Only bad memories of Chinese lessons stay

THE report,'Learning Chinese by rote a mistake', caught my interest. As a child, I was bilingual in English and Mandarin.

However, I focused more on English when I reached Primary 5.

I did so because it was easier to look up words in an English dictionary when reading.

I do not remember much of my Chinese lessons in secondary school, other than laborious, compulsory exercises I had to complete.

My Mandarin was peppered with English. I did not like speaking in this manner as I wanted to be more proficient in Mandarin.

I appreciated the value of Mandarin only when studying in the United States, when my non-Chinese friends saw that I was able to communicate with people from China and Taiwan.

Incidentally, I had two roommates, one from China and one an American, who was studying Mandarin.

We were all working on our language proficiency - the Chinese roommate in English, and the American and I in Mandarin.

After a year, all of us had improved significantly.

While holidaying in Singapore, my friends were surprised at my 'English-free' Mandarin.

My improvement was probably because I had used the language daily for communication instead of struggling to learn it in order to pass an examination.

I took this approach towards learning French in university, treating it as a communication tool instead of an exam subject, and did quite well in it.

I had a great interest in learning the language despite the many grammar rules.

Learning any language brings with it challenges, even English.

Previously, I could have told you if a sentence was grammatically right or wrong, but I could never tell you why.

I learnt more about grammar only when I was training to be an English-language teacher in Thailand.

Thai is rather tough to read and write. However, I was able to get by in my daily interactions with locals.

I am also learning conversational Japanese.

If I had dived headlong into studying the grammar and script of both languages, that would have put me off.

Learning how to listen and speak first piqued my curiosity and encouraged me to learn more about how the language was read and written.

I could not agree more with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew when he highlighted the importance of rousing children's interest in a language.

This is a challenge for educators as everyone has different ways of learning.

If one can spark interest in a language, the fire from within will drive a student to find the resources and energy to learn it.

Learning Chinese Language by rote is a mistake

SINGAPORE started 'completely wrong' in the teaching of the Chinese language, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew .

Speaking at the official opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, he admitted that teaching the language by enforcing rote learning was a mistake.

Mr Lee said: 'A language is first listened to, heard and then spoken. It's not read or written - that follows later. (But) we started the wrong way. We insisted on spelling and dictation (in Chinese).'

And the way to correct this was to get children interested in the language, regardless of their linguistic ability, he said, because, with interest in the language, they will have it for life.

He said that forcing students to just memorise without applying the language and to take examinations on the Chinese language, is wrong.

This is because the students would then just aim to pass Chinese in their exams and then forget about the language after that, Mr Lee said.

'Successive generations of students paid a heavy price because of my ignorance and my insistence on bilingualism,' he said.

'We had teachers who were teaching in completely Chinese schools and they did not know how to use any English to teach English-speaking children Chinese,' he said, adding that this turned children off completely and caused parents to waste much money and time on extra Chinese tuition for their kids.

Mr Lee said he had a wrong premise about learning languages, equating intelligence to language ability. But later, his daughter, neurologist Lee Wei Ling, told him that they were two different things.

So Mr Lee became determined to right his wrongs, which led to changes in how Chinese is taught in schools.

In 2005, the Ministry of Education (MOE) increased the weightage in the Primary School Leaving Examination of pupils' oral Mandarin over that of their ability to memorise, say, Chinese characters.

This followed the recommendation of a Chinese language review panel in 2004 to put more emphasis on speaking and listening.

Since 2007, the ministry also introduced a new Chinese language syllabus where Primary 1 to 5 pupils learn Chinese at their own pace by taking different learning modules based on their ability.

These changes aim to make learning Chinese easier, given the increase in the number of children from English-speaking families. An MOE survey found that nearly six in 10 Primary 1 pupils this year come from English-speaking families, up from nearly five in 10 in 2004.

Ten Tips to Help Your Kids Learn Chinese

Chinese comes easily to many children, especially if they start young. Bilingualism will give them opportunities to communicate with a broader range of people around the world and serve them well throughout their lives.

Start to learn Chinese early well before your child reaches school age if possible. Language acquisition comes quite easily to children who are just learning to speak, and they can pick up more than one language simultaneously.

1. Start Simple.

Begin with 一, 二, 三 (one, two and three in Chinese) as A, B, C when you learn English. That is also the way how we Chinese learn Chinese. SinceChinese characters are basic units of Chinese language, it is naturally the beginning of learning. You may move on to simple Chinese words, simple phrases and then simple sentences step by step.

2. Be consistent.

Set aside a certain time of day, or a certain set of activities, for the Chinese learning. It does not matter what you do, reading books, singing songs or baking cookies, as long as you do it all in Chinese.

3. Learn Chinese with peers

Find out if your school system offers a Chinese-language immersion program and ask to see the curriculum.

4. Learn Chinese by practice

Encourage your child to use his Chinese, and make it clear that he does not have to be embarrassed by mistakes. Many children are afraid of looking silly, but the only way to become fluent in Chinese, same as any other language, is to speak it regularly. The more reinforcement she or he gets in Chinese language, the faster and more thoroughly she will learn it. Always remember: practice, practice, practice.

5. Choose right learning materials

Get books, videos and music in Chinese to help your kids learn Chinese. Children love interesting pictures, vivid screen and sounds to mimic. They like stories accompanied by bright, clear, realistic pictures. And of course they love rhymes. If you are familiar with Chinese yourself, read the interesting story to her.

6. Enjoy Chinese together with your kids.

Set aside part of your time to learn with them, I believe the books or the tapes are quite easy to you. After then, you will find many common topics with your kids and you both can communicate with the words or sentences you have learned quite often.

7. Demonstrate your own love of Chinese

Your kid wants to imitate you. If she or he sees Chinese books all around the house and knows that you like to settle down with one whenever you have a moment to yourself, the kid will learn those books as well. Modeling your own love of reading is more powerful than making your child sit through a rigid story time.

8. A good dictionary matters

Be sure to have a good bilingual dictionary around, especially if you are not completely fluent in Chinese language.

9. Make storytelling a part of life

Promoting reading readiness is more than reading a traditional book. While you are at the dinner table or in the car, tell stories - standards like anecdotes from your own childhood, or stories that feature your child as a central character. Make books of your child's drawings or favorite photos, and tell stories about them — or ask her to be the narrator.

10. Point out words everywhere

Wherever you see Chinese, you can show your child that word. Even the youngest toddlers quickly learn.