提昇就讀IS孩子對中文的興趣

jolalee

hkparent 發表於 14-4-8 10:05
Possible. Talk with the child 100% in Chinese at home. Borrow Chinese story books from the library a ...

Thank you for your advice. May i ask if you ever needed to switch from speaking to your child from English to Chinese? Was it difficult for the child? Would it hinder communication & relationships? Also, given each person (should) have a dominant language and we have already chosen English as the dominant thinking language for our child, would the parents switching to Chinese hinder his development if we switch to 100% Chinese at home? Apologies for having so many questions!!

jolalee

紅紅 發表於 14-4-8 10:24
如果有年紀相若的親友小朋友（當然中文要第一號語言），多d約佢地一齊玩，好快就會對中文有興趣。...同得多同年的表弟玩，佢d中文已好好了，另外佢有art class, dance class，都是中文授課，可以從興趣中學習中文，我完全唔使理。佢現在五歲...但都幾流利，亦好肯講...千萬不可以令佢覺得佢講得唔好。

謝謝你的分享，實在非常合用。語文的確是實用、互動的情況下學習最好。我仔仔也有個說中文的表哥，比他大兩歲，二人極之合得來，可惜是住得遠。現在因為孩子入學我們會搬屋，將會住近點兒 (但始終一個港島極東一個港島極西). 我唯一最大擔憂是表哥年紀小小有打機癮（拜我哥哥所賜），我真怕仔仔跟他玩多了也要求打機。（我們從來不讓孩子玩電玩，ipad也只偶爾用來看看 Engineering programs... Yes my son loves "Extreme Engineering" starting at age 2 when we started letting him watch a bit of video，LOL）

兒子從兩歲多一向也有參加每週一次（用粵語的）興趣班，他在班中也肯用中文對話。用中文語境的無壓力興趣班，我也看見的確是一個好方法。謝謝提醒！搬屋後可能也會找中文的足球班給他(現在是英語的)。

想請問你現在和女兒是全中文溝通還是一半一半？我估一家三口一起時要用英文吧？想問問孩子有否resist和你講中文，或是你用中文問她用英文答等等的情況？孩子KG及黎緊primary是讀國際學校嗎？謝謝分享!

jolalee

himching 發表於 14-4-8 10:48
為興趣學任何事物, 這個大方向基本上是正確, 效果亦會事半功倍的.

問題是如何實行?因在實行前需要清晰一 ...

的確，方言及字體不一致是學習中文其中最大的障礙。我也希望孩子能入到用繁體字教中文的IS。他現時的KG是bilingual並用繁體中文的，但明年的龍校是用簡體教。我也覺得頭痛。

其實簡體字也不難學，我自己也有簡體字的書籍，看慣了也不大問題。和內地學生用書信溝通 (some charity work i did years ago), 她們用簡體寫我用繁體答，其實也不是太大問題。我只希望仔仔和我一樣adaptable. 最後阿媽係女人都係嗰句：學習動力最重要。認識不少男孩為追韓妹，幾個月內韓文變得lock lock聲都有

清晰具體學習目標最大問題是：粵語及繁體的精彩讀物是否越來越少？我是倪匡馬榮成教大的，但看未來趨勢, 你覺得好看的東西，會是台灣還是內地出品？近來有什麼好看的兒童書籍？我兒子愛engineering, 三歲幾要求我買「兒童的科學」給他 (當然係因為隨書送玩具@.@), 好像是香港出的，質素算幾好。

jolalee

feipow 發表於 14-4-8 12:28
我反而喺屋企9成時間中文，中英文書佢都會睇⋯⋯所以我希望製造多啲中文語言環境俾佢，等佢熟悉啲而有興趣多啲，學字都易上手啲。

你小朋友現在幾大？考到IS前是否與他用英語溝通？有沒有曾經因轉台而產生關係上的問題？
你孩子的IS是否用IB? 因為IB很需要thinking language清晰深入；我怕用全中文和孩子溝通會影響他日後的deep inner thoughts.

jolalee

oooray 發表於 14-4-8 12:29
回覆 jolalee 的帖子

1.興趣不是打做出來的。

YUP, 一定要了解個別孩子的喜好，所以我會用少林足球、不會用小甜甜。

2.沒有興趣也可以” 小學畢業時能看懂中文報紙，可以寫到paragraph便可”；這目標太簡單了。自己教擔心影響親子關係? 坊間補習班一定可以幫到手。

是嗎？即係我目標可以set高啲？謝謝你！因為我自己的中文只是到這個程度，所以我以為IS的中文也大概是這樣。Again, i want my kid to like Chinese, not just learn it because it is a subject in school.

香港學生在「全球學生閱讀能力進展研究2011」中，母語閱讀能力位列全球45個參加研究國家和地區之首，但閱讀動機卻在排名中列為全球最低，並指出補習無助提升學生成績。

https://m.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10151215651023110&_ft_=fbid.10151215651023110&_rdr

一句講晒：谷出黎。這是我最不希望看到的 (I can do it, but i hate doing it.)

3.要求與孩子中文對答? 一步一步來；別操之過急。

現在我孩子三歲，還有點點「鸚鵡學語」的特質，即我講一句他重複同一句 (中文英文都是)。我要求他說，他便乖乖repeat, 我希望在這sensitive period 未fade away前好好利用，希望他中英文根基都打得好。當然，如果我feel到他不喜歡，我會立即停止，容後再慢慢試。近日可能用中文的朋友見多了、多啦A夢看多了，他少了之前對中文的抗拒，並好像明白中文的好處。

4.語言只是溝通的媒介；用不擅長的語言去溝通；只會事倍功半。

讚成！經大家指點後我決定用返粵語讀故仔。無胃又俾個三歲豆釘寸我讀錯發音⋯⋯

jolalee

torunpoland 發表於 14-4-8 16:31
早晚各一語，我未聽過，可能是我寡聞薄見．我聽過父母各一語，及家校各一語，兩者已獲驗證的成功雙語培養方 ...

WOW你的中文很好，也很用心希望把自己所長傳給子女。感動!

父母各一語對幼兒是最好的方法，可借我老公工作忙，性格文靜。要他擔當語言導師，實在有點不合適。而知道心儀龍校沒有native level English入到的機會很微，家校各一語不夠，又不想孩子接觸不到中文，唯有我暫時一人演二角囉。孩子現在三歲英文極為流暢，vocab也懂很多，但grammatic structure依然需下點功夫。中文肯講，已經比一些同年齡IS學生好了。進了龍校，現在中文可以開始加碼。

我也讚成中文問題用中文答，英文問題英文答，不能中英夾雜。現時孩子是願意跟我講的，但我會按表現在要求方面調整。日常生活中我喜歡和孩子看地鐵站名當遊戲認字，都幾好玩。在外國讀中學時也有找了本唐詩三百首來看。雖然自己中文背景不好，但也很愛中國文化。長恨歌也背了，也背過登鸛雀樓給孩子聽，不過始終小小的宇宙給孩子背容易些。孩子和我都熱愛音樂，唱起上來大家開心。

如果不介意，想問問你孩子現在多大？KG是IB的嗎？英文26個字母未寫、如果是K1 IB, 那完全沒問題，下年很快會進步的。大家繼續努力!

jolalee

annie40 發表於 14-4-8 22:07
jolalee,

妳的期望很合理，如果能預備得早，安排得好，孩子的閱寫能力，必可應付日常的生活的。自己不是很 ...

Annie, 謝謝你的鼓勵！仔仔現在中文對答很一般，但剛發現如果我把答案告訴他，他還會鸚鵡學語地重複給我講一次，像年多前學英文一樣。慶幸這黃金學語言時期還未過去，我會好好把握追粵語的。至於普通話，yup，都係留番俾普通話老師吧！我相信我會慢慢加碼中文，但現時他英語還差點兒（主要grammatic structure要到四歲才成熟），所以還需要下多一點功夫。可能暫時70%中文吧 (^^)

我想請教你孩子入讀IS前你是否以英文與孩子溝通？現在是100%廣東話嗎？轉了中文有沒有影響孩子英文的思維能力？她現在是用中文還是英文思想的？用中文溝通親子方面有沒有面對什麼阻礙？謝謝你的指引!!




在發帖24小時內有如此多有質素的回覆，覺得IS家長對孩子的全人發展及中文程度十分關注及熱心，也有不少經驗(both good and bad) 和好提議，讓大家一起討論學習，實感恩慰。知道學好中文是up hill battle, 慶幸有你們一起，互相勉勵！

elmostoney

1.  Speak Chinese with your kids at home.  If they lack a language environment (English at school and at home), how can they have any interest?

2.  Different children's personalities will require different methods.  By chance, both my kids went to at 100% Mandarin kindergarten (no English, no Cantonese) until 4 to 4.5 yo, but it didn't preclude my older one from disliking Chinese.  She doesn't mind listening to stories and conversing, but it is a very difficult language for her to learn to write and read.  I have learned to relax.  I hire a Mandarin tutor and we have discussed the best ways to go about.  Her lesson is comprised of story telling, a basic textbook for her to follow the curriculum, then learn to read a book/story that she likes.  With patience, she is making slow but steady progress.  I started her off to learn Chinese characters (reading only) at 4.5.  She is almost eight now, but she has only been able to grasp some fundamentals during the last year.

3.  With my younger one, I have much better luck.  He doesn't think learning Chinese is a daunting task, so he is much more receptive.  In fact, I can easily put him back in a LS P1 if I want to come this September (he is 大仔 if he he joins LS P1) and he wouldn't have a problem.

So with my older one,  我真係物方法都試過.  private tutor, group class (3 to 4 kids), teaching her on my own.  漢字五百, 四五快讀, Dora in Mandarin, 叮噹 (she likes this series immensely, so we are teaching her to read), storybooks with pinyin to guide her in reading, audiobook companion (I recently found a Mandarin Martine series with pinyin and audio, so I let her listen to it while reading), and of course, reading chinese story books to her myself.  I have even gotten our private tutor to teach me the rudimentary of pinyin so I can read stories to them to a certain extent. She is easily discouraged, so I don't want to emphasize on her level.  I want to sustain her interest.  

個人意見, 同我個女掙扎左咁耐, 如果學校係教簡體嘅, 而小朋友本身對中文已抗拒, 唔好為左家長個人對繁體情感而要小朋友係學校學簡體, 返屋企學繁體, 咁只會增加小朋友loading, 學得更差.  實際來講, 讀得is, 你唔會期望個小朋友做中文文人卦?  夠用就得.  繁體可以有機會教下佢讀, 但寫真係寫簡體容易好多.  而家新一代個個中文輸入都用拼音, 之後繁簡互轉按一個制就得. 當然如果你個小朋友無所謂, 兩樣拼行都無不可.  我家老二其實可以兩樣拼行, 但係我睇過佢地學校個中文syllabus, 雖然及唔上LS, 但都唔淺, 如果學校教得超容易, 咁就話冇所謂姐,但學校都有一定程度, 佢都要追得上.  我唔想佢讀到咁辛苦, 比佢讀IS其中一個主因真係homework load, 所以係我立場, 唔想佢學兩種系統. 只係會係認字讀書時, 有時會比佢讀下繁體就算.

仲有, 香港好睇嘅課外書唔多, 要睇書, 真係要台灣大陸. 台灣書好則好, 但到你小朋友大d, 唔再睇咁多繪本, 你就會發現台灣注音對小朋友學習係冇用, 因我地唔係學佢地個套.  係大陸買簡體, 有好多注音版, 我都買左一大堆, 起碼小朋友可以自己睇下, 又或要求佢讀下比你聽.  

himching

jolalee 發表於 14-4-9 00:44
的確，方言及字體不一致是學習中文其中最大的障礙。我也希望孩子能入到用繁體字教中文的IS。他現時的KG是bi ...

哈哈, 我也是馬榮成教大的, 當然重有黃玉郎有睇過早期"龍虎門" , 對話都寫得幾好架, 有時對一啲"社團用語"重有附註解釋.

對於三地邊啲書好, 要先分係自然科學定人民科學, 如果屬自然科學, 基本上沒有分別, 只係以故事形式表達, 定係說教形式表達, 個人會喜歡如外國的Magic School Bus 方式, 小朋友易接受.

但如果是人民科學, 即創造故事, 個人會用台灣書, 國內多是好人有好報的故事.


最近發現 "100層樓的家+地下100層樓的家", 都幾得意.

himching

重有一個學語言概念,個人覺得有待商榷, 就係小朋友可以同時handle幾種語言, 例子是小孩在家可同時與Grandparent, 菲傭, 溝通. 即見人講人話, 見鬼講鬼話. 但要有此效果, 必須有一位可以handle有關語言能力. 留意小朋友初期同人說話是望住大人的. 個人為仔女初頭都中文兼重同仔女溝通, 但後來好中英都唔得, 因為佢地對住我同一個人唔知係講中定英, 但對Grandparent一定講中文, 所以後來決定入IS, 就全程英文, 後來佢一同我地溝通就自然反應用英文. 好彩都入到IS. 依家要同我講中文就辛苦了.

jolalee

himching 發表於 14-4-9 12:01
重有一個學語言概念,個人覺得有待商榷, 就係小朋友可以同時handle幾種語言, 例子是小孩在家可同時與Grandpa ...

單一家長中英兼重是一個非常困難的方法，需要很強的自制力和語文能力。不能一句中一句英。定了說中文的時段要全程說中文，說英文的時段要全程說英文。這方法我朋友也提及過，但她自己實行起來卻同時間普英粵炒埋一碟！而不知是有雞先還是有蛋先，她孩子有speech delay，所以在勸告下她都是用返粵語，孩子經過therapy後現在肯說話了。

如果一早鎖定孩子入讀IS，又想他日後不抗拒中文，當然是一位家長一個語言，而最好是（主力照顧孩子的）母親說英文、父親說中文，來達到Native English Speaker的要求。（以我家庭各人對孩子的溝通量來計，如果爸爸說英媽媽說中便達不到孩子能流暢地說英語的目標）到孩子兩歲多時，我們也發現仔仔英文非常好，但中文exposure不夠，而且爸爸不懂看中文，兒子拿中文書叫爸爸讀時，大家只能苦笑。我唯有用曾經讀過及聽見過的方法：每日定時轉語言來彌補孩子中文不足的問題。方法聽落簡單，就是上午用用英文，孩子午睡後改用中文和他溝通。孩子起初真的抗拒，為何講開英文的媽媽會跟我說中文呢？（如果出生便開始這樣做，成較可能會好些，但一定要忍得住定時說一語這規矩）如Annie40所說，恆心和耐心是關鍵。兒子不悅時轉回英文，但過一會兒孩子不介意時又繼續說中文（都只是下午時段才實行）。這樣熬了一年，兒子聽和說中文的能力高了，而剛剛考進心儀IS，所以更少顧忌可多用中文了。

elmostoney

I second FattyDaddy.  The uphill battle is reading and writing.  Picture books like 100層樓的家, etc. I also have tons at home.  Aural and oral skills are not a problem, UNLESS you choose to converse in English at home.  Since English is the medium in school and among their school friends, I don't think you need to worry about their ability to think methodically in English!  It will come in time.  Instead, they need to have as much Chinese exposure as possible.  Now that my kids are 6 and 8, I can honestly say that it is a preferred approach -- at least in my case.  

And then there is the writing and reading -- a completely different territory.  

md23

Just a tip for you, another recommended method is to use English and Chinese on alternate days. I have read a couple books on bilingual and trilingual. Never heard of Am/Pm switch.

jolalee

回覆 elmostoney 的帖子

I am so glad i started this post! Now i know where i should concentrate my firearms!

Yes, definitely trying to do more Chinese with my boy. As i said, my spoken Chinese is not 100% myself, so i will try my best to speak only in Chinese. LOL. I bought a few books from 誠品 yesterday. I tried looking for engaging books with clear large text (that's why i didn't choose "100 Floors"; the text is too small for a 3-year-old), stories/activities that i know my son would like. He seemed to enjoy them.

In regards to my constant worry about hindering his ability to have deep inner thoughts if i speak in Chinese, i guess i need to explain it a bit further. It's something which i learned from the former kindie principal of YCIS in a seminar, that kids without a dominant language will have trouble having deep inner thoughts; that's why she emphasized parents speaking to their kids in their mother tongue. After the seminar i had a quick chat with her. i spoke to her about my family's situation and she agreed that using English as his dominant language is a better option. I guess the key is to speak to your child in the language you are fluent with, and since i am not 100% in either language but are okay with both, i guess we are fortunate to have the option to do the major switch if necessary. Thanks again everyone for helping me make up my mind. I owe this forum SOOOO much!!

Anyhow, since i have been speaking to my son mainly in English for over 2 years, it is difficult for him to reply to me purely in Chinese. Thankful though that he is willing to try, and recently (as in the past two days after i started the thread) he has been improving drastically after i have somewhat made up my mind. 我們會繼續努力的，謝謝你們！歡迎繼續給予意見，共勉之!

jolalee

md23 發表於 14-4-10 09:28
Just a tip for you, another recommended method is to use English and Chinese on alternate days. I ha ...

Alternate days? wow, that i haven't heard about. Thank you for your suggestion though.
For the benefit of others can you share the titles of the books you read? (i hope you are not as mindless as me, who forgot to jot my library reference down)

Now that my son has pass that stage, we are going full throttle on Chinese at home ;) (except for English reading & role play time; given all our Thomas & Friends materials are in English, it is quite difficult to pretend to be the Fat Controller and speak in Chinese, LOL)

FattyDaddy

jolalee 發表於 14-4-10 03:21
她孩子有speech delay，所以在勸告下她都是用返粵語，孩子經過therapy後現在肯說話了。 ...

Research shows it is normal for children who are in multilingual environments to start talking (much) later than children in monolingual environments, probably because their brains have to absorb and be properly prepared to handle more than one language. Your friend was a bit too eager and took that as a "problem", but then it is difficult not to when her neighbour's children of the same age were already chirping away like uncaged birds.

The moral of the story is, if you don't follow the crowd to go down the mainstream, don't bother to compare yourself with the crowd, that will only prompt you to rejoin them.

jolalee

You are correct FattyDaddy, about the language delay for children in multilingual environments. Knowing that most IS mass intake happens in K1/2/3, that is the reason why i stick to doing one dominant language (English) with my child. I know if he lives abroad and can get into a quality school without the need to fight his way in, i would definitely give him a more dual language environment to begin with.

However, one parent mixing several languages at the same time is definitely NOT the way to go, especially at the stage when the baby is still learning to acquire language. Imagine a man talking to you in Dutch and Hebrew at the same time (given you do not know either language), how can you learn to speak either language properly? why would there be two words for the exact same object? how come the gramatic structure keep changing? etc.etc.

I guess the key to one parent per language, or fixed time/day language learning is CLARITY. As the language professor i mentioned earlier on in this thread, the key to language acquisition is COMPREHENSIBLE compelling input. If the language is not comprehensible, which is the most basic requirement, then it is doomed to fail.

Love your comment about comparing with the crowd will only prompt you to rejoin them. That is so true!!

elmostoney

I am not scrupulous about separating my English and Chinese speech.  Sometimes I lecture my kids in English and then do it a second time in Chinese.  I mix words together as well, but I will often translate in Chinese.  It's a habit of many HKers.  I observed that my children's fluency in both Chinese and English mature later than children raised in one dominant language.  However, since all IS children are often trained to read extensively in English, they will learn to think and organize very well --- in English, eventually.  When your child starts to read, you will see dramatic improvement.  I cannot emphasize enough that if you intend to place your child in an IS (unless the environment is predominantly locals and they converse in Cantonese most of the time outside of class), English reading and listening (and thoughts as well) ability is absolutely the last thing you need to worry.  Start worrying about the Chinese.  

I spoke to my daughter exclusively in English until she was almost 20 months.  After some discussions with my Montessori instructor, I realized that if I intend to put her in IS, the later I switch her back to Chinese, the more resistance I will encounter.  I switched right away.  It was very discouraging at first.  She would not respond (mostly because she didn't understand), or if she did, it would be in English.  When she eventually started to respond in Chinese, for 2 years, she sounded like a gweilo speaking Cantonese.  Now she is fine.  Still there are terms that she knows, but it comes to her easier in English.  

FattyDaddy

jolalee 發表於 14-4-10 10:16
However, one parent mixing several languages at the same time is definitely NOT the way to go ...

Yes, one parent sticking to one language all the time is ideal. If that is not possible, dividing the languages between even and odd days or like yourself between AM and PM is another option. Your friend could have tried these more distinct mixing before opting for "therapy", I guess the child is now speaking like "normal" but 100% Cantonese?

cowmoon

我女兒有輕微的中文讀寫問題。感恩現在七歲的她，已進步了很多，可讀簡易拼音版的西遊記等，同時也喜歡英文圖書。
我的經驗是：
1. 對 IS 的華人學生，聽和說中文大多都沒有問題的。困難的是讀寫。
2. 學習普通話拼音對認字弱的（如我囡）好有幫助。畢竟，本來一句十個字有五個字不認得，真是好 frustrating，也不要說怎樣培養到閱讀興趣了。但有了拼音，那不懂的五個字可以拼出來，大約估到句子的意思。
3. 我囡囡是寫和認讀並行。即是，當她真正學識那個字怎樣寫，她才認讀到那個字。
4. 學寫字的方法：像我囡，如果讓她對著字抄，她是抄一百次也不記得的。幼兒園老師教的方法，就是每一個字由媽媽拆件再拆筆劃一路講一路寫，例如個"打"字，首先係 tick 手邊，橫、直鈎再一 tick ... 囡囡留心睇媽媽寫的過程，聲圖動作齊哂，之後輪到佢寫，如果發現她未完全領略到，再重覆以上程序（媽媽寫一次，囡囡寫一次）。我買了大量十元五本的格仔簿，這幾年也不知寫了多少本，我自己的硬筆書法大有進步！最初是痛苦的，但當她儲到一定的識字量，所有的都會 pay off，因為大部份中文字，來來去去都是那些部件。
5. 閱讀興趣：每晚伴讀簡易版的中國經典故事，例如西遊記民間故事神話等等，所有小孩都喜歡 myths, legends, fairy tales 這類的。我覺得最洋化的孩子，反而會覺得最古典 chinese 的特別有型，武術中樂書法都有不少洋孩子有興趣的。讓她喜歡一些只有在中文書裡才有的 character，如果她喜歡孫悟空 (或者叮噹喜羊羊也可以），她自然會自己讀，我在家有西遊記小說，囡囡會看，她在圖書館見到西遊記漫畫，如獲至寶。