Posted by
GemmaW
18 yrs ago
I'm Malaysian Chinese and my husband is a HK-born Chinese. We have a three year old who will be starting K1 this year.
We have to make a quick decision whether to enrol her in an international school or local. Can someone help? I know we've left it quite late. I'm interested in opinions on why some of you chose local as opposed to international or vice versa?
I cannot read nor write in Chinese and my husband travels a lot for work so he is not around to help with her Chinese.
We will probably stay here for a long time but will consider sending our daughter overseas for high school or uni.
I'm also wondering, for DSS schools, would they favour a child with a strong English background (say, international stream) or one in the local stream?
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My husband and I also can't read and write Chinese, but we would really like our children to be able to, so we have sent them both the local school. I think it will be easier for them to switch from local to international if this does not suit you, than the other way around.
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Hi GemmaW,
I am M'sain and hubby HK-born Chinese too... had a baby boy recently. We have decided that he will be studied in Chinese School to learn to read and write... me regreted not able to write and read very little. i think St Margeret Primary N Secondary School near Nam Cheung Station is a good choice. No intention of sending him to international school to just learn english as i am speaking english to him already. All my nieces and nephews are in Chinese Schools in Malaysia. Like us all, my siblings were very concerned as they don't speak or write but since one send to Chinese School, the rest follow and no regrets, they all excel in both Chinese and English and Malay. Over here, the only thing is i want my son to learn Mandarin instead of Cantonese in School.
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We have also chosen a local school, at this young age we feel that it is great fro our son (also K1) to be exposed to cantonese and mandarin, we speak only a little cantonese but will try and learn it to keep up to speed with him and help him with his homework.
For us although the chinese schooling appears alot more structured than the free play offered in the International preschools we think this will be a great compliment to all the playing that happens at home.
Good luck with you decision, visit a few and trust your intuition.
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Thank you for all your replies. They have been extremely helpful. We are leaning towards a local school too.
I have one question for Mscheerful. You mentioned that you want your son to learn Mandarin instead of Cantonese. By wanting this, wouldn't the international stream/international school be better because they teach half English/half Mandarin?
Also, with the current situation in HK, would Mandarin prove more beneficial than Cantonese? My main worry is that because no one speaks in Mandarin in or outside of home, my daughter may not grasp the language as well as she would in Cantonese.
I'm hoping that if I choose a local school, her Cantonese will eventually help her with Mandarin. If I do it the other way around where she cannot relate to Mandarin because no one speaks it, she may not achieve the kind of fluency in Chinese we want her to.
Okay, so off we go visiting schools tomorrow. Thank you once again.
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Babes
18 yrs ago
We decided to go local, but not the "traditonal" local schools as most require either help from parents or tuition after school. We managed to find a local "bi-lingual" school called Victoria Kindergarden which uses the International Bacalaureate (IB). The nurseries and kinders offer Cantonese-English or Mandarin-English (to native speakers only) while the Primary school teaches Mandarin-English only. There are TWO teachers per class (ONE native english speaking and ONE local Chinese) and sometimes a child care helper. It is a local school using a more creative 'international' type of teaching. My child enjoys the school v much and all circulars are bi-lingual so I am fully aware of what my child does at school.
Website : www.victoria.edu.hk
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Hi GemmaW,
I found out that there are some local Chinese Schools are teaching Mandarin instead of Contonese. I was surprised to find out this from my husband's niece here that she said her class is chosen to teach and speak Mandarin at all time and some of the local shools are adopting this idea. She speaks very well Mandarin and Contonese but since they only speak Cantonese at home, her english sounds very local. I am targeting St Margaret for my son which like Victoria, they do bi-lingual, we will choose the Mandarin-English. I'm also speaking Mandarin to my son n got him some Mandarin DVDs to watch. I notice that it is hard for Cantonese speaking to learn to speak good Mandarin. My office staff speaks very poor n funny Mandarin and since my husband needed not to travel to China, his Mandarin is so Cantonese already :)my Filipino friend sent their girl to St Margaret, not knowing a word of Mandarin herself and parents, not speaking any Chinese but she is really doing very well in Mandarin and Cantonese. I think children just pick up everything so fast.
Like team NZ mentioned, visit a few and trust your intuition as you know your child very well and we don't. Trust yourself to make a good choice and good future for your girl.
have a good week and senang senang hati la!
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I think you can teach your kids Chinese without enrolling them in local school, though it will require more effort. I think you should determine what's most important to your family and then look at the teaching methods AND language to find the overall right fit. You may find that if you go with a "traditional" Chinese style school you may need to hire a tutor anyway and they can help with the Chinese studies. Though if you want a more "western" style school you can send them to additional chinese lessons if needed. As Mother of 2 said it is easier to start with local and then switch if needed.
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Hi GemmaW,
BTW, just asking out of curiosity, do you know Anna and Angus? Cuz I think they kind of have a friend who's a HK Chinese and his wife is a Malaysian Chinese. If not, that's ok cuz I'm Malaysian Chinese and my husb's a HK Chinese too. We met each other while studying in Australia. Nice to meet you here! I've beening living in HK for 30+ years and am a Music and English teacher at a local EMI secondary school for girls. Sadly, I'm a dummie in Malay. ^_^
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Sear Rogers International School in Tsuen has just re-opened under the new management of Pegasus Christian Social Service Organisation. Pegasus already operates a local school (DSS), which is a primary and junior secondary as well as a local kindergarten. Recently SRIS was added to the Pegasus Family. There is a primary and secondary section (junior and senior) and the British curriculum is followed.
Teachers are from different countries and all with overseas teaching experience. Also Chinese (culture, reading and writing) is taught to those who opt for it. For Chinese it is kind of a mix between the Chinese curriculum on local schools in a English-language environment.
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