No Cantonese in RC pl pl pl

yeung2212

My sons are studying in RC for 2 yrs.
We felt very exciting when they just switched to RC.

But now, I feel very disappointing.
When I walk through the school. all the students are speaking Cantonese in the canteen, playground or office. We will not think this is an IS. It just is a local school with foreigers as teachers only.

I ask my sons what language they have used at school. They said all students are communicate with Cantonese except those foreigners. My sons either afraid speak English out of school and can't speak English as fluent as other ESF students.

Other parents told me that the principal doesn't ban to use Chinese at school. I don't believe as I know other ESF school has banned their students to communicate in Chinese at school except in Chinese lesson.

Therefore, I send an e mail to the principal to state my concern. He has replied me this.

" We will never ban students from using their first language whether it is Chinese or Hebrew. To do this would be contrary to our Mission and philosophy."

Now I am thinking I have two choices only.
One is change another IS (but this is not my will).
Second, is to join other parents to state our concern about the use of language at school.

RC parents, do you have my concern?
Pl join together and give your opinion to school.

[ 本帖最後由 yeung2212 於 09-11-10 22:52 編輯 ]

minggrace

I'm not a RC parent but I'm shocked to hear that. I also plan to apply for RC for my kid who is now studying in another international school
as I live in Ma On Shan.  But if that's the case, I'll let my kid stay at his current IS  for two more years in order to build a better foundation before going to RC for the secondary school. Well, RC is my target secondary school; I really hope the situation of using Cantonese can be improved.

emmamay

That's strange. My girl also studies in ESF (HK side), but I notice that all the students at school communicate in English only. Even the Chinese kids too. In fact, I am trying to encourage my girl to talk more in Cantanoese.

Pianokc

this depends highly on the school. The ones in HK side will have more foreigners, while RC has become a very popular school among local chinese.

alima

If u don't like this, u can change school, I think some RC parents should be know RC is difference with other ESF, their Chinese teaching should be more, but I also feel their English skill also very good, they can change 2 way, that's very great.

Onsen

RC is really set up to take the local students who may otherwise apply to the formal ESF schools.  I took a head counts of my child's class photo last night, out of the 30 students, only 6 or 7 are Asians that include Japanese, Korean, Indian and Chinese kids from the US and the UK with a majority of 23 to 24 are Caucasians.  None from local catagory 2 Hong Kongers.  In fact, my kid is the only one who can speak Cantonese and Mandarin.  Besides, RC can only take kids with permanent Hong Kong residency (at least 70%) with some space to non-residents.  

But then is this what most parents' want, fluent in English and Chinese?  I am seriously thinking whether RC is better for my kid, even if I have to move.

[ 本帖最後由 Onsen 於 09-11-11 13:32 編輯 ]

almom

I am quite surprised that there are still that many parents that equate the ability to speak Chinese to the in-ability to speak English.
Can people be good at both?
(Sorry, I lost interest in most RC topics a long time ago. But now that it's interview season again, I couldn't help but to vent my views. May be it is good to raise this again so that parents can think hard before accepting any offers.)

almom

原帖由 wisekid2007 於 09-11-11 12:30 發表
If RC continues to develop under such policy, RC is becoming just an EMI school. It makes no different with those EMI local schools.

Of course, many people may prefer this.  

With the differences in curriculum and teaching etc, I do not see why it would be the same as a local school.
Lots of local schools have language policy prohibiting the use of Chinese on campus, does that make them an international school?

The language policy in ESF schools was probably not set up to improve English skills. ESF children are fluent in English with or without the policy. The policy has been awhile for very long, even when I was a student. My cousins were in one of the ESF schools and they felt that the policy was merely to prohibit languages that the English speaking staff did not understand.

In any case, I am not coming back to "discuss" further about RC. Obviously, parents do have different needs. And I am probably "too stupid" to reply to your messages. If labelling RC a EMI local school would make parents happy, do so.

琬晴B

My daughter is in RC Year 1. I DID notice this situation (a couple of Year One students that I met spoke Cantonese) when I took the school tour with my daughter last year. I was crystal clear that the school did not have a strict English-ONLY-in-school-PLEASE policy.

What I think is, since RC is an English-medium school (like many other IS), all students should speak English (except Chinese lessons) during classes. However, when it comes to “playground language”, I do not mind if they speak Cantonese (or Hebrew, haha...). I think it’s quite natural to use the language they feel easy to communicate and mingle. Having said that, they should use the common language (e.g. English) when there are people of other nationalities around in order not to exclude others (from IB Learner Profile, "They understand and express ideas and information confidently and creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of communication.")

My daughter is having great progress in English after joining RC. (Her previous school is good too but we decided to move to the New Territories.) She recites the rhymes and expresses herself in English more confidently. She even drew an “I Love You” card to a Year One English-speaking Asian schoolmate (which I secretly kept it). She is more than happy to speak English to strangers too. I also went to her classmate’s birthday party. Cantonese was not frequently used by her classmates. Even the clown/magician had to switch to English because he felt the majority was speaking English.

RC adopts an open-door policy and welcomes parents to be volunteers. If parents are doubtful with their children’s progress, they may volunteer in class and have a peek.

I went to 3-way-goal Conference (Parent-Teacher-Student meeting) with my daughter in Oct and met a Chinese-looking girl in canteen. She was around 9-10 years old and spoke fluent English. NOT ALL students in canteen speak Cantonese.

I remember a number of RC parents explained the admission policy regarding "HK permanent resident ". (From RC website, "At capacity, at least 70% of the total students enrolled in RCHK must have at least one parent who qualifies for Hong Kong Permanent Resident status.) I am not sure whether RC reaches its capacity yet. Not to mention that many expats become Hong Kong permanents residents and many Hong Kongers hold foreign passports. So permanent residents does not necessarily = HK locals.



http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/documents/general/g_0_iboxx_amo_0804_1_e.pdf
“Language is integral to identity, which in turn determines how a person will act. A mother tongue and any other languages used in constructing meaning are intimately connected to a person’s relationship with the world and how they come to feel about that world. Social and emotional conditions for learning that value all languages and cultures and affirm the identity of each learner promote self-esteem and additive bilingualism (where another language and culture does not replace that of the mother tongue).”


Language Policy @RCHK:
http://www.renaissance.edu.hk/uploaded_files/RCHK%20Language%20Policy%20Committee%20final%20version%203%20May071179878400.doc

“Research indicates that students’ level of language and literacy competence in their first language influences their rate of second language learning. The development of a student’s first language is, therefore, not only of value to the student’s identity and community but also to the student’s education.”

Pianokc

I don't think it's the language that really bothers me as a parent, I don't care what language is used on the playground either. However, it's the curriculum and academic standards that bothers me.

oooray

Conclusion:
Do not send your children to RC if you are either one of the followings:
1. Anticipate 100% English environment during school hours;
2. Proud of having many non-Chinese classmates/parents;
3. Do not like this school.

琬晴B

Very concise. Thank you, oooray!!

原帖由 oooray 於 09-11-11 14:13 發表
Conclusion:
Do not send your children to RC if you are either one of the followings:
1. Anticipate 100% English environment during school hours;
2. Proud of having many non-Chinese classmates/parents; ...

Onsen

Is it possible to move to RC from another ESF school?  Can anyone share with this experience?  Since Chinese languauge level must be higher than the regular one, would that cause any problem?  I tried to apply for DGJS because of Chinese but failed.  May be this is a good option.

oooray

原帖由 Onsen 於 09-11-11 14:52 發表
Is it possible to move to RC from another ESF school?  Can anyone share with this experience?  Since Chinese languauge level must be higher than the regular one, would that cause any problem?  I tried ...

i guess there is no secret path other than submiting an application form and then line up at the end of the queue.
From RC website, u can see that many year levels have closed the application until Jan 2010 (due to a long waiting list already there).
It is be unfair to those on waiting list if any secret path within ESF schools.
Of course, it is only my wildguess only. call for school directly for the truth.

Onsen

原帖由 oooray 於 09-11-11 15:23 發表

i guess there is no secret path other than submiting an application form and then line up at the end of the queue.
From RC website, u can see that many year levels have closed the application until J ...

Not true!  It is easy to do the internal transfer from one ESF to another provided the change of catchment area.  I did that before.  All it took was just a phone call and the ESF did all the paper work.  However, you may be correct with RC or DC that they do not consider this is an internal transfer.

Just visited the ESF new website.  They have indeed separated the primary, secondary and the PIP schools.  On RC, it says, "Although the College will use English as the medium for teaching and learning, the curriculum will have a very strong emphasis on Chinese language and culture. All students will study Putonghua and Standard Chinese."  Well, that is very tempting.  I should take a look at this wonderful school later.

[ 本帖最後由 Onsen 於 09-11-11 17:31 編輯 ]

strayteddy

ooray is right.  A move from ESF schools to RC or vice versa is not considered an internal transfer.  That's what I was told in their briefing sessions.

yeung2212

Thanks for both of your reply.
I think there are many reasons why the parents send their children to IS.
For me, just simply, I want my child can speak fluent English. If an IS can't provide an English environment to the students and their students can't speak fluent English, this school is an  local English school only.

When my son had studied in local school before, he had the private tutor for English. But now, he still needs the private tutor for English. This is my unexpected result.

I have called other ESF school today, they said that they can't do the internal transfer as RC is PIP. I feel very very disappointing and sad.
After discussing with my husband, we have reached a dicision. We will help my younger son to switch to other IS as soon as possible.