+- damnlocal.sg - for all residents of Jurong West (https://damnlocal.sg)
+-- Forum: damnlocal.sg (https://damnlocal.sg/forum-3.html)
+--- Forum: Family and Education (https://damnlocal.sg/forum-10.html)
+--- Thread: how do you manage your kids mother tongue fluency? (/thread-32.html)
how do you manage your kids mother tongue fluency? - Autumnn - 25-12-2021
hello fellow parents, I'm wondering how you make sure your kids are fluent in their mother tongue?
my husband and I try to mix in spoken Chinese when we communicate with our kids but it doesn't seem to have a great effect because:
1. our Chinese isn't that fluent in the first place
2. they watch mostly English media
so please share if you have any tips.
RE: how do you manage your kids mother tongue fluency? - jenzz - 26-12-2021
(25-12-2021, 05:46 PM)Autumnn Wrote: hello fellow parents, I'm wondering how you make sure your kids are fluent in their mother tongue?
my husband and I try to mix in spoken Chinese when we communicate with our kids but it doesn't seem to have a great effect because:
1. our Chinese isn't that fluent in the first place
2. they watch mostly English media
so please share if you have any tips.
i tink some things are out of our control. for example, the friends that our kids mix with will have a big influence too. like if their friends speak chinese or their mother tongue too, then it will seem 'normal' to be good at mother tongue. if their friends think speaking in chinese or mother tongue is 'not cool', then our kids will be affected too.
RE: how do you manage your kids mother tongue fluency? - NewtonsAdamsApple - 28-12-2021
(25-12-2021, 05:46 PM)Autumnn Wrote: hello fellow parents, I'm wondering how you make sure your kids are fluent in their mother tongue?
my husband and I try to mix in spoken Chinese when we communicate with our kids but it doesn't seem to have a great effect because:
1. our Chinese isn't that fluent in the first place
2. they watch mostly English media
so please share if you have any tips.
My kid isn't exactly fluent in his mother tongue but he's better than how he'd be if there's no YouTube.
My kid and us have a shared Google/YouTube account so my wife and I will add Chinese videos to the playlist for him to watch. Not just from the PRC but also TW, SG, MY. Basically, family and kid-friendly videos that he can enjoy and learn Chinese at the same time.
Some videos are even bilingual, which can make things easier especially if your kid isn't super fluent like mine.
An example:
RE: how do you manage your kids mother tongue fluency? - Autumnn - 28-12-2021
(28-12-2021, 04:07 PM)NewtonsAdamsApple Wrote: My kid isn't exactly fluent in his mother tongue but he's better than how he'd be if there's no YouTube.
My kid and us have a shared Google/YouTube account so my wife and I will add Chinese videos to the playlist for him to watch. Not just from the PRC but also TW, SG, MY. Basically, family and kid-friendly videos that he can enjoy and learn Chinese at the same time.
Some videos are even bilingual, which can make things easier especially if your kid isn't super fluent like mine.
having a shared youtube playlist is a nice idea! i think i will start one for my kids soon.
RE: how do you manage your kids mother tongue fluency? - monstafish - 30-12-2021
(25-12-2021, 05:46 PM)Autumnn Wrote: hello fellow parents, I'm wondering how you make sure your kids are fluent in their mother tongue?
my husband and I try to mix in spoken Chinese when we communicate with our kids but it doesn't seem to have a great effect because:
1. our Chinese isn't that fluent in the first place
2. they watch mostly English media
so please share if you have any tips.
im malay and i also noticed most young malay people and children cannot really speak their mother tongue too. but i think its important to continue your own culture, regardless of your race, so im quite happy that my childrens grandparents still communicate in malay with them.
RE: how do you manage your kids mother tongue fluency? - berry_good - 03-01-2022
(30-12-2021, 05:23 PM)monstafish Wrote: im malay and i also noticed most young malay people and children cannot really speak their mother tongue too. but i think its important to continue your own culture, regardless of your race, so im quite happy that my childrens grandparents still communicate in malay with them.
Yes I agree 100%! Even though my own mother tongue proficiency isn't great, I'd like my kids to be at least conversationally fluent.
RE: how do you manage your kids mother tongue fluency? - kxingstar - 05-01-2022
(28-12-2021, 04:07 PM)NewtonsAdamsApple Wrote: My kid isn't exactly fluent in his mother tongue but he's better than how he'd be if there's no YouTube.
My kid and us have a shared Google/YouTube account so my wife and I will add Chinese videos to the playlist for him to watch. Not just from the PRC but also TW, SG, MY. Basically, family and kid-friendly videos that he can enjoy and learn Chinese at the same time.
Some videos are even bilingual, which can make things easier especially if your kid isn't super fluent like mine.
An example:
Thanks for the tip! Curating a YouTube playlist to watch together with your kids is quite convenient, not to mention it also exposes them to different types of languages.