Singapore Expats

Hii Expat friends, do you have your kids in local schools ? If so, what 2nd language have you put your child to ?

I am in a dilemma right now thinking which 2nd language to put my child in

It was an easy choice for us. With English as their mother tongue, we chose the only one that made any logical sense. Mandarin.

If we stayed here, Mandarin and English were hands down the best two to have under your belt. If we went back to the US, which one would give them the biggest leg up in International Business? English and Mandarin. No brainer. What is the chance of usage of Tamil or Malay in the West? Other than your local church/temple or family circle.

Some might say Hindi would be a good choice and I might agree in the long term but not the near term. The Indian community that is involved in business ties with the west all speak English (albeit a version of 150 years ago, but at least it's proper English). PRC on the other hand, while catching up, still has a long, long, loooonnnnggggg way to go.

My 2 bob's worth.....

Yeah i was also thinking of putting my boy in Mandarin.but he has just joined K2 and has not attended any extra classes for Mandarin other than what is taught in school. Isnt it too late if I am going to put him in Mandarin classes now ?

It'll be easier catching up now than trying to do it when he's an adult. Take the long view. How hard is it now versus two years from now? Get him a tutor who is familiar with smaller children and get him started. If he's got the aptitude, he's pick it up fast (especially if he is already used to hearing multiple languages in the home (I assume you use English and Punjabi in the family as well?

Remember, the younger they are the more flexible and receptive their brains will be. My children had no mandarin speakers at home at all but we did use a tutor for the first 3 years for my daughter (he was a PRC from Shanghai) He used their methods of teaching and when my daughter started P1 at CHIJ her Mandarin was better than all of her classmates (and her being the only non-Chinese in the class). Course it helps if your child WANTS to take Mandarin.

I used the power of subliminal suggest on both of my children (cheating in a way ). I started talking to my kids when they were 3 months old the way I would talk to a full grown person. (I've always refused to let relatives, or strangers for that matter, talk to my kids in baby talk from the day they were born (a couple got offended by who cares). Babies learn by imitation, if you talk in baby talk they learn to talk baby talk! (my girl started talking in sentences at 7.5 months, my son at 8 months) Anyway, from 3 months, I always talked to them about taking Chinese as their second language. By the time they reached kindergarten, they thought "they" WANTED to take the language. So half the battle was already won before they even got on the playing field!

Hey sms,,THANKS !!! very sweet of you ! honestly i think i will do that but I hope that I wont be putting stress on my boy cos he alrady has Phonics on saturdays.

chixchix wrote:Yeah i was also thinking of putting my boy in Mandarin.but he has just joined K2 and has not attended any extra classes for Mandarin other than what is taught in school. Isnt it too late if I am going to put him in Mandarin classes now ?

hi chixchix,

can you provide some good local schools in singapore.we are relocationg next month, so dont know about singapore much.my son is 5 yrs old.we are from india but now relocating from shanghai(two years in shanghai).what are the basic requirements for my son to attend the local kindergartens...

provide me some idea on schooling,

poorni

We also chose Mandarin for our daughter. I wish we had put her in extra tuition in K2. She had asked for it, but coming from the US I thought it would just be extra money out the window. I have been pleased with Berries World of Learning and now have a home totor for her. There are tons of resources out there for Mandarin, but you should try to get him some extra tuition before P1.