Having a go at Mandarin
Chinese Language Week offering free online lessons and learning resources
Malaysian mother Theresa Chong put her eldest son through Chinese school in her home country because she wanted him to be proficient in Mandarin.
But when they migrated to New Zealand four years ago, he started communicating just in English and stopped speaking Chinese.
Now Chong, an ethnic Chinese, is paying $300 a term for private classes to get two of her sons, Aaron, 9, and Gabriel, 12, to start using the language again.
She spoke to the Herald ahead of New Zealand Chinese Language Week (NZCLW) which starts today and runs until Sunday.
The week is aimed at encouraging more Kiwis to have a go at Chinese, and seeks to bridge the cultural and linguistic knowledge gap between New Zealand and China.
“The reason I am making them learn Chinese is so they can communicate with their grandparents, and I think it is advantageous for them to learn a second language,” Chong said.
New Zealand Chinese Language Trust co-chair Raymond Huo said the week is about preparing New Zealand’s future generations for the “global village” and the “increasingly important” Asian markets.
Huo said despite China being New Zealand’s most important trading partner, the uptake of learning Chinese at schools herehas been “disap- pointing”. Mandarin language learning in NZ is slow, up from just 7 per cent in 2012 to 13 per cent in 2016.
A recent Asia New Zealand Foundation survey found 30 per cent of
The NZ education system has never really prioritised languages learning. Sharon Harvey, AUT University head of Language and Culture
students had no interest in learning an Asian language due to perceived difficulty, lack of interest and perceived irrelevance.
Associate Professor Sharon Harvey, head of Language and Cul- ture at AUT University, said Pakeha parents did not see the urgency for their children to learn Mandarin.
“The problem is that the New Zealand education system has never really prioritised languages learning.”
Last year only 74,980 secondary school students were learning additional languages in school, 23,089 fewer than in 2008.
Of those, 4752 are learning Chinese, compared with 17,506 doing French, 11,276 Spanish and 10,745 Japanese.
“Often the burden of language maintenance falls on parents who are busy and do not necessarily have the knowledge about the best ways for their children to learn, maintain and extend their home language,” Harvey said.
“It is much better if this support is also offered through schools.”
Harvey said the language week will provide a focus for organisations to make a particular effort.
“But of course we need a much more co-ordinated approach within education, in particular, to learning languages, so that we can move New Zealand beyond the current somewhat entrenched monolingualism.”
Jo Coughlan, NZCLW Trust cochair, is challenging New Zealanders to master five Chinese phrases in five days. “Just learning five simple phrases can make such a difference when engaging with another culture.”
NZ Chinese Language Week is offering a one-stop resource portal for anyone wanting to start learning Chinese on its website, nzclw.com.
There are also links to free online learning resources and it showcases all the events linked with the week.