Born and bred in Singapore, I started learning both English and Mandarin on this island that is widely known as the ‘little red dot’ on this earth. Although my journey into Bilingualism lasted for more than 12 years, I have to admit that I still struggle trying to read the morning Chinese paper (ZaoBao).
As I reflect on the reasons for my struggles, it dawned on me that my failure to master the language was due to the simple fact that I learned the language only to obtain a credit in Chinese for my “O’ Levels. It was as simple as that. I did not truly immersed myself in the Chinese language or learn to love it.
Our Prime Minister Mentor, Lee Kwan Yew mentioned in his book ‘My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore’s Bilingual Journey’ that his ‘class master was friendly and approachable’ and that his English improved enormously under his tutoring. I wished it was the same for me and had it been so, my Mandarin would have improved by leaps and bounds.
Unfortunately it was not so and therefore I became disinterested in the Chinese Language as soon as I achieved my goal in getting a credit for my Exams. I recalled being called upon to read or recite for the class. It was indeed not an easy task and my classmates would help me each time I hesitated or struggled. During some other lessons such as ‘ting xie’ (spelling) , ‘mo xie’ (dictation) and ‘zuo wen’ (composition) I was no better at it. The only reason I passed my Chinese Test was through regurgitation. I had little understanding of what was taught to me except to give the ‘right’ answers.
However, when I started teaching in a bilingual setting, little did I know that my Mandarin was improving by leaps and bounds. Over the last 15 years, I would have gained much confidence learning Mandarin in a meaningful setting and now able to communicate, read, write and use Mandarin creatively. My Mandarin colleagues from China and Taiwan and some from Singapore became my ‘friendly teachers’. It has been a time of learning without any pressure – just listening to the stories and songs they teach the kids and also the daily words and phrases they’ve used to explain, describe and clarify. I was living Mandarin every day.
Mr. Lee Kwan Yew’s brilliant move of putting Singapore on this bilingual journey over the past years have made many preschools conscious of allocating larger part of the school’s schedule to the teaching of Mandarin. Schools have invested heavily in engaging professional consultant to improve curriculum content and to determine the best practices.
Other than core Mandarin Programme, some schools are offering additional services like preparing children to be benchmarked against international standards. Parents must realized that this is not a race to the top but rather to take steps to understand that we want the children to learn and love the language for life and not simply to obtain certification in proficiency at such an early age.
Learning to be meaningful and long lasting must be fun. This ‘Mother Tongue Project’ as I called it has taken another turn in the ‘little red dot’ place where I live. There is now a great rush for parents to get their little precious ones to attend a total mandarin immersion programme. (thesundaytimes January 8, 2012 lifestyle section: Raising a bilingual kid))
I have a good sense that this will work against the child. Being overly anxious to ‘force’ their children to learn Mandarin in an artificial environment will mean that their children will lose out on another language. I am still in favour of BILLINGUAL IMMERSION in the true sense… the way I have experienced it!
