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Children struggling with mother tongue language

How do we get children to learn to read? How do we teach them two languages? Discuss your children's development topics here.
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joeyy
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2019 3:25 pm

Children struggling with mother tongue language

Post by joeyy » Tue Oct 01, 2019 3:31 pm

Any mummies/daddies facing the same issue as me?

My going to primary 1 girl still have difficulties recognizing Chinese character words. She is more into English language than Chinese. Despite she is trying her best to express in Chinese during conversation times, however comes to writing, she totally lost interest. I am worried about her going to Primary 1, and she will not be able to catch up with the rest of the children.

Any good advice here? :( :(

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motherhood
Posts: 253
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2018 10:22 am
Location: Singapore

Re: Children struggling with mother tongue language

Post by motherhood » Wed Oct 02, 2019 3:19 pm

Lower primary can be coped. But upper level is a real challenge. The essay writings and main papers are tough. So it's important to speak to them in Mandarin at home most of the time to create the environment for the love of the language and habit. Many get stuck at Oral exams...as they are unable to express themselves or the answers.

joeyy
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2019 3:25 pm

Re: Children struggling with mother tongue language

Post by joeyy » Thu Oct 03, 2019 11:34 am

motherhood wrote:
Wed Oct 02, 2019 3:19 pm
Lower primary can be coped. But upper level is a real challenge. The essay writings and main papers are tough. So it's important to speak to them in Mandarin at home most of the time to create the environment for the love of the language and habit. Many get stuck at Oral exams...as they are unable to express themselves or the answers.
How to make Mandarin more interesting for them? Especially comes to writing and reading aloud. Whenever I want to read a chinese book for her, she will just say she dont want. If English, she will slightly be more interested :?: :?:

shiyi8033
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2021 6:08 pm

Re: Children struggling with mother tongue language

Post by shiyi8033 » Thu Oct 21, 2021 8:14 am

joeyy wrote:
Tue Oct 01, 2019 3:31 pm
Any mummies/daddies facing the same issue as me?

My going to primary 1 girl still have difficulties recognizing Chinese character words. She is more into English language than Chinese. Despite she is trying her best to express in Chinese during conversation times, however comes to writing, she totally lost interest. I am worried about her going to Primary 1, and she will not be able to catch up with the rest of the children.

Any good advice here? :( :(
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larry.chan
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Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2021 11:08 pm

Re: Children struggling with mother tongue language

Post by larry.chan » Mon Nov 08, 2021 11:32 pm

Please do understand 2 aspects about Chinese language:-
- it is not based on alphabets hence recognition techniques is very different from English. If we ask our children to memorize, it could be overwhelming for them. There are pattern in Chinese characters and we need to get them understand the pattern early. P1 is a fantastic time to start.
- the grammar / sentence structure of Chinese is completely opposite from English hence it could be very difficult if that is not taught early.
There is no short cuts in language learning. Make it fun / interesting for them to learn. Exposure is an absolutely must. Simply learning Chinese as a subject will not make the cut!!

learnings.sg
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2021 3:53 pm

Re: Children struggling with mother tongue language

Post by learnings.sg » Fri Dec 03, 2021 4:09 pm

It's no surprise that children in Singapore who have grown up in an English-speaking environment are typically hesitant to communicate in Chinese.

Most importantly, they need to have a Chinese-speaking environment.

1. A positive role models to look up to. For example, when your child sees the parents speaking Chinese every day, they will feel more at ease learning the Chinese language. Alternatively, send them to a tuition centre or language enrichment class where they will be taught and nurtured interest in Chinese. My friends sent their children to Le Xue and they felt in love with Chinese.

2. Start young. The golden period in learning languages is between the ages of 4-7 years old. Boost your child’s confidence and interest in Chinese by capitalising on the vital period and laying a solid foundation while they’re still young!

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