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ORIGINAL POST
Posted by wclarke 13 yrs ago
My daughters are 27 months and 12 months and I do not have places for them in nursery or K1

Also with the Int schools so expensive not if we can send them so what other options do we have?

Is fully local a bad idea for an English speaking child?

I really would like them to learn Cantonese and Manadarin so would local be better?

I am at the end of my tether and would love some advice form people who have been through themselves.

Where can you find the school info?

There is one book but it is in chinese.

The School Book which is great but they are the Int schools so too expensive.

Any help would be well appreciated.

Thanks

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COMMENTS
mmdr3721 13 yrs ago
There are a few local schools that use Mandarin as medium of teaching, and not Cantonese. I think it is better to learn Mandarin than Cantonese. I know there is one such school in North Point and one in Tai Po.

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mmdr3721 13 yrs ago
Cantonese is a dialect and is for speaking. When it comes to writing and reading, you will still need to use Mandarin. The children who are given Cantoese as medium of instruction will have some problem in writing proper Chinese. You will need some Cantonest to get by here in HK, but with Mandarin you can go anywhere in China (Mandarin is also becoming more and more popular in HK). This is what I learned and that's why I hire private tutor to teach my kids Mandarin Chinese. It is costly but I think it will pay off.

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wclarke 13 yrs ago
thanks for all the feedback

i live in discovery bay so tung chung or some other areas may be ok if there are bus services with the school

i think a good point was cantonese is probably harder to learn so then mandarin is then easier

i will read over all again and digest it all better

if anyone knows any good local nurseries, kindies and primary schools near my area please let me know

thanks

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hkwaffle 13 yrs ago
A new DSS school is opening in DB in 2016/7 which sounds as though it may be perfect. Fees are usually around $25,000-30,000/year.


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hkwaffle 13 yrs ago
That should be up to $50,000/year. I'd expect it to be at the lower end. Your eldest will be eligible to start in its first year.

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wclarke 13 yrs ago
yes i heard about this but where i can i get any further information about getting her on the list, any help is much appreciated

thx

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Justin Credible (Part Deux) 13 yrs ago
Friend of mine sends her kid to the YMCA or something, its in the new territories, or Tung Chung...not sure, but I think the fees there are about 3.5K a month. Not sure. A lot cheaper than ESF though, which runs at about 10K a month for the same year.


As for Cantonese vs Mandarin, I think Mandarin would be a lot more useful, even in ESF its mandatory. My brother speaks fluent Mandarin after studying in Beijing for a year, he was able to get a job in Singapore as the first foreign employee at a Chinese owned firm...he's been laughing all the way to the bank ever since.


So yeah, Mandarin came in handy for him even outside of China/Hong Kong. When he visits HK he is always able to communicate with people in Mandarin, no problems.

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Robyn 13 yrs ago
Hi, I live in Tung chung and have done both international and local kindergartens for my kids. I have also taught at a couple of local kindergartens in Tung Chung. The local kindergartens in Tung Chung are very nice, at 3 years old your kids can get the voucher scheme at the local schools and a bus is available from DB. You need to visit them all to see where the best fit for your kids are. There are many local kindys in Tung Chung if you would like me to list them let me know. Honestly my daughter is fluent in Cantonese and still got into a top international primary for this coming September. However , I can not stress this enough if you can afford ESF kindergarten Tsing Yi then do that for the cheaper option for primary just to be in for a chance for a place at an ESF school. Private International schools in Hong Kong are not cheap and if your thinking a local kindy or cheaper international kindy then thinking ESF for primary be careful the news about lack of places at ESF is correct we applied to 3 and got no interviews.

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