On Chinese
After one hectic week of rushing from one place to another doing one thing after another I resolved to spend today doing nothing at all so as to take a break, only to find myself feeling more screwed up than ever after I've spent the entire afternoon sleeping - there's only one measly day for me to finish the list of things I have to do..
That aside. Went to school in the morning for some Chinese History and Culture talk co-organised by the school and NUS. It's supposed to be a national JC and Secondary school thing, yet the audi wasn't even half filled. Hardly more than 20 Hwachong students attended, and at first I reasoned it was because how very underpublicized the event was. After the entire event I changed my mind. Being underpublicized is only part of the reasons, the more direct and pertinent one being few are interested in the subject matter at all. The fact is this event is yet another futile attempt to promote chinese history and culture among only marginally interested students, most of whom came for this only because it was made compulsory for them. The only genuinely interested ones in the group were the PRC scholars or semi-local PRCs, whose questions kind of saved the Q and A session from complete silence.
What is the point?
Each time I hear yet another PRC accented question being asked I would wonder.
It seems like such events only act as means for the passion for chinese culture to be circulated again and again within the same group of people consisting invariantly of PRC scholars. Occassionally few locals join the group... but that's about it.
Is it the way chinese is being taught in Singapore that's causing this indifference among local students to what's supposed to be their roots? Things we do during chinese lessons were so disappointingly different from what we did during English. Chinese wasn't a language taught to reason beyond the superficial level (I'm referring to the old syllabus of course). Writing chinese compos back in my secondary school involved no other skill than regurgitation of memorised arguments about school, family and society's effect on teenagers, doing occasional word substitutions to suit the context. In contrast, so much more had to be put into an english essay, which demands not only for students to provide mature insights upon grasping the crux of the issue discussed (did the word crux ever come up during chinese lessons?), but also style and elegance in putting arguments across.
I don't know how the new syllabus has improved this. I hope it has.. because if Chinese continues to be taught in a second-language manner and it only takes memorising of the holy Ci Yu Shou Ce-s to score well, future NUS talks will have the same composition of audience and we'll hear PRC accented chinese dominating the floor during Q and A. If that persists to be the situation, it's inevitable local students would be daunted and feel that learning and being passionate about chinese culture is sth to be left to the PRCs, the "pros". Few would pluck up the courage to join the tide, which in itself is something out of the ordinary trend among them.
That aside. Went to school in the morning for some Chinese History and Culture talk co-organised by the school and NUS. It's supposed to be a national JC and Secondary school thing, yet the audi wasn't even half filled. Hardly more than 20 Hwachong students attended, and at first I reasoned it was because how very underpublicized the event was. After the entire event I changed my mind. Being underpublicized is only part of the reasons, the more direct and pertinent one being few are interested in the subject matter at all. The fact is this event is yet another futile attempt to promote chinese history and culture among only marginally interested students, most of whom came for this only because it was made compulsory for them. The only genuinely interested ones in the group were the PRC scholars or semi-local PRCs, whose questions kind of saved the Q and A session from complete silence.
What is the point?
Each time I hear yet another PRC accented question being asked I would wonder.
It seems like such events only act as means for the passion for chinese culture to be circulated again and again within the same group of people consisting invariantly of PRC scholars. Occassionally few locals join the group... but that's about it.
Is it the way chinese is being taught in Singapore that's causing this indifference among local students to what's supposed to be their roots? Things we do during chinese lessons were so disappointingly different from what we did during English. Chinese wasn't a language taught to reason beyond the superficial level (I'm referring to the old syllabus of course). Writing chinese compos back in my secondary school involved no other skill than regurgitation of memorised arguments about school, family and society's effect on teenagers, doing occasional word substitutions to suit the context. In contrast, so much more had to be put into an english essay, which demands not only for students to provide mature insights upon grasping the crux of the issue discussed (did the word crux ever come up during chinese lessons?), but also style and elegance in putting arguments across.
I don't know how the new syllabus has improved this. I hope it has.. because if Chinese continues to be taught in a second-language manner and it only takes memorising of the holy Ci Yu Shou Ce-s to score well, future NUS talks will have the same composition of audience and we'll hear PRC accented chinese dominating the floor during Q and A. If that persists to be the situation, it's inevitable local students would be daunted and feel that learning and being passionate about chinese culture is sth to be left to the PRCs, the "pros". Few would pluck up the courage to join the tide, which in itself is something out of the ordinary trend among them.