To master Chinese or English?
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finally, this is one sentence i agreed with u.Originally posted by ditzy:Knowing both languages has been an advantage to me in my life and still is.
MM Lee said that 100% english and 100% chinese is not possible.
i choose to think 70% english and 70% chinese is good enough for all of us.
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same here. i am really bad i writingOriginally posted by monkeybusiness:i prefer writing and read english but i prefer speaking mandarin
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Problem is such a 100 % conviction leads to the exclusion of alternative views and negative impacts in many other areas of governance.Originally posted by Gordonator:finally, this is one sentence i agreed with u.
MM Lee said that 100% english and 100% chinese is not possible.
i choose to think 70% english and 70% chinese is good enough for all of us.
For example, fees on essential (taxes paid) were based on 100 % belief that there should be no welfarism which is considered bad.
Over time a 100% conviction on the badness of welfarism extends to full cost recovery on all services. Lands are charged again although they were paid for from taxes or surpluses.
May be, 100%-conviction policies of the past era which lead to high costs and continuing cost increases will have to be admitted as well to clear the obstacles to competitiveness of the economy. -
Side tracking abit, but my view is that irregardless of whatever revolutionary changes to the language curriculums, the children in schools would only preceive such changes as mere shortcuts or easier routes towards getting better grade.
The prevaliant emphasis towards improvement in Education has always been based on extrinsic factors, such as curriculum re-structuring, teachers' training and developments, introducing and implementing more and more sidelining committies, programmes and activities for the students.
While the above can indeed help raise GRADES to certain extend, why has the intrinsic focus been largely left unfocused.
A child's personal interest remains the primary motivator for his/her own learning - be it a language, science or maths subject.
Learning takes place under both formal and informal settings.
Nobody needs to teach a child about BayBlades or Pokemons - they'll memorize everything about these cartoon characters simply because the children held an interest in them in the first place.
By using terms such as 'Mastery' or even worse, percentage-based breakdowns to vaguely assign how much 'portion' a language should be learned, this approach is certainly quite some way off apart from what the spirit and essence of true education should be.
Grades are good only when they are used as vague measurements for assessment on Learning.
They should be not used in the current continuing fashion as specific end objectives for Education no more. But sadly, we all know this day is not going to come anytime soon. -
I think that to many of us, to be effectively bilingual in both English and Chinese is very difficult, if not impossible. Even those who are perceived to be the creme de la creme in terms of languages, are not able to stand up against native speakers of English and Chinese.
I have taken pride on being able to speak, write and read comfortably in both languages. However, when I came to Japan to study a few years ago, I find that though Singaporeans' English are on the whole, much better than their Asian counterparts, we still sound incoherent in front of the native speakers, including both Americans and British. The same can be said for our Chinese. We have been too used to speaking a language that is sprinkled with phrases from the different languages in our daily life, that we forgot how to speak in one language alone. How many of us can say that we speak in purely English or Chinese/Malay/Tamil everyday?
However, knowing both languages is indeed a great advantage. Whenever, I meet other foreign students, I can speak in English with them. Nevertheless, speaking in Chinese to the Chinese or the Taiwanese will elicit a more enthusiastic response since we share a common cultural background. Nothing beats a Chinese proverb or two in the conversations.
It is imperative that Singapore keeps its bilingual language system, though I must admit that without compromises, we will end up being proficient in none. Maybe it is indeed the way to go if we are to maintain our edge in this part of the world. -
It is impossible to master bth well...
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It is possible, but generally ppl needs more exposure and a longer time.Originally posted by sbst275:It is impossible to master bth well... -
Disagree.Originally posted by sbst275:It is impossible to master bth well... -
Absolutely. Nothing beats picking up a word or 2 when in Rome.Originally posted by yamatonadeshiko:However, knowing both languages is indeed a great advantage. Whenever, I meet other foreign students, I can speak in English with them. Nevertheless, speaking in Chinese to the Chinese or the Taiwanese will elicit a more enthusiastic response since we share a common cultural background. Nothing beats a Chinese proverb or two in the conversations.
Makes u a "smarter" human when bilingual effectively (BBC report).
But what about those argument about English "first" for its economic "advantage" ? I don't think hving English as the "first language" makes a country properous. Remember Philippines ? -
I agree with SF... But then, how much exposure do we have now?Originally posted by Qitai:Disagree. -
Very good observation. "English speaking make a country prosperous" and "Freedom and Democracy bring prosperity to its people." The philippino proven them all wrong.Originally posted by Gun:Absolutely. Nothing beats picking up a word or 2 when in Rome.
Makes u a "smarter" human when bilingual effectively (BBC report).
But what about those argument about English "first" for its economic "advantage" ? I don't think hving English as the "first language" makes a country properous. Remember Philippines ? -
My friend can speak and write both english and chinese very well. She's scoring As for english and yet she is in Higher Chinese classes!! Amazing ritex?!
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nonsense.
i don't think it's impossible to master both languages well.
as long as you put your heart in it, you can master anything!!!! -
some ppl can't even handle english and chinese properly and still wanna go take up dunno wat 3rd language..........
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I guess that is up to individuals and family. Possibly the parents has the greatest influence over a child's language ability since th child tends to read and learn what the parents choose to teach as well as what the parents read themselves.Originally posted by sbst275:I agree with SF... But then, how much exposure do we have now?
I do not believe learning an additional language is that difficult. Problem is usually the interest which directly influence the exposure. Unfortunately for children who's parent believe Mandarin is useless, they creates an environment which indeed makes it useless.
Like someone else said here, creating interest is really more important than forcing a child to learn the language. In fact, this applies to all subjects taught in School. In fact, I would even dare say that what is wrong with Singapore Education now is that in the attempt to make students to score that perfect 100, they kill the interest to learn each of those subject. Learning should be fun. It should never be about scoring 'A's. Isn't the buzzword "life long learning".
Anyway, I personally intend for my next generation to learn both lanaguages and I will teach at home what the school choose to give up in School. That is, at least, what I will be doing. I have benefited from knowing both languages and I intend to pass that benefit to the next generation. -
From young, my parents keep on saying Chinese must know Chinese, so I tend to focus more on Chinese. Actually it does not take much effort as I grow up speaking Mandarin at home or anywhere. I entered a SAP school during primary school and there was no other races in the school. For my level, there was one Malay/Chinese pupil but she also took Chinese. I never got to know her as we were never in the same class before, so anywhere I go around in school, people all communicate in Mandarin except with the teachers.
Anyway Chinese swordfighting novels are good to read, therefore I ended up reading more Chinese books than English books after primary 5 or 6. In the end, now my English suffers. Even though I know how to answer in English, I tend to ask or answer questions in Mandarin even if the other party is speaking in English. -
SAP got pri sch?Originally posted by 01024G:I entered a SAP school during primary school and there was no other races in the school.
tot oni sec sch then got...........
top 10% of PSLE students get to opt for SAP sch
m i outdated? -
We should not be trapped by percentages of this and that. that is against the spirit of learning. i mean, how can you aggregate knowledge? like some of the posts said, learning should be fueled by interest, which in turn creates ability.
i know of an angmoh man who gave up drinking after many years of being a drunk, and to prove to the world he had sobered up, took up mandarin from scratch. eventually he graduated in the language with a Masters degree. i don think you can quantify an achievement like that to be how many % english or chinese.
i believe languages are an asset, go as far, learn as many as you have the time, energy and passion for! -
i believe all chinese should learn and master chinese as least to a level where one can communicate fluenty, read and write basic chinese.
learning chinese gave me an understanding of my roots, gave me a identity that i can be proud of. -
i had to say i tried to balance both the lang. i tend to speak more in chinese than eng. a ratio of 7:3. however, i write and read more in eng. i also watch both sides of movies and tv programmes and listen to eng and mandarin music equally. this is how i balanc e the langs.Originally posted by Gordonator:Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, the person who introduced bilingualism more than 40 years ago, advised chinese parents to choose whether to let their children master English or Chinese.
he said in parliament yesterday, "You make up your mind... But remember, the more English, the less chinese; the more Chinese, the less English. There is no such thing as 100% English, 100% Chinese."
give your point of views.
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Or dun tell me are those full schools?Originally posted by FireIce:SAP got pri sch?
tot oni sec sch then got...........
top 10% of PSLE students get to opt for SAP sch
m i outdated? -
Originally posted by 01024G:
If you can read the traditional chinese wu xia xiao shuo, not the comic, your chinese is good; and if you enjoy reading it then I'd say your chinese is at a level probably above average singaporean.
From young, my parents keep on saying Chinese must know Chinese, so I tend to focus more on Chinese. Actually it does not take much effort as I grow up speaking Mandarin at home or anywhere. I entered a SAP school during primary school and there was no other races in the school. For my level, there was one Malay/Chinese pupil but she also took Chinese. I never got to know her as we were never in the same class before, so anywhere I go around in school, people all communicate in Mandarin except with the teachers.
Anyway [b]Chinese swordfighting novels are good to read, therefore I ended up reading more Chinese books than English books after primary 5 or 6. In the end, now my English suffers. Even though I know how to answer in English, I tend to ask or answer questions in Mandarin even if the other party is speaking in English.
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What you need now is to read more english books, not read less chinese books. -
Got. Not full school. Only primary school. The principal when I was in primary 6 was known to my class as Mdm Foo Mu Zhu (Mdm Foo Mother Pig). She is still now the principal of the school. Haiz... so sad.Originally posted by FireIce:SAP got pri sch?
tot oni sec sch then got...........
top 10% of PSLE students get to opt for SAP sch
m i outdated? 
Good people go, left bad people. -
What MM Lee said really puzzled me. Since he started the bilingual policy Chinese language has been taught as a second language and Chinese schools have closed. Only one out of seven or eight subjects was taught in Chinese, so, do we actually have a choice to decide which language to master?