Any experience with chinese medium??

[solidstars]

I've been thinking about schools recently too, too many people telling me that we need to enroll soon and 'queue up' and all that... my son's almost 15 months old.

lisa do let me know if you come across anything interesting, we're on a budget too and i still have yet to decide what type of school (english? local? mix?) he should go to...

 

[ctrbabe1]

My older daughter started at the local Chinese school at 3 years old, and is now finishing up Primary 1. Everyone kept telling us that she would catch on and be fluent quickly, but now in her 4th year of school, she still struggles. We've realized it's because she doesn't get any reinforcement of the language at home. My dh speaks Cantonese to her when they are doing homework together, but that's about it. We've also realized that if she is going to improve much more, that we'll have to get her a personal tutor to come for an hour 5 days a week.

My other problems with her being in local school is that I can hardly participate in her experience. I.e. I can't be part of the PTA because I don't understand what's going on. I can't chaperone for field trips because I don't understand what's going on. I can't help her with most of her homework because I don't know Chinese... It has been very frustrating at times.

Yes, i do want to learn Chinese, but I have nobody to care for our 2nd child while I am at classes, and classes can be very expensive.

 

[flobash]

i have posted a new thread asking anyone for any suggestions on cantonese speaking playgroups. Carang - thank you for explaining the difference playgroups - kindy - nursery etc, i think i get it now - and the date of the posts ahahah - obviously i don't use this site enough

Katie, very interesting feedback from someone who is going through the process, and in fact i have heard from other people that their biggest problem is not being able to participate in their child's education experience. i can totally see that would be frustrating, what are you going to do ?

i'm with lisainhk - i think i'll give it a go and see what happens, if charlie doesn't pick up cantonese or settle in well i will look to change his schooling and perhaps encourage him to pick it up through after school activities.

but at the moment that is a while off, for now i'm going to try and find a playgroup - lisainhk - shall i keep you informed as to what i find?

Kate

 

[carang]

ctr: if your Dh can speak cantonese while doing homework, why not speak it all the time to her?

 

[Gabriel ma]

Has anyone had experience putting their child straight into chinese-medium school straight up? Is it possible even though the parents don't speak Cantonese? I'm looking at the possibilities for my 10 month old. I've heard the waiting lists are massive. But I recently heard that it is possible for a foreign non-chinese speaking child to start at Chinese Medium as they soak up the language quickly. Any mums with experience in this? Or do I have to send him to ESF or an international school?

My son has a few non-Chinese classmates since Pre-nursery class (2 years old). They could understand Cantonese, English and Mandarin after 2 years of learning.

 

[flobash]

lisainhk - i have found a very nice lady who runs cantonese playgroups, i will be setting one up in Gold Coast/Tuen Mun area if you are interested? it is $200 per hour per child and includes everything, to be paid in advance.

 

[mambo]

carang, just curious if you could pm me the name of the local primary you chose. I'm also having a dilemma as to what school would be suitable for my boy and what 'local' school would be appropriate for his learning style. thanks.

 

[carang]

no need to PM... we have chosen
Sai Kung Central Lee Siu Yam Memorial School

they have now introduced an "english" stream that uses english as the main language and putonghua as the chinese 2nd language... and a "chinese" stream that uses cantonese as the main language and english as the 2nd language...

i haven't yet decided which stream to go for, but leaning towards trying the cantonese stream first to see how it goes.

 

[Gataloca]

I don't have this experience, but I guess I can share my experience growing up in a foreign country.

My family moved to to Venezuela when I was just 3 year old. My parents never learned Spanish (my dad speaks a little bit, and my mum only learned to say very basic things, like numbers). We were all placed in local schools (there weren't any Chinese school back then, and international school would have probably been too expensive for us). As I was just 3 year old, I could get accustomed very easily... My brothers however, who were 9 and 11 at that time, did have to struggle a lot with the language.

I think what really helped us catch up with the language was the fact that we were really surrounded by it, and we really use it everyday... We didn't have many Chinese friends, and even the Chinese friends (kids) that we had would try to speak Spanish with us. We watched TV, and the programs were all in Spanish. We went out, and every sign was in Spanish.

I think if you really want your kid to learn Chinese, in addition to putting him/her in a Chinese medium school, you have to really encourage him/her to use it. For example, instead of watching English program, encourage him/her to watch local Cantonese programs.... Take you kids out, and let him/her play with local kids, etc...

 

[jodymo]

Can anyone introduce some of the names or the Cantonese medium pre-school's and playgroups that they have had success with and the areas...it's a maze out there, and it seems many more are interested in pursuing this line of education. Anywhere else to go for information?

thanks!
JM