Which international schools have less than 50% Chinese?

bebemuimui

People always argue it is hard to learn Chinese, however it is also hard to learn English as well. I have seen a few who don't speak and write even studying abroad at 15, though listening skills very good.
Based on my observation, some native speakers (near native speakers) parents are willing to send their kids to those bilingual (RC, ISF) or even local schools, given that the kids are also native speakers. They could enjoy learning Chinese there.
As a parent who has never been studying abroad, I have stopped speaking to my daughter in English after she went to a traditional int school since P1. Reason is I don't want her picking up my Chinglish. Now I am glad that she speaks English like a native speaker, while her native language is still Chinese.
To live in HK, it would be ideal to master both the 2 languages very well. It seems to me that every family has a different background and therefore a different need. There is no need to rank the school.


On the other hand, there are a lot of Chinese kids in int schools who speak Cantonese in Gwei lo accent, though they are raised up by local hk parents.

bobbycheung

其實依d心路歷程, 好多家長都經歷過. 只是唔同嘅階段, 有唔同嘅"煩惱". 首先係驚學唔好英文. 英文可以時, 又驚中文唔夠好, 將來在香港生活唔方便.  到廣東話ok時, 又擔心國語唔夠好, 將來怎北望神州? 其次係課外活動. 你做A時, 又發覺其他小朋友做B,C,D,E..........  個細路咁細, 又唔知佢鍾意邊樣. 咪唯有人做你做, 樣樣試吓. 跟住就係揾學校. 首先係驚入唔到申請嘅學校. 比你入到時, 又想轉去間聽聞學業成績好d嘅. 比你真係入到, 可能又發覺同學間兢爭太大, 壓力太大............. 總之就係無時停, 永遠都想東想西. 最後諗返轉頭, 孩子係健康已經好感恩. 如果長大後係一個沒有大問題嘅"快樂正直好人", 目標已經達到. 孩子同父母嘅關係, 家庭係唔係溫暖和睦, 依d遠比中英文有幾好, 讀書有幾叻, 讀邊間學校, 更為重要.

bebemuimui

I think it is risky to give up Chinese so early for local HK parents. Chinese is important and without that your kid could have limited choices in the career.
My ideal level is reading Mingpao at ease and writing business reports in Chinese. Passing in Dse exam Chi subject is unrealistic and unnecessary.

bobbycheung

bebemuimui 發表於 15-3-1 12:25
I think it is risky to give up Chinese so early for local HK parents. Chinese is important and witho ...

小朋友細個時我都有你一樣的顧慮. 依家大咗都己沒有諗依d問題. 只希望佢地盡力而為已經ok咯. 如果我好似你咁驚小朋友 pick up 自己嘅 Chinglish 口音而唔同佢講英文, 咁我就大鑊啦. 因為我d廣東話有李嘉誠嘅口音(可惜只得依一様野似佢), 咁我又唔可以同佢講廣東話, 我又唔識國語, 唔通唔好同d小朋友講野, 只用文字溝通? 你為孩子著想係啱嘅, 不過最終"兒孫自有兒孫福", 不用太緊張.

readymama

回覆 bobbycheung 的帖子

Agree !

annie40

回覆 bobbycheung 的帖子

在星加坡旅行行常見有爸爸用非常有限字𢑥的英語跟十多歳的兒子流利交談，究竟他們有否想過錯失了甚麼呢？
十多年前認識的印度中產家長，爸爸多數是bankers, 母語是印度語，只肯單一用英語跟孩子生活，當時十分體諒家長的苦心。今天回頭看是「沒有必要」這般做的。環境因素配合，雙語，三語並不困難，理解愈多各式文化，被薫陶和薰陶別人的能力便愈高，直接有利多向思維的發展。

bebemuimui

Li ka shing is a native Chinese speaker and Cantonese is also Chinese. I am not talking about accent only.

One of My parent are not speaking Chinese well (not first language) and frankly ideas could not expressed clearly. I feel confused most of the time. Sometimes I even ask myself whether it has impacted my speech development.

Given that my daughters can be exposed to the full English speaking environment 6 hours a day, I think it is okay for her to learn Chinese through speaking with me. In fact, her class teacher recommends us to speak Chinese with them so that she does not get confused.

I have always

I have heard some secondary students

bebemuimui

I have always heard some secondary students who make fun of others simply because of the accent. For some people, the accent could hardly change after 7 years old. Therefore, I have never considered putting her in a local primary school and let her study abroad.

That's my own experience and perception. I just comment it is risky if giving up Chinese. If u have billions of dollar, u can hire a personal assistant to deal with the translation stuff. It does not matter if u are bilingual or not.

Mighty

我以前都以為如果父母講英文講得吾好、但又硬要同小朋友講、小朋友会有ＣＨＩＮＧＬＩＳＨ口音、但其実現在発現完全吾会的。　女児学校Ｄ同学、好多都係ＬＯＣＡＬ　ＨＯＮＧＫＯＮＧＥＲＳ，英文完全是港人英文、但小朋友完全没有本地口音。　観察一Ｄ新移民也是、只要小朋友在香港讀書的、一般也没有郷音。　但我不賛成硬要同小朋友講英文、特別是半英半中、真係聴到耳都凸。

DreamKid

原帖由 bobbycheung 於 15-03-01 發表
小朋友細個時我都有你一樣的顧慮. 依家大咗都己沒有諗依d問題. 只希望佢地盡力而為已經ok咯. 如果我好似你 ...

你好攪笑！

DreamKid

原帖由 bebemuimui 於 15-03-01 發表
I think it is risky to give up Chinese so early for local HK parents. Chinese is important and witho ...

Writing business reporting in Chinese? To be honest, I studied Chinese and Chinese Literature upto F7 but I cannot writing proper business report in Chinese.  It takes practice and if your work do not require that skills, it is difficult to acquire it ( like me )

hkparent

原帖由 DreamKid 於 15-03-01 發表
Writing business reporting in Chinese? To be honest, I studied Chinese and Chinese Literature upto F ...

Agree. But to be frank, international schools are for those who plan to work overseas in future. If your family will stay in Hk, it makes more sense to follow the local path.

jolalee

bobbycheung 發表於 15-3-1 13:25
小朋友細個時我都有你一樣的顧慮. 依家大咗都己沒有諗依d問題. 只希望佢地盡力而為已經ok咯. 如果我好似你 ...

我相信大家的主旨不是「避免用某種語言」，而是主要應該使用那種語言跟孩子溝通。
只要使用自己最順暢，最能直接表達內心感受的，那便用那種吧。

現在我跟孩子通常用廣東話對話，除以下情況外：
1) 有不懂中文的人在同一空間的時候，因為我教他那是基本的禮貌。
2) 講述某個technical subject, 因為我自己是用英文學的；用中文講我講得唔好。
ie. Explaining to him how buildings are constructed or about human biology etc.
3) 在疼駡他的時候，因為我鬧人時的確英文暢順好多 ，而且暫時還不想讓他對中文有negative connotation.

Bobby, 其實就算鄉下話係你最native的language, 你都可以同孩子講鄉下話。中文的確只是語音的分別，講邊種方言其實問題不大。我細個時阿媽同我講上海話，我pickup廣東話冇問題、我現在同仔仔講廣東話，仔仔pickup普通話比唔講中文的家庭都要快。

jolalee

DreamKid 發表於 15-3-1 20:58
Writing business reporting in Chinese? To be honest, I studied Chinese and Chinese Literature upto F ...

As long as a person has basic Chinese skills, the rest is possible to acquire.
I only studied Chinese until Grade 4 here in HK before our family emigrated, but believe it or not, i have written Chinese scripts for work when needed be (of course, scripts are easier then reports, but still, i pat myself on the back for being able to do it). True, even F7 graduate may not be able to write proper business report in Chinese, but Chinese business writing is possible with basic Chinese skills and the right mind set :)

jolalee

Mighty 發表於 15-3-1 15:29
我以前都以為如果父母講英文講得吾好、但又硬要同小朋友講、小朋友会有ＣＨＩＮＧＬＩＳＨ口音、但其実現在 ...

你指的是讀IS的小朋友，家長說港人英文而孩子英文沒有本地口音，對嗎？因為在香港讀書的孩子 (我指讀LS的孩子)，英文通常香港口音都好重。這包括很多名校，例如聖心、德望等。DGS是唯一的例外; 在加拿大曾認識一位同學是來自DG的，操標準英國口音。

通常在香港讀正規IS的孩子，包括家中說英語的白人，孩子都會操一種叫International School accent, 不英不美，很「圓」，這可能因為老師和同學都來自五湖四海。白人家長都通常接受那是事實。原來口音，的確跟生活環境的關係最密切。(而孩子的生活通常環繞學校)

其實口音還是其次，家長最重要的影響，還是孩子的情感及深層思維上的溝通。

bobbycheung

jolalee 發表於 15-3-2 00:30
我相信大家的主旨不是「避免用某種語言」，而是主要應該使用那種語言跟孩子溝通。
只要使用自己最順暢，最 ...

哈哈, 其實我唔理依d野嫁. 好似你話頭, 邊樣講得順, 講得流暢, 能夠清楚表逹我嘅意思, 咪講邊樣囉. 有時比佢地激到爆燈, 鬧佢地嘅時候, 試過粗口都出埋. 激氣起上嚟, 唔通仲好施文咁同佢地講文言文呀, 梗係諗到嘜野講嘜野啦.  對好多家長嚟講, 可能覺得我咁做係好唔應該, 驚d細路有樣學樣. 但我覺得這就是我, 無需在他們面前扮野或掩飾. 佢地平時聽到及見到嗰個就係我. 至於佢地同我講中文或英文, 我都無所謂, 總之佢地講得舒服及我聽得明咪得囉.

annie40

回覆 jolalee 的帖子

我現在同仔仔講廣東話，仔仔pickup普通話比唔講中文的家庭都要快。xxxxxx


Ye, I know what you mean.  Sometimes, I even notice that they have the passion to pick up Chinese cultures better than some Hong Kong kids.  

Mighty

通常在香港讀正規IS的孩子，包括家中說英語的白人，孩子都會操一種叫International School accent, 不英不美，很「圓」，這可能因為老師和同學都來自五湖四海。白人家長都通常接受那是事實。原來口音，的確跟生活環境的關係最密切。(而孩子的生活通常環繞學校)　

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

好遺憾、我自己老公是英国人、操一口標準英文口音、不知為何、自己個女一点都PICK UP吾到DADDY　D口音、正如你所講、女児就只有国際学校的口音、怪怪的。　反観一些本地家庭的学生、反而操英国、美国口音的多的是、何解？　大家都是同一学校。　DADDY是個FAMILY　MAN、成日都会同女児CHATTING。　更無奈的是、我対口音非常敏感、無論是広東話、普通話、英文、日文、不標準的、我都会聴得混身不自在。　無奈、無奈。

紅紅

原帖由 Mighty 於 15-03-02 發表
通常在香港讀正規IS的孩子，包括家中說英語的白人，孩子都會操一種叫International School accent, 不英不 ...

標準英國口音，即是英女皇口音，BBC口音，相信英國人能講呢種口音的人只佔很少部分呢 …… 其實問題在於你的敏感度，實在是無奈。

bobbycheung

其實口音依d野好難講, 除咗環境因素外, 仲有每人嘅天份都唔同. 我一個細路學德文好容易上手, 同德國人無異. 另外一個就struggling, 要好努力學習. 我自己就連英文嘅soap同soup都時常搞唔清楚(d細路成日笑我). 每個人都有某方面嘅天份或低能, 所以好難講.