Mr Lee Kuan Yew and bilingualism in Singapore

On 23 March 2015 at 0318H, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, founding father of Singapore and the nation's longest-serving Prime Minister, passed away at the age of 91. The country is observing seven days of mourning for this giant of a man.

One of the policies that Mr Lee implemented was bilingual education. All basic education was conducted in English, and every child from the day he entered school had to learn his mother tongue i.e. Chinese students learned Mandarin, Malay students learned Malay, and Indian students learned Tamil.

For many of us, especially those from English-speaking homes, learning a second language, namely Mandarin, was a nightmare. Myself included. Apart from weekly lessons in school, we never heard Mandarin or had any opportunity to use the language. Tuition in Mandarin was not an option for us, but oh, how I hated the lessons! My classmate vividly remembers me reading an English storybook hidden inside my Chinese textbook during Chinese class, a fact that I have long since forgotten.

Learning Mandarin was to pass the exams with a decent grade so that I could get into a local university. Barely scraping by was more like it for me. I wrote essays using the English grammatical structure and thought pattern. Idioms and proverbs did not exist in my vocabulary. I was an anglophile.

Working in a predominantly Chinese-speaking office many years after leaving school was a culture shock. Not only did I now have to communicate in simple English to be understood, I had to read the Chinese newspapers daily as part of my job! This is where I learned to match the photos in the English and Chinese newspapers, then figure out the headline. It was torture.

Then I switched jobs to an English-speaking office environment. I had a colleague who took on the job of reading the Chinese newspapers. She went to a very good bilingual primary school. When we had to host visitors from China, she took the lead. We learned all the technical terms and facts and figures, and managed to do a fairly good job of leading tours in Mandarin. When I needed to do a television interview in Mandarin, she wrote the script and I rattled it off in front of the camera. When the interview was broadcast, she said I sounded just like her, until she realised that she had written the script for me!

Fast forward to today. Many of my friends praise me for my linguistic ability. While English is and will probably always be, my most proficient language, I can operate decently in four other languages. I put in the effort to learn how to speak, read and write each of those languages so that I would have a complete picture, rather than only learning to speak. I am still on the learning journey.

In honour of Mr Lee Kuan Yew and his bilingual education policy, may I say "thank you from the bottom of my heart" for forcing me to get on the bilingual road. I would not be here today if not for you.

Mr Lee, rest in peace. Rest assured that generations of Singapore-educated people will carry on the torch for bilingual education into the future.

Thank you, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. You will be missed.



#rememberingleekuanyew
(Photo credit: Ministry of Education, Singapore)

Wired to learn languages

The advantages of bilingualism seem to be neurological, too. We are wired to learn languages, and the more languages we speak, the more networks our brains develop.
(The Straits Times, 29 December 2014)

A friend has told me many times that he cannot lead worship nor a prayer meeting in Chinese. Truth be told, he does speak Chinese, probably a lot better than I, but having to lead a group is another story. (I have often wondered if he just does not want to help me!)

After reading this article about multiculturalism and Canada's bilingual policy, I am greatly encouraged to know that my brain is not going to slow down any time soon. Constantly keeping up with the languages I already speak, and trying to learn Vietnamese, helps keep my brain networks active. My friend +Lloyd Estrada just made a public declaration that he will be learning Burmese this year. He already speaks three languages fluently. His last language acquisition is Spanish, which he learned so well that he had a blog and could preach in it too! I am very sure he will do well in Burmese, although it will be an uphill task first trying to learn the writing system.

In this fast-paced and stressful world, we tend to forget things very easily. We have tech gadgets to help us, but our brain functions end up slowing down. One good way to keep those brain networks developing is to learn a language. The benefits will outweigh the sweat and tears in the beginning.

Cheers to 2015! Happy language learning!

Reinforce bilingual education at home

There has been quite a bit of news on bilingual education in Singapore recently, more specifically, on the learning of the "mother tongue". What is the "mother tongue"? It is defined as the language a mother uses to speak to her children, which is usually her native language, not necessarily the national language. Some people will refer to this language as the "heart language".

If both parents come from different language groups, then the mother's native tongue will be taken as the "mother tongue", not the father's language. I assume this is because in the first few years of a child's life, the primary caregiver would be the mother, rather than the father.

Many children in Singapore are better at English than their mother tongue, partly because the medium of instruction in schools is English. Hence, the Ministry of Education is pushing for parents to read to their children in their home language, rather than in English. But why the push for bilingualism in Singapore?

The more languages you know, the easier it is for you to communicate cross-culturally. The world is shrinking as far as the working world is concerned. The average person will come into contact with people of different languages and cultures. To develop a good working relationship, it will help greatly if both sides at least try to learn a bit of the other's language and culture. After all, if you speak my language, you touch my heart.

Want to touch someone's heart? Start learning a new language! You'll gain more than just someone's heart; you'll make your life so much richer!

Have fun learning a language!

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Bilingual children have better brain function

In general, learning anything at a young age means we learn faster and better. Language is no different. Whether a child is exposed to only one or multiple languages at home, the same rule applies. The child will pick up the language naturally and fluently, just as he hears it. An American family living in Asia for many years hired a Chinese nanny for their daughters as soon as each was born, when they were living in Beijing. The two girls speak Mandarin fluently. When asked when they started learning Mandarin, the older girl looked at her father puzzled. She learned Mandarin from the day she was born. By the time she started nursery school, she was already fluent, even though neither of her parents speak Mandarin.

Experts advocate starting a child on another language at age three. At that age, children learn by imitation, rather than by explanation. Grammar lessons come much later. By then, the child is already speaking and understanding fluently. Grammar rules simply reinforce what he already knows.

Now experts say that learning another language helps our brain function better. Bilingual adults can code-switch faster and do better on tasks that need concentration and flexibility. Switching between languages is a natural ability, rather than having to think of what to say in another language. Regardless, any way to get our brains to be more efficient is always welcome. Most people are always complaining about how forgetful they have become.

If you're thinking about starting your child on another language, you can try KidSpeak or Rosetta Stone. Both packages are designed for the child learner. Your child will have fun and learn very quickly.

Have fun learning a new language!

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Expat child in local school

More and more foreigners are choosing to call Singapore home for the long haul. The whole family comes as a package, so schooling is a big priority for these families. Singapore is proud to be chosen as a good place to bring up children. More importantly, many expatriates are finding that local school education is a better alternative to international schools. Why?

The beauty of Singapore is its multi-cultural landscape and people. Local schools offer complete integration into the local lifestyle, good quality education (that even the Americans want to learn from), and Chinese language. Parents no longer think of how their children will fit in back home but how well their children will be able to fit into a global workforce in the future. Bilingualism is the way to go.

Start the child speaking before three years old and he will have no problem with learning another language. This South African family has found this to be true for their two older children. They will soon be trilingual: English, Chinese, Afrikaans.

Have fun learning a new language!

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Get an edge, learn a language

Poor job market. I can't find a job. I need a job.

Same story around the world. So what do enterprising young Americans do? Go overseas! Can't find work at home? No problem. Let's see what I can find in another country. I'll earn money. I'll learn to live and adapt to a new culture. I'll learn a new language. I may like it so much that I'll never move back to America again. After all, it's A Whole New World out there!

Several years ago, there was an article in the news saying that fresh American graduates were heading to China to teach English. No jobs available for them in America. Young, fresh, energetic, no commitments. Why not?

Lots of Chinese people are learning English because they want to have a better life. Learning English is the key to getting out of the cycle of poverty. The same is true in so many Asian countries. English is the universal language today. Even surfing the Worldwide Web requires some knowledge of English.

But what gives you the edge over someone else with the same qualifications is your knowledge of another language. Today, being bilingual is not enough. It's competitive out there. You want to get ahead? Go learn more than one language. Get good at it. You will never regret the decision.

Don't know where to begin? Start here at Fun Language Tools. Jump right into 2013 with resolve. Learn a new language today! Get an edge over your friends.

Happy learning and communicating!

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