case for everybody again, but we kind of thought this could be a solution. Though efforts were never less than putting the kids to any other school. I do have different paths for my different kids....!

作者: fishfishma 時間: 08-5-11 08:52

Hi, Tweety Bird,

I am also thinking about Kindy-Eng, Primary-Chi, Secondary-IS for my younger son. Do you think it really works? What are your "different paths" for your other kids? Please share. Thank you.

Fishfishma

原文章由 hjm 於 08-5-11 07:05 發表
My own experience, has been Kindy - Eng, Primary - local Chinese, Secondary - Eng (IS). On the language side my son got the foundations just like that (phonics, reading skills) when he was six...sure ...

[ 本文章最後由 fishfishma 於 08-5-11 08:54 編輯 ]

作者: christf 時間: 08-5-11 12:51

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作者: tingtingting 時間: 08-5-11 13:02

Thanks hjm for your sharing. I still have another year to make up my mind but I may go a similar path. Your experience is quite similar to my friend's experience. Her son went to Woodland for kinder, and then to Victoria and then to Singapore International for primary, and will go to another IS for secondary after summer. Her son speaks perfect English (I mean really excellent English, not the AO's standard of spoken English that Christf mentioned) and excellent mandarin. I also know a few examples of truly bilingual kids. Some of them are brought up in local schools and some in int. schools. It seems to me that parents' language ability is a major factor, which is as important as schooling. I live in a place where most of our neighbours are kids from foreign countries and my son has a lot of English speaking friends. I am not concerned about his English. It is not going to be a problem, I know. What concerns me is his standard of Chinese. Headache.

作者: christf 時間: 08-5-11 13:18

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作者: almom 時間: 08-5-13 19:18

I agree to mostly what you said but would like to ask, if English+Chinese is not the perfect pair for billingual schooling, what in your opionion is the better pair for us Hong Kong Chinese?

你有少少誤會我說的。
首先，因為香港主要係華人，相信 english + chinese 會係主流。我的確認為 english + chinese 難，但即使係難，都冇辦法，作為中國人，又住在中國的地方，唔識中文好似真係講不通。

I ask this because I see a really interesting phenonmenum - a lot of my non Chinese co-workers and friends favour English+Chinese billingual education for their kids in Hong Kong but some of my Chinese friends insists that it is not possible for HK students to be good at both Chinese and English.

我很反對用外國人學中文的風氣，作為 "中文強勢" 的指標。
其實洋人一向都有很多很嚮往中國文化，正如香港人很多都鍾意日本東西，很多人都識講幾句簡單日語，不代表甚麼。
今年北京奧運，的確在洋人社會就更有一鼓中國熱，就正如香港人睇完大長今都話去韓國玩，話要學韓文。
另外，來香港住的外國人學中文，我覺得很理所當然的喇，我們去外國旅遊，也會學幾句當地語言 "傍身"，何況是來住上三五年。
父母來到香港工作，難得孩子有機會，當然會學學中文啦，這是因利成便，到香港住不學中文，就正如去東京住不學日文，去巴黎住不學法文，好像講不通，亦好舐。
洋童學中文，很多只會當中文是 additional/second language 的學，就好似我地香港人學日文韓文，很多都是日常講，可以講得流利，但要寫，恐怕就有點難度了；畢竟，寫作是語文中最難的。
當然都有例外，我孩子學校有些洋童中文很好，與本地孩子一同上課，但有這樣水平的不會很多。其他大部份都是 "中文初階" 水平罷了。

Is English so difficult that we have to give up Chinese?

不。初學語文，種種都是難的。
但其中，我覺得中文是較難掌握，較難維持。
英文是 26 個字母 "變" 出來，讀音亦可以靠拼音估計。
但中文係方塊字，讀音大部份都冇得估，要中文好，一定要多用 ( 包括聽，寫，講，讀 )，如果唔係好快唔記得晒，真係 out of sight out of mind。
以一般國際學校的中文課時間，和校內文化 (包括孩子們愛讀的書，愛聽的流行音樂，等)，英文始終是主流；孩子們可能會講普通話或廣東話，但要他們讀或寫得好，真的不易。
唔係我地想 give up，而係現實環境令孩子們根本太少機會用中文。
如果家長太在意孩子的中文水平，國際學校未必是理想的選擇。

Is English+French or Egnlish+Japanese or English+German really easlier than English+Chinese?

如果是英文為主，當然配都是用英文字母的語文都較易，其中 french，spanish，italian，都是較易上手的。
中文則是配有很多漢字的日語，會較易上手。
"較易" 的意思，只是較易上手；
要語文學得好，有 first language 的水平，始終都是要多用，要浸的。
要有兩個語文都有 first language 的水平，談何容易？

但甚麼易，甚麼難也不重要，我們始終都應該學懂中文。
不過問題是，去到甚麼程度可以 "收貨"，就要看每個家長的要求。
我個人不會要求很高，因為正如我之前說，國際學校放在中文的時間太少，要求太高是不設實際。

[ 本文章最後由 almom 於 08-5-13 19:24 編輯 ]

作者: tingtingting 時間: 08-5-14 09:51

almon, thanks a lot for the very detailed reply.

作者: fishfishma 時間: 08-5-14 10:21

謝謝大家的意見,有時我覺得自己好像把大仔做了一隻白老鼠,kindy (IS + no Chinese), P1+2(IS + Simplified Chinese), P3 (IS + traditional Chinese).不過,轉來轉去,始終覺得配合香港的語言環境學習最effective,暫時頗滿意仔仔的雙語發展.

原文章由 tingtingting 於 08-5-14 09:51 發表
almon, thanks a lot for the very detailed reply.

作者: 502 時間: 08-5-14 11:37

Dear fishfishma

My experience is similar to yours!

I put my elder one in IS kinder, IS (P1 - P3 with minimal Simpliifed Chinese.

Then I switched him to a billingual school for traditional Chinese as we really fed up of spoon-feeding him Chinese by ourselves.

We're considering the path for the younger one as he will have finished his IS kinder soon. Quite a headache.

How about your move for the younger one?

Rgds

502

原文章由 fishfishma 於 08-5-14 10:21 發表
謝謝大家的意見,有時我覺得自己好像把大仔做了一隻白老鼠,kindy (IS + no Chinese), P1+2(IS + Simplified Chinese), P3 (IS + traditional Chinese).不過,轉來轉去,始終覺得配合香港的語言環境學習最effective,暫時 ...

作者: fishfishma 時間: 08-5-14 14:55

Dear 502,

Thanks for your sharing. I'm also headache about the path for my little one, but definitely not learning simplified Chinese anymore because I can see the pain and the change from my elder son. My elder son (P3) switches to learn traditional Chinese this year. Now he is keen on reading road signs, advertisements and menus (Chinese) when we go out with him. He is also "willing to" read 西遊記and 三國演義(繁體版with pin-yin) though in a very slow pace. I hope my choice is correct for him.

So, is your elder one studying in a local billingual school? What about his math and general studies常識?

原文章由 502 於 08-5-14 11:37 發表
Dear fishfishma

My experience is similar to yours!

I put my elder one in IS kinder, IS (P1 - P3 with minimal Simpliifed Chinese.

Then I switched him to a billingual school for traditional Chinese ...

[ 本文章最後由 fishfishma 於 08-5-14 15:38 編輯 ]

作者: Yau_Cheung 時間: 08-5-14 15:10

原文章由 almom 於 08-5-13 19:18 發表

你有少少誤會我說的。
首先，因為香港主要係華人，相信 english + chinese 會係主流。我的確認為 english + chinese 難，但即使係難，都冇辦法，作為中國人，又住在中國的地方，唔識中文好似真係講不通。

我很反對用外國人學 ...

especially - 國際學校放在中文的時間太少，要求太高是不設實際。

作者: hjm 時間: 08-5-15 09:37

I agree with the "sacrifice" of chinese if you do IS....our expectation of chinese for my son, afterall, isn't high. So ataining P5 standard was OK. He has been able to keep his Eng and accents through some other ways, to be honest, such as doing Eng Drama for the 5 years throughout (and still is doing it). I'm quite happy about his language skills now he's in an IS Year 7 environment.

For my other son, he has always been in local kindy. We chose a DSS path for him. So our expectation on his Chinese will be much higher. This DSS adopts an Eng syllabus quite similar to IS (I checked the themes and the ways of learning, very different from local schools but more towards IS ways). He does not have a native accent and I don't think he will get one here. But that's fine for the moment....

歡迎光臨教育王國 (/)