Kids studying in Int'l Schools with few Chinese Lessons

Vrindavan

Kids studying in Int'l Schools with few Chinese Lessons

as a parent,
do you worry about your kids Chinese ability
if your kid is studying now at an IS that provide little Chinese classes.

Why or why not ?

Please discuss.

Ruby1219

I'm keen to have my kid able to read and write Chinese. Afterall, we are Chinese and I think it's shameful for our kids to just speak and read English.

He's having 0.5 hour of Chinese/Mandarin now everyday in kindergarten. Also, I'm teaching him Chinese word cards everyday. He will have Chinese/Cantonese lessons everyday in primary school, therefore, I have hired a private tutor to teach him Chinese/Mandarin. And, I might continue teaching him Chinese word cards by myself.

Ruby

hangkeelong

Ruby1219,
你真係一個好好的媽咪, 你一定很用心教你的小朋友, 坦白講,我相信會有少少白費心機, 我個仔兩歲開始教他背三字經,唐詩, 兩歲半憧背一半三字經和40首唐詩, 後來他上幼兒班之後, 太多 attraction, 他對這些東西就沒興趣了, 因他不明意思, 最重要的是對他沒有義意, 他和老師同學講, 完全無反應, 現在他也忘記了很多, 我相信學習係要motivation 兼且 peer group 用唔用, 不過相信你小朋友讀的那間 I.S.會好D. Anyway, 我覺得要中英文都非常好,太難了,生活上用得到就O.K.啦. 最緊要有愉快的學習回憶.

WYmom

Kids can learn a lot of words, but they also forget easily if they do not use them.  So no matter English or Chinese, after learning, they must have the chance to use them in their daily life (reading books, newspapers, writing letters etc) to reinforce their memory.  That's why it takes so many years to learn a language very well.

For Chinese, I see that it is more important for kids to have chance to write more, as we speak in Cantonese cannot help them learning proper Chinese.  It is also obvious that peer group learning is much more effective than teaching by parents as kids like to do things with their friends together.

Vrindavan

>> forget easily if they do not use them

yes, we will not read a book two times in two languages.

once we read a book in English,
there is no point to read it again in its Chinese translation version.

Esp. the translation is done badly by book publishers.

yes, now we prepare our kids to learn more Chinese,
we should worry about them if they use mostly English in future, they will still forget Chinese after they graduated.

i have learned and mastered many things at school.

But I forgot most of the things i learned from school because i do not need to touch them again

a waste of time  ??

Ruby1219

Yes, I do agree that practice and putting the language in use if very important. Therefore, I do also read one Chinese (very simple one) and one English book w/ my son everyday. And he would get a little reward (e.g. sticker) if he can finish that book and answer a few questions correctly (to show that he really understands the story). Of course it's nothing easy. I have great pressure to continue doing this exercise everyday, make it a habit of us (not only my son's, it's also my job !).

While, I believe that as we are living in HK, he would have a lot of chances to read and touch Chinese, e.g. traffic signs, menus, newspaper, magazines, so it's not that difficult to keep him in touch of Chinese and have more practice. It's more how determined and hard-working we are.

阿胡

Ruby1219 寫道:
Yes, I do agree that practice and putting the language in use if very important. Therefore, I do also read one Chinese (very simple one) and one English book w/ my son everyday. And he would get a little reward (e.g. sticker) if he can finish that book and answer a few questions correctly (to show that he really understands the story). Of course it's nothing easy. I have great pressure to continue doing this exercise everyday, make it a habit of us (not only my son's, it's also my job !).

While, I believe that as we are living in HK, he would have a lot of chances to read and touch Chinese, e.g. traffic signs, menus, newspaper, magazines, so it's not that difficult to keep him in touch of Chinese and have more practice. It's more how determined and hard-working we are.

看得出來﹐你確實是位好媽媽。事實上﹐來BK交流的有好多好媽媽﹐好爸爸﹐但學好中文同有好媽媽好爸爸無關。學好中文只同一樣東西有關﹐那就是小朋友的同學是不是讀中文﹐寫中文。

如果父母堅持同小朋友講中文，那恭喜你，你的小朋友一定會講中文。

如果父母堅持同小朋友讀中文﹐寫中文﹐而不是讓他同同學一起學，那祝你好運。

認為香港有traffic signs, menus, newspaper, magazines, 能幫你小朋友學中文，那更要祝你好運。

Cayenne

. . . . . 但學好中文同有好媽媽好爸爸無關。學好中文只同一樣東西有關﹐那就是小朋友的同學是不是讀中文﹐寫中文 . . . . . . 。

這箇 . . . 這箇 . . . 真不好說   我有點不敢苟同.
我相信視乎父母的感染力多些罷 . 同學又怎有可能是唯一因素 ? 我從來不覺得老師和同學會影嚮到我寫讀中文 ,小兒的情況亦是一樣. 至於講讀中文 , 很高興你也同意可以在家訓綀.

因為歸根究底 , 寫作閱讀不同合唱 , 寫作閱讀是一個孤獨的歷程, 要自己走的. 說起「根」, 我猛然醒起小兒在港時 , 在看一本中文書 , 是馬嚴君玲醫生寫的「落葉歸根」 ( 即 Falling Leaves , by Aldeline Yen Mah ). 小兒在 HKIS時 , 絕大部份時間用英文 , 那又為何他會捨英文版 Falling Leaves 而取 中文版 「落葉歸根」?
希望各位不要誤會我在炫耀. 我只是希望讓有興趣和毅力的家長知道 :

「有志者事竟成」. Yes ! It can be done !

Vrindavan

>> 因為歸根究底 , 寫作閱讀不同合唱 , 寫作閱讀是一個孤獨的歷程, 要自己走的

agree

>> 認為香港有traffic signs, menus, newspaper, magazines, 能幫你小朋友學中文，那更要祝你好運。

not sure if i can catch your meaning,
i maybe right or wrong  

>> 那又為何他會捨英文版 Falling Leaves 而取 中文版 「落葉歸根」?

if i understand both languages,
i will select the author's writing language,
not the translated version

Now it comes to the book topics,
whether the kid likes to read mainly foreign books or books by Chinese authors

Ruby1219

阿胡,

<<如果父母堅持同小朋友讀中文﹐寫中文﹐而不是讓他同同學一起學，那祝你好運。>>

<<認為香港有traffic signs, menus, newspaper, magazines, 能幫你小朋友學中文，那更要祝你好運。>>

Honestly, the way you responded (so sacarstic) made me feel quite uneasy (very honestly). We are all here to share our experience and opinion, if you don't agree, ok. But no need to use such kind of  attitude to feedback.

Ruby

阿胡

Ruby1219 寫道:
阿胡,

<<如果父母堅持同小朋友讀中文﹐寫中文﹐而不是讓他同同學一起學，那祝你好運。>>

<<認為香港有traffic signs, menus, newspaper, magazines, 能幫你小朋友學中文，那更要祝你好運。>>

Honestly, the way you responded (so sacarstic) made me feel quite uneasy (very honestly). We are all here to share our experience and opinion, if you don't agree, ok. But no need to use such kind of  attitude to feedback.

Ruby

Ruby,

如果我的答復使你不舒服﹐我講聲對不住。

將事論事﹐過去二十來年，我見過的情形不只幾百，有各種家庭背景的，住在不同國家的，包括我自己的孩子。結論是，靠父母學會中文讀和寫的可能性真係好小好小好小。

我真希望世上有專家能系統地研究一下﹐如何能夠教會小朋友雙語。

有時我會懷疑，可能人類的遺傳密碼並未包含可以讓人在18歲之前同時學會中英文而達到母語程度的能力。

阿胡

Cayenne,

可以讓大家知道多一點你孩子中英雙語學習的情況嗎? 我想, 很多BK的家長都會有興趣了解怎樣才能讓孩子成功學會雙語, 包括我自己.

多謝先!

Cayenne

阿胡 寫道:
Cayenne,

可以讓大家知道多一點你孩子中英雙語學習的情況嗎? 我想, 很多BK的家長都會有興趣了解怎樣才能讓孩子成功學會雙語, 包括我自己.
多謝先!

其實也無甚特別.
小朋友如果重英輕中 , 多半是由父母師長自己一手做成 . 當然社會風氣亦有影嚮. 好像很多港姐候選人 、偶像派歌手甚麼的 , 總喜歡標榜自己「我係美國長大架 , 鬼妹仔黎架 , 唔識中文架 . . .  :tongue:  」
我自己對中英文一視同仁  , 同樣的欣賞和尊重 , 小朋友自小耳濡目染而已.  :

阿胡

Cayenne 寫道:
[quote]
阿胡 寫道:
Cayenne,

可以讓大家知道多一點你孩子中英雙語學習的情況嗎? 我想, 很多BK的家長都會有興趣了解怎樣才能讓孩子成功學會雙語, 包括我自己.
多謝先!

其實也無甚特別.
小朋友如果重英輕中 , 多半是由父母師長自己一手做成 . 當然社會風氣亦有影嚮. 好像很多港姐候選人 、偶像派歌手甚麼的 , 總喜歡標榜自己「我係美國長大架 , 鬼妹仔黎架 , 唔識中文架 . . .  :tongue:  」
我自己對中英文一視同仁  , 同樣的欣賞和尊重 , 小朋友自小耳濡目染而已.  : [/quote]

我都好一視同仁架, 但唔得喔........

    

alexlui

阿胡 寫道:
Cayenne,

可以讓大家知道多一點你孩子中英雙語學習的情況嗎? 我想, 很多BK的家長都會有興趣了解怎樣才能讓孩子成功學會雙語, 包括我自己.

多謝先!

This is a very good book talking about raising bilingual children.

如何教幼兒學習識字閱讀
作者         胡雁
出版社         明報出版社有限公司
ISBN         9628841394
出版年月         2004-07
語文版本         中文(繁)
定價         HK$49.00