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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Proof that our PM is a bodoh!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>8:24 pm </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 5) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>25318.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Dec 4, 2009
Growing desire among S'poreans to learn Chinese
Parents and students see value in mastering the language: PM Lee
HAVANA (CUBA): More than one in four O-level candidates now take Higher Chinese, more than double the figure in 1999 when the Government undertook a major review of the teaching of the language.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong cited the figure to illustrate how there is growing desire among Singaporeans to learn Chinese, and how some of the old prejudices are fading away.
One main reason behind this change is the rise of China and the economic implications it has for the region.
'The desire of Singaporeans to master Chinese has grown,' said Mr Lee. 'Nobody any longer asks 'What's the point of wasting time on this?'
'Everybody knows that Chinese language is valuable and they want to master it - both the students and the parents, and we have enabled them to do it.'
As such, the proportion of students taking Higher Chinese at the O levels has gone up to 27 per cent, more than doubling the figure in 1999 when Mr Lee presided over a major policy review of Chinese language.
In his comments to the Singapore media here, he also said that the population mix and the language environment in Singapore has been shifting, and noted that the home environment made an enormous difference to a child's language habits and abilities.
'We have to acknowledge this shift in language habits, and adapt our system so as to make it work for the larger number of English-background students,' he said.
This is because it makes a huge difference whether a student studies Chinese merely for a few hours a week, or is completely immersed in the language at home and is merely formalising the learning experience in school.
Mr Lee said that striking the right balance would not be easy. In many ways, Singapore's challenge is unique because no other country has a bilingual policy with two very dissimilar languages.
'This is a very challenging policy, because there is nobody else in the world trying to do this. There are societies which are bilingual, English-French, English-Scandinavian or English-Dutch, or Cantonese-Mandarin,' he said.
'People learn two similar languages and can master one as your mother tongue and the other at almost the same level.
'But we are trying to do it with English-Chinese. These are two very dissimilar languages and very difficult to master at the same level.'
[email protected]
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Growing desire among S'poreans to learn Chinese
Parents and students see value in mastering the language: PM Lee
HAVANA (CUBA): More than one in four O-level candidates now take Higher Chinese, more than double the figure in 1999 when the Government undertook a major review of the teaching of the language.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong cited the figure to illustrate how there is growing desire among Singaporeans to learn Chinese, and how some of the old prejudices are fading away.
One main reason behind this change is the rise of China and the economic implications it has for the region.
'The desire of Singaporeans to master Chinese has grown,' said Mr Lee. 'Nobody any longer asks 'What's the point of wasting time on this?'
'Everybody knows that Chinese language is valuable and they want to master it - both the students and the parents, and we have enabled them to do it.'
As such, the proportion of students taking Higher Chinese at the O levels has gone up to 27 per cent, more than doubling the figure in 1999 when Mr Lee presided over a major policy review of Chinese language.
In his comments to the Singapore media here, he also said that the population mix and the language environment in Singapore has been shifting, and noted that the home environment made an enormous difference to a child's language habits and abilities.
'We have to acknowledge this shift in language habits, and adapt our system so as to make it work for the larger number of English-background students,' he said.
This is because it makes a huge difference whether a student studies Chinese merely for a few hours a week, or is completely immersed in the language at home and is merely formalising the learning experience in school.
Mr Lee said that striking the right balance would not be easy. In many ways, Singapore's challenge is unique because no other country has a bilingual policy with two very dissimilar languages.
'This is a very challenging policy, because there is nobody else in the world trying to do this. There are societies which are bilingual, English-French, English-Scandinavian or English-Dutch, or Cantonese-Mandarin,' he said.
'People learn two similar languages and can master one as your mother tongue and the other at almost the same level.
'But we are trying to do it with English-Chinese. These are two very dissimilar languages and very difficult to master at the same level.'
[email protected]
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