EdTalk | Joining the dots holds the key to boosting Mandarin skills
Memorising words and tackling worksheets offer little children can relate to. But a three-week summer immersion camp in Taiwan cannot only work wonders for their ability and enthusiasm but also helps them think and act in it
Families in Hong Kong who want their children to learn Mandarin as a second language may find this a challenge as, unlike mainland China and Singapore, it does not have an immersive Mandarin environment. More importantly, parents who want their children to learn the language using traditional characters face even greater problems, as much Hanyu pinyin – the romanisation system for Chinese reading materials – is often associated with simplified characters. This is exactly our predicament.
Earlier this year I took my two boys to Shanghai for a Mandarin immersion and cultural exchange. Although they enjoyed it very much, I realised they were unable to read the signs properly because they did not understand simplified characters. As a result, when I want to find somewhere to fine-tune their writing, mainland China is ruled out. In the end, I chose Taiwan, one of the few places that still uses traditional characters.
I signed them up for a three-week full-day camp – 9am-5pm! – at Mandarin Daily, a course designed for overseas children aged 6-15. Before we left, they had to take an online assessment, so that they could be assigned to groups, ranging from beginner to advanced level. Each class numbered about 20 children, and the course was a highly intensive academic programme consisting of speaking, listening, reading and writing, supplemented with daily homework and a quiz. Academic lessons took place in the morning, followed after lunch by Chinese cultural courses touching on topics such as calligraphy, kung fu and Chinese chess.
There are many Mandarin workshops for children in Taiwan. If your children are at beginner level, you may consider Lih-Jen International Private School, or, if your child is younger than six, you can try the Ms. Lam Montessori School.
I asked my children what impressed them most about their three-week Taipei experience, and they told me three things.
The first was that they “succeeded” in their homework and quiz. Every day after school they had homework, plus a quiz next day on 15-20 words they had been taught. The children were quite anxious at first. After the first quiz, my son came home boasting he had got 99 marks in his quiz, which was pretty amazing. But next day, he came home saying he had got 100! I could see the confidence in his eyes, making him so eager to finish his daily homework. I was very curious as to how he had managed to get all the words correct. When I asked him, he told me the teacher had actually written on the white board all the words the students might be tested on. Whenever she mentioned the word to be tested, she promptly wiped it out. So if the child is quick enough, he or she will be able to spot what they need to get “correct”.
