Educating kids and education in Singapore has always be heavily emphasized on. Billingualism is the norm here as it’s compulsory to learn English and your mother tongue (which is Mandarin for my kids).
From Kindergarten, they are taught both English and Mandarin with the majority of lessons in English. Maths, Science , Art & Crafts and other subjects are all thought using the English medium. Exposure to Mandarin has been limited to the 1 hour Chinese lesson which they have in school.
I personally feel that it doesn’t give them enough exposure to Mandarin as they are not using the language to communicate most of the time while they are in school. English is still the dominant language which is used in teaching.
To get my kids ready for school I have been teaching them in both English and Mandarin since they were born. I have been collecting and using flashcards and other related teaching material to practice with them. We do reading of storybooks in both English and Mandarin before bedtime.
I feel that they should be most comfortable expressing themselves in both English and Mandarin and be able to switch effortlessly from one language to another. For them to do so I need to ground them in their vocabulary and written and spoken ability in Mandarin more then English. The limited exposure that they have in school shouldn’t be carried on into the home and I give the kids maximum opportunity to converse in Mandarin when they are at home.
Once they are very fluent in these two languages we will be moving onto Japanese and French.
How do you foster Bilingualism with your kids?
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Nan ~ Playful Decor
September 22, 2012 at 1:33 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Hi Dominique, thank you for visiting my blog!
Oh, every few months we say we need to start a language course! How do you find the time? We also have a piano (for 6 months!) and haven’t started lessons on that. I still wrestle with which language to have my kids learn – do you have thoughts on this? With English as our language not sure whether to start Spanish or French early since they’ll get that in school or do Mandarin, German or Italian? Do you have a post on how to decided which language? Thanks!
I left you a note in response to your comment. If you start decorating your son’e room would it help to join a monthly link party to show your progress? I may re-start Tuesday’s Nursery which is focused on showing the progress of decorating a kids room (any age!). I need to do my boys, too, and another said she need to do her daughter’s room. Maybe we can keep each other motivated! Let me know what you think.
Dominique
September 22, 2012 at 8:32 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
@Nan,
I try to incorporate using of Mandarin, English and Cantonese on a daily basis when I communicate with the kids.I’m verse in all 3 so it is not much of a problem. To me I feel that introducing them as early as possible to different language will make them more responsive and they pick up language effortlessly when they are young. Actually my kids are able to understand all 3 languages in including the 2yr old.
In your case I would suggest that you go with the language which you think you are most comfortable in for their 2nd language. I haven’t written a post on how to decide which language but that is certainly food for thought.
For me since we are Chinese it is important for them to learn both Mandarin and our dialect Cantonese. I personally have learned basic Japanese and French also and feel that since most people in the world are able to speak French it will be an asset to them. I’ve started basic Japanese with the them as they love Japanese food so they should be able to at least read the menu at a Japanese restaurant. We also introduce them to Korean/KPOP since it is the in thing now.
I’ll certainly join in your monthly link party once I start decorating both the boys and my girl’s room.
christine
September 22, 2012 at 3:48 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Considering I am monolingual I do not do anything!! It’s one of the sad things of growing up in America – thought I do think it is changing for newer generations. I do encourage my children to take spanish in school and my oldest is in his 3rd year, so he should be close to fluent by the time he is done. I took spanish and while I know lots of words, I never quite grasped how to use them in complete sentences. It is definitely on my list of things to do! I think it is so wonderful that you are doing this for you children. It’s really important.
DelSheree
September 22, 2012 at 4:19 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
I really applaud your efforts to teach your children both languages. My husband speaks fluent Portugeuse and does well with Spanish, and we would like to teach our kids but neither of them are interested. We’re trying to find ways to make it more exciting for them to learn a foreign language.
Rosey
September 22, 2012 at 4:25 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
I don’t, but I help my niece to by giving her items that teach both Spanish and English for her son who they are trying to teach both languages.
It’s amazing that in so many places people seem to be fluent in more than one language. I think it’s wonderful.
Family Travels on a Budget
September 22, 2012 at 4:43 am (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Funny story. We learned some basic Mandarin before traveling to China to bring our daughter to her forever family. It turns out she was born in a Cantonese province and had never heard Mandarin in her whole life! Oh well. She knows how to say, “I love you” and a few other things in Mandarin now.
Daddy Allan
September 22, 2012 at 1:00 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
I think when a person is good in English, they can be global competitivge too since this laguage has been used as the best tool for language barriers among other nationalities. However, we must still not forget our own language. I teach our son English too but still we are talking to him in our natural language.
I knew some that they haven’t knew how to speak or understand their own language because they are grown to speak english. Their parents talk to them in English too even they are just here in our country. Sometimes, they have hard time to play with other kids since most kids in their vicinity does not use English as primary language.
-daddy allan (visit from BCB)
Pepper Tan
September 23, 2012 at 3:29 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Yes, I too believe it’s important to foster bilingualism in kids. As for my daughter, I talk to her in English, but she also is comfortable with the native language when she talks to her peers. It’s important she grows up being fluent in both.
Buckeroomama
September 23, 2012 at 7:26 pm (UTC 8) Link to this comment
Our kids only get 45 minutes per day at school for Mandarin and I feel it is not enough. We do try (when we remember!) to speak with them in Mandarin, but it”s rather challenging as we find it easier to communicate in English. Now, I make an effort to read to them in Mandarin at least once a week… just simple articles or stories (with the help of pinyin!) to begin with. They often ask what certain words or phrases mean, so I have to read the article or the story first and do my homework to make sure that I would be able to answer questions they might ask!