HAVE YOUR SAY: Singapore's 'wrong' bilingual policy(By Keith Lin, MSN, 11/18/2009)
Minister Mentor's reflection on 40 years of Chinese learning: Readers reactFOR decades, we've been reminded time and again about the importance of mastering both English and Chinese - two of the world's most important languages today.
Our Chinese teachers at school castigate students who don't speak the mother tongue frequently. And that's not enough, they say, it's equally essential to read the language proficiently and express ourselves well.
We are dictated long, boring passages, and cram Chinese proverbs and idioms into our memory - all this while English remains the predominant language of instruction in our schools and institutions. Some of us get through, most of us don't.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew admits Singapore's billingual policy started on the wrong footing in the 60s because as the system's chief architect, he was led to believe it was possible to master two languages equally well.
As a result, Chinese lessons were pitched at too difficult a level and this "turned students off completely," he recalled, adding that he now wants Chinese language teachers to make learning the mother tongue fun for children.
So here's what we want to hear from you: How did you get through the billingual system? Are you a success story or victim of the process? Can you tell us your struggles in coping with the pressures of mastering two languages? How would you like your children and future generations of Singaporeans to learn their Chinese?
Full CNA Video :
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-sg&vid=70d2ae17-ea0a-482f-8324-c8122bfba98d
