It was reported in the press that Mr Lee Kuan Yew, ex-PM and ex-MM of Singapore said: Speak Mandarin at home to increase the chance of success of helping the kids learn Chinese!
Indeed, when it comes to learning a language, reading, speaking and writing it regularly is the surest way to ensure mastery. If we are just aiming to be able to converse fluently, speaking it at home on a daily basis definitely will help us get there!
In fact, when I was in HCM City, Vietnam on Thursday morning, the young waitress at Intercontinental Hotel Asiana Saigon, a Vietnmese Chinese, Hokkien to be sure, asked me how can she overcome the hesitancy of speaking English! I was not prepared for the answer and gave her, on 2nd thought, a not so good answer - just speak it without worrying if she makes mistakes or not!
As I dwelt on this question, I felt I could have provided her a little bit more information like:
1. do you think by speaking English you are doing the right thing to learn English?;
2. if your answer is: "Yes!", then you are at peace to speak it without any hesitation!
Perhaps asking for the best way one feels about learning a language would be a good place to start instead of simply telling them what to do or how they should do it!
When the learner finds his or her own way to learn, it will stick better. The commitment to continue will be higher. And the ownership and eventual sense of achievement greater.
Speaking Mandarin at home is a good way to start if the parents and kids are in agreement. Otherwise, one still needs to search for that common ground!
May Mandarin be spoken at home, even for those whose parents and kids cannot speak in the 1st place! Make sense? Nah!!
About Me
- LU Keehong Mr
- I am a Practitioner of 'The 7e Way of Leaders' where a Leader will Envision, Enable (ASK for TOP D), Empower, Execute, Energize, and Evolve grounded on ETHICS!
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