Develop the interest. Create an environment for your children so that they have the chance to use it, be it listening, speaking, reading or writing. Do a google search and you will always be able to find some good advice. Here are some sound advice from a blogger mummy.
For those parents who can speak Chinese, please heed the call from late founding PM to speak to your children at home. These are really 金玉良言. I shall not waste my words here, for the obvious reason that I would stand no chance if such a figure of importance have failed to persuade you.
Among the many pieces of advice that you can find, I would think that reading story books is the most effective and sustainable method to hold the interest. Please do note that, by “story books”, I mean the books with engaging story lines that can hold children’s interest. They can be picture books, simple chapter books or even comic books. Those small books with a line on each page used at kindergartens or the reference books with list of phrases to memorise are not that interesting after all.
So we have the definition of story books. The next question is then how to encourage children to read. I know this is easier said than done, especially for those children who have a weak foundation in Chinese. First of all, the child might not know enough Chinese characters to make the reading meaningful. However, if you let your child study hard to memorize the characters without supplementary readings, then the child will soon forget these characters as he/she has no chance to encounter in different context. So this is the chicken and egg situation that I have described in an earlier post. Reading books with Hanyu pinyin does not really help, as the children may be reading the pinyin rather than the characters.
For those parents who can read Chinese well, then it is really up to them to help their children out. Read interesting story books to them while pointing to the words, just like how you read English books to them before they read on their own. Over time, when the children follow your reading, these words become more and more familiar to them and will be retained in their memory naturally. After they become more confident, you can take turns to read the pages. Gradually they will become more independent and be able to read the whole book on their own.
This definitely takes lots of time and patience, but once they started picking up a Chinese book and read independently, both your children and you yourself will be thankful for the effort. Plus, it is a great opportunity for bonding! When the habit of reading is cultivated, you also reap the fruits of the hard labour when your children tide through the Chinese exams in school without much struggle. One important thing to remember though is that throughout the process and even after the children become independent readers, parents need to help provide a steady stream of interesting books to sustain their interest.
For those who are too busy to read with their children or simply don’t know Chinese well enough, don’t panic! There are still solutions. Resources with read-along audios can work too. I recently found a very good resource named “ChildRoad Chinese Digital Library” on NLB website. It provides 1000 titles of good quality eBooks with professional reading to guide the children. Please refer to another post on this blog for more details.
Now I will take a step back here. Although I recommend reading story books as the most effective method to improve Chinese, I do recognise some children have difficulty in developing the habit no matter how much the parents wants to help. Likewise, I do recognize that some parents are just too occupied in other priorities to spend the time required. In such cases, I would not think this is the end of the world either. After all, there is only so much we parents can do. As long as we think we have done our best within our means, then it is better not to add too much stress to ourselves and children. Throughout the journey of parenting, nothing is more important than keeping a healthy relationship with your children.
Therefore it is important to keep in mind that reading story books as a means to improve Chinese should be kept relaxing and pain free. But not being able or willing to read story books does not mean your children could not score well in Chinese exams. After all, there are good reasons for the flourishing Chinese tuition business here.
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