CDNIS students speak mostly Cantonese amongst themselves?

[HappyV]

Actually, you've said very little which is specific. And I don't think anyone could accuse me of hiding my opinion in this thread!

 

[howardcoombs]

Since you bring up accusations, your opinion has been so over the top that I've accused you of having a hidden motive. I've also accused you of making wild claims along with being a zealot.

Somehow, your praise for this school seems wholly un-natural. Your words seem like they are coming from a shill. You certainly are doign a bang up job of promotion *shrug*

 

[HappyV]

I think it's fine that we disagree. However, unless you are prepared to discuss specifics (which you're not) and to refrain from getting personal, then we will have to leave it there.
It's such a shame - because it would have been really interesting to get into the details of what you think makes the KCIS much better - we could all learn something from that discussion.

 

[howardcoombs]

Well, before we can start learning from that discussion, you will need to pay attention to the current one.

Can you point out where I said KCIS was better? Why do you keep bringing KCIS into the conversation anyway?

We are at post #54 because you made an inflated claim about CDNIS that I along with others have disagreed with but you but you keep harping on about it. I've never seen such passion from anyone without a vested interest.

 

[XEO]

I just have one question for you. You mentioned that life was hard for those students not achieving the desired top scores. Can you elaborate on this?

I will attempt to answer this question. School does not give recognition of students that don't excel at the very top. It does not give any consolation that a student has worked tirelessly on trying to achieve good grades but still ending up with somewhat average grades. You wouldn't want to be a student sitting at the year-end assembly watching a select few people come back with a armful of accolades while you sit there for years on end.

School society is extremely competitive in terms of grades. Yes IB requirements are high, our school's requirements are higher, but most importantly, what your peers receive is the benchmark for academic "success". There is IB fail, the school's "fail", and what students coin "Asian Fail". Life is hard for students not achieving the grades they desire because of how much pressure there is if they don't. All the aforementioned requirements, only add to the feeling of failing yourself.

When I say "the school", I don't necessarily mean the teachers. We have some amazing teachers and some really crappy ones. What I want to say is there's always a balance, all school is is tipping the scale towards academic standing and prestige, and in turn, has in fact sacrificed a lot of more social aspects of the experience.

And as for whether students speak Cantonese amongst themselves: Yes they most definitely do. It's Hong Kong. In the earlier grades of the school, Grades 1-5, the use of the language is strictly enforced. I frown upon that though, since if its purpose is to prevent exclusion, the use of all other foreign languages should be prohibited too.

I can answer more questions pertaining to most things there.

 

[mustardseeds]

CDNIS chinese program

Hi all

I am thinking of sending my kid to CDNIS pre-reception class next year, can anyone share the information about the chinese program currently adopted by the School? Simplified chinese / traditional chinese? Hours per day? amount of homework etc?

Thank you for sharing the info.