RC and Chinese Level

BeeFarm

Hi! Can any parents tell me a bit more about the CNL stream at RC?  I know that it cannot match local school standards, but how much difference is there?  Do they still learn via pinyin?  At the end of it all, say Primary or Secondary schooling, how competent are the students reading and written Chinese?  Will they be employable locally?

If BB gets into an ESF kindergarten (I am considering because there is still priority for interview), even in the bilingual stream, does this mean he'll be put into the CFL class?  At the moment, I speak English to him at home, because I don't think he gets enough exposure to it otherwise, but Daddy and grandparents speak to him in Cantonese/Putonghua.

Is it only the children from "local" Bilingual kindergartens with some background in written Chinese that will be put into the CNL stream from Year 1?

Thanks in advance for any experiences!


In RCHK primary school, students learn Chinese in two groups: Chinese as native
language (CNL), and Chinese as a foreign language (CFL).
The students who have learned Chinese formally at school before joining RCHK, and
who speak Chinese (Cantonese and/or Putonghua) most of time outside school, are
usually in a CNL class. The students who have little to no Chinese learning
experience at school, and who speak languages other than Chinese at home, are
placed in a CFL class.
Some students may speak Chinese fluently, but have not been taught in a school
where Chinese is a mainstream curriculum or language in instruction (this is the case
of many international schools worldwide). Generally speaking, they do not have the
necessary reading and writing skills to study Chinese at the native level. There are
students who have been learning Chinese for a number of years as a second
language before they come to RCHK. In many cases, these students may also be
placed in a CFL class.

Radiomama

The information you quoted is self-explained.
Even for the Chinese level in CNL classes, it varies. Some parents will put extra tuition and some will not. My son is in y5 and he is using the Chinese text book of P3 and learning traditional Chinese.
He is skillful in Pinyin and finding words from dictionary.

BeeFarm

Thanks Radiomama for your reply, it's great to hear some first hand experiences.
I am expecting to have to supplement with Chinese tutoring if we go down the IS route, but it's handy to know the standard at which the schools will be teaching.  Knowing that they are perhaps 1 year behind local schools is actually comforting, I thought the gap would be much greater.  

Do most parents supplement with putonghua lessons, or is mainly focused on reading/writing?  I suppose this also varies with every child's needs as well!

We are trying to achieve biliteracy and hope this is going to be an effective way of doing it.

Radiomama

Although RC uses local school Chinese text book, the standard is far behind the local school's student.
My son could write a Chinese journal in 150 words this year but in 2 hours!

BeeFarm

Oh dear! But at least he can write, even though it takes some effort! (better than me)

Do you mind sharing if you send your son to any extra Chinese tutorial?  Or is his Chinese purely learned from school only?

Radiomama

No extra Chinese tutorial class. He learns Putonghua and Chinese mainly from school. I read Chinese story books to him every night.