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RE: Important lessons learnt in encouraging the use of English in a rural school
I used to hate English back then. I was raised by my grandparents because my parents used to work until late at night. Not sure how late was that, I was still at kindergarten back then, so I assume I slept at 7.30pm which was a NORMAL sleeping time for kids. I spoke Mandarin with my grandparents and elder siblings but my siblings spoke to each other using English until now. Which is very weird. I have to thank Astro for their existence. If it wasn't for them, I would not have discovered Disney or Cartoon Network where I learn how to speak in English. I'm glad that you manage to reach out and touch on this topic. Nowadays, everyone would emphasize on learning Mandarin more due to China market growth.
Well, if we are speaking about the context of our country, there's a stigma in learning English, which I think its not wise. Learning Mandarin does help, but once a lot of these children get into university, they will realize that not learning English would be a huge mistake as people who know it, automatically does better.
It's not because they are smarter but all the books are in English, Google is in English (Translation is not accurate) and the exams are in English. So although many people won't want to admit it, learning it does help.
Aside from English, your mandarin is really good too. It has been 10 years since I last wrote in Mandarin..haha
I cant even write 1-10 in Mandarin. If I were to write 口, I just anyhow draw a square instead of following the 'closing door' rule. LOL