Keeping Mandarin alive

> There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain for your children to go to Chinese schools even if no one in the family speaks the language

Mandarin was good enough to coach my children when they were in primary one and two. After that, I passed the baton over to tuition teachers.

If you are a ‘banana parent’ considering a Chinese primary education for your children but fear they will not be able to cope, I have three words for you: “Go for it.”

Children are more resilient than we give them credit for. They can handle it.

Go learn Mandarin like I did, through songs and movies, so that you can help your children. But it might be too late for that if the only Mandarin phrase you know is “ni hao” (how are you?).

You can still help them in other ways, such as enrolling them in tuition classes, or engaging a private tutor.

At home, you can make the learning fun by letting them watch educational YouTube channels.

The TV can play the role of an entertaining teacher, too. Mandarin-speaking cartoons can help them with their speaking skills. And whenever possible, switch to Mandarin for multiplelanguage films.

Let them sing their way to better pronunciation. Learning a language through songs is painless and effective. Play the songs at home or in the car.

Buy books for them: storybooks for reading, and workbooks for practising their writing.

Subscribe to children’s periodicals offered by schools. They get a kick out of receiving these colourful newsletters in class.

Encourage them to speak in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and any of the other Chinese dialects with their elders and relatives. Practice makes perfect, and this ensures they pass on the mother tongue to their children.

There is also the added advantage of reducing miscommunication.

I am reminded of an incident involving my mother-in-law and my nephew. She had asked if he was eating lunch at home. The clueless boy, who did not understand her, replied: “Ah.”

Now ‘Ah’ is generally a safe response, but not when his next course of action was to head out for lunch! This is so ‘ji tong ya jiang’, like a chicken talking to a duck!

Lydia Teh is a mother of four and author of nine books, including the latest, Cow Sense for Young People. Send comments to lifestyle.lydia@thesundaily.com.