French or Spanish

babyoush

想請問一下各位, 如果有意思比小朋友學外語, 你地會選擇法文定西班牙文同埋點解?? thx~

elmostoney

English is the easiest language to learn and Chinese is probably one of the more difficult ones among the popular languages nowadays.  If you decide that your child will go along the IS path, it is especially important that they start with Chinese when he/she is little.  ALL of my relatives' kids who go to IS - even the ones to CIS - all need some degree of after-school tutoring in Chinese.  The sad fact is, although their Chinese is passable, nobody really wants to read or write the language because they find it so hard!!!  To them, Chinese is just a language for school (apart from conversing in Cantonese at home).

I studied in HK until secondary school and started the equivalent of Form 2 in the US.  English was a breeze.  By the equivalent of Form 4 in HK, I was in an "advanced" English language class among the top students, and I really didn't work very hard for it.  The point is not bragging, but to tell you that English is relatively EASY!  Memorizing Chinese characters, reading and writing them is time-consuming.  If you live in HK or other Chinese environment, do not rob your child of the chance.  I never understand how people can live in a place for ever so long and would waste the precious opportunity to pick up a new language.

I now keep a Chinese diary about my daughter, all in the hope that although she will probably go to IS, she will still want to ready about herself - in Chinese.

[ 本文章最後由 elmostoney 於 08-6-11 16:27 編輯 ]

babyoush

原文章由 elmostoney 於 08-6-10 23:22 發表
唉!我諗唔好學咁多啦, 其實一個星期得一兩堂, 作用唔大.  我個女而家兩歲, 之前諗住考is, 所以同佢講英文多, 佢係95%英文人, 後來上左好多parenting class, 先明白中文難學, 如果比佢走左英文條路就好難返轉頭, 所以 ...

普通話一定要學, 我2個女都冇得選擇

elmostoney

唉!我諗唔好學咁多啦, 其實一個星期得一兩堂, 作用唔大.  我個女而家兩歲, 之前諗住考is, 所以同佢講英文多, 佢係95%英文人, 後來上左好多parenting class, 先明白中文難學, 如果比佢走左英文條路就好難返轉頭, 所以我而家先同佢講返多d中文, 佢而家都明大部份, 但係講都係30%時間.

我反而會想個女學普通話, 而家美國人都越來越多人學.  如果再學, 梗係西班牙文, 法文只得法國, 部份switzerland同比利時講, 冇物用, 除非你諗住去非洲也.  物鬼好唔好聽吖, 我學左7年, 睇埋17世紀舊法文小說, so?  你唔去過, 點都聽得唔好講唔到.  反而我去日本住大半年, 日文底子好淺, 但係真係住係到學, 聽同講好好多.  所以你要諗究竟有冇用, 學來做物東.  如果比小朋友學, once中文同英文都ok左, 最好盡快, 學語言, 有好多scientific study證實, 0~6歲係學得最快, 只要持續每日有最少一個鐘, 連續半年有人教就得, 唔好諗住靠cd/tv呢d, 因為冇互動.

babyoush

原文章由 almom 於 08-5-21 21:55 發表
It is difficult for me to say what you should do.
I know that there are parents that insist that children put more time on learning Chinese at early age. They think that Chinese program in internation ...

我知道啦, 我會等佢地學好英文先, 我同你一樣會選擇英文為佢地主要語言, 不過我都會比少少額外主持佢地學普通話, 因為我都有少少擔心IS普通話唔夠, 雖然我唔會話要佢地中文好叻, 不過都唔希望相差太太遠, 好多謝你比意見我, 你o既意見真係好有用, 多謝~

achow

Dear all,-who interest in French

I have a friend who is Chinese but she have been studied in Switzerland and Canada for more then 15 years. She mainly study FRENCH.
She is a very patient and responsable girl. If anyone who like to hire her, please feel free to contact me. And I will pass her phone number or e-mail to you.

hysterical

Actually, the happening trendy second languane in the US is Chinese Mandarin. In California, even public schools are offering Chinese as a foreign language elective. So, I would suggest Chinese as a second language would be at the top of my list. A third language can be chosen later. However, keep in mind that if you don't use it, it's very easily forgotten. Unless you can keep up the third language for many years, plus speaking it outside of the classroom, it is very literally "go in one ear, and out the other."

原文章由 babyoush 於 08-5-21 16:20 發表


其實我已決定會比佢地學普通話架啦, 不過我諗緊將來除咗普通話仲好唔好學多一種其他語言,  ...

almom

It is difficult for me to say what you should do.
I know that there are parents that insist that children put more time on learning Chinese at early age. They think that Chinese program in international schools is not strong enough.
And then there are parents that think that learning Chinese is too much a waste of time, or even think that it is "not cool enough" to speak too much Chinese.

Our family have lived in Canada and the US for quite some time. Our children have always used English most of the time even we are now in Hong Kong, although we normally try to use Cantonese as much as possible. Unlike most local Hong Kong families that are trying hard to keep up with their children's English, we are trying hard to use more Chinese. I do not think my children need to be very good at Chinese. But I would think that as a ethnic Chinese living in a Chinese city, it is totally ridiculous that a Chinese child cannot even communicate in simple Chinese.

I would say that for you, your children should be learning English + Chinese at this stage. Even if your children have always been using English at home, you should still let them learn better English first. At such a small age, even native English speaking children have to learn the language. I have seen many western kids that do not write or read English that well.

As with Chinese, it is up to you to decide. All I want to say is that it is not a cool thing anymore not to be able to speak Chinese. But how far you want your children to learn Chinese, you need to decide. I think I am happy with the Chinese program with most international schools with western curriculum. I am not agressive. I would rather they spend more time polishing their English skills. Like I said, even native English speak may write very flawed English. English is not an easy language to master, yet most top universities in the world are teaching in English.
For a third language, I still think it best to start at secondary school, or the earliest at around 8-9 years old. I believe that children should first master at least one language first (my choice is English), instead of have "half buckets" of many languages.
Totally my personal views. May not work for everyone though.

babyoush

原文章由 mow-mow 於 08-5-21 15:51 發表
Don't you think Chinese should be a higher priority than French / Spanish?
Even if you are thinking of sending the kids to International School, it is still more useful for them to learn Chinese, not  ...

其實我已決定會比佢地學普通話架啦, 不過我諗緊將來除咗普通話仲好唔好學多一種其他語言, 可能我真係太心急啦, 我應該比佢地學好普通話先, 但係我應該搵d一個星期一次個d普通話班, 還是有d一個星期返2,3堂呢?? 一個星期一次會唔會太少機會比佢地練習呢?? 仲有, 咁多位有冇d輕鬆d學普通話而feedback又好o既centre可以介紹呀?? 最好係港島區, 中環/銅鑼灣最好, 唔好意思麻煩大家, 我都覺得自己好煩

mow-mow

Don't you think Chinese should be a higher priority than French / Spanish?
Even if you are thinking of sending the kids to International School, it is still more useful for them to learn Chinese, not to mention easier in a Chinese-predominated environment!

babyoush

原文章由 almom 於 08-5-20 19:58 發表


Are your family local Chinese?
Do you think your priority should be letting your children learn a better second language, ie English, first?
I do not see the point of enrolling French or Spanish pla ...

我地屋企係100%香港人, 不過小朋友唔識中文, 如果根據你所講, 我係咪應該比佢地學普通話先呢?? 佢地2個都係返緊Pre-school, 請比D意見我, 因為我冇經驗, 屋企人諗法又同我唔同, 比唔到意見我, 所以我都唔知應該點做

almom

原文章由 babyoush 於 08-5-20 19:35 發表

因為我想小朋友學得輕鬆D, 所以我會搵D playgroup比佢地上, 但見到你o既回應, 應該小學之後先開始學, 咁我應唔應該比佢地上外語playgroup呢? 同埋有咩方法可以比佢地接觸到當地文化呢? 如果到小學先比佢地接觸又會 ...

Are your family local Chinese?
Do you think your priority should be letting your children learn a better second language, ie English, first?
I do not see the point of enrolling French or Spanish playgroups for local Chinese speaking toddlers. (Unless I misunderstood, "playgroups" are usually for pre-school children, or at least that is the "definition" generally used in Hong Kong.)
Unless, of course, you think you would be giving up either Chinese or English totally. And French or Spanish would be their second language.
Introducing a third language (if you are including Chinese in your "recipe") too early is not wise.

[ 本文章最後由 almom 於 08-5-20 20:16 編輯 ]

babyoush

原文章由 almom 於 08-5-20 18:25 發表
Both Spanish and French are "closer" when compared to English, because they are both developed from Latin (Italian is also from Latin).
So once you have learned French, it is extremely easy to learn S ...

因為我想小朋友學得輕鬆D, 所以我會搵D playgroup比佢地上, 但見到你o既回應, 應該小學之後先開始學, 咁我應唔應該比佢地上外語playgroup呢? 同埋有咩方法可以比佢地接觸到當地文化呢? 如果到小學先比佢地接觸又會唔會冇咁易融合呢? 唔好意思好多野問.

seec

Unforturely our kids cannot easy to have enough exposure for the third language. Sometimes I really wonder the effectiveness of the after school class per week if they haven't got opportunity to practise.
Anyone would like to share the experiences with us?

almom

Both Spanish and French are "closer" when compared to English, because they are both developed from Latin (Italian is also from Latin).
So once you have learned French, it is extremely easy to learn Spanish. And vice versa.
English is another group of language that is not that related to Latin.

German is alien to me. A friend said that it is not easy to learn.

The best time to really seriously learn a third language is after primary school.

[ 本文章最後由 almom 於 08-5-20 18:30 編輯 ]

almom

Agree with some who posted comments earlier.
Spanish is more widely used worldwide. The total population that speak Spanish as a first language is huge. Consider the population in South America (Brazil uses Portugese though) and the US. Also, consider the fact that many Spanish speakers do not speak any English at all, even within the US (they are mostly grassroot working class), knowing Spanish is probably very advantageous for some jobs or business. So it is considered a practical skills in the US to learn Spanish.

French is a more popular language in Europe. French has been offered by a lot local elite secondary school as an additional language for a few decades. So it is quite understandable why it is much more popular here in Hong Kong. However, people that speak French usually do speak some other languages, including English. It is in fact extremely common that people in Europe speak at least 2 European languages (some speak 3 or more, including the less popular languages like Swedish or Dutch etc). So it seems that it is practically not as "needed".

I know both languages and would say that both are probably in par when you compare which is more difficult (or easy) to learn. With good foundation of English, it is quite easy to pick up these 2 languages. With constant classes and exposure, you can pick up these languages pretty well within one year. However, I would not suggest parents to be too aggressive and try to introduce a third language (ie, in additional to English and Chinese) if the child is still struggling with English (particularly those in local schools).

Want to know more of the 2 languages? Listen to pop songs like Living la Vida Loca (Ricky Martin) and La Vie en Rose (probably the most well known French song). Do some google searches or even watch some movies. Culturally, Spanish relates to noise, dance, being sexy and hot. French relates to romance, class, being cool and calm.

I agree that letting children choose is the best way. Let them learn a bit about the culture first and then let them choose a language they want to learn.

[ 本文章最後由 almom 於 08-5-20 20:09 編輯 ]

babyoush

原文章由 NLai 於 08-5-20 16:56 發表
識法文既人好多都識西班牙文, 反之則不是. 因為法文難D, 小女2人及本人都係過來人, 小朋友細學セ都一樣, 學法文先, 大个咗自己再去西班牙話, no problem 的, 我好多friends 都係甘學. ...

即係話學法文先再學西班牙文會易D?? 咁2樣其實似唔似架呢?? 小朋友又應該幾大開始學法文會好D呢??

NLai

識法文既人好多都識西班牙文, 反之則不是. 因為法文難D, 小女2人及本人都係過來人, 小朋友細學セ都一樣, 學法文先, 大个咗自己再去西班牙話, no problem 的, 我好多friends 都係甘學.

FYLSK

Apart from spanish and French, how about German? I choose German because I forecast German cos will occupy a big share in the business market.

babyoush

原文章由 Mighty 於 08-5-19 21:55 發表
亜洲人面孔、但又能説一種流利欧州語言、無論FRENCH也好、SPANISH也好、我個人覚得都非常吸引。　　但我也会選択SPANISH,原因是発音較FRENCH容易（以香港人来説）。　可否給小朋友自己選択、這様可能会維持較久。　　還 ...

唔係學校選科, 只係自己想搜集一下資料, 雖然小朋友還細, 但因為將來希望小朋友可以識多一種語言, 自己都想同小朋友一齊學, 但一路都唔知邊樣好d, 所以為自己又為小朋友就問下各位, 問多d到真係要選擇時就冇咁手足無措啦嘛, 我都會比小朋友自己選擇, 不過佢未選擇之前, 我覺得自己都要對2者有一定認識, 咁先可以比意見佢, 因為始終佢都冇接觸過2種語言, 好多謝2位寶貴意見, 我覺得對我將來選擇好有用, 多謝