Chinese School Concert 2012, 新春晚会

It's been more than half a year since the children begun their Chinese class.  It took all of us some time to get used to a new routine, that Saturday is no longer a day for sleeping in, that Friday night is not an evening where the boys could go to bed a little later than usual.  Because of Chinese class, we are making some sacrifices, for instance, not having guests over on Friday evenings or Saturday lunch, family outings are now mostly only on Sundays.  We hope these little adjustments that we are making could yield us some positive results in the future for the boys.  Being equipped with another language is always a plus, it is the least I could do as their Chinese mother.  Of course, I can do more, like speaking to them in Mandarin rather than English.  My mother has nagged me to death and I am still not doing it.  I have all sorts of excuses, some of them more valid than the others, but they all just sound lame, so I won't even try to justify myself here.

This is Enzian reading the text from his first lesson, taken last September.  His pronunciation is far from accurate due to complete lack of practice and exposure.  But it would get better, with time, with lots of practice.

The videos taken for Ludwig and Johann were unfortunately corrupted.  I have yet to send them to my IT department to see if they can be savaged.

Johann just loves the songs he learns from his class.  He now knows every word by heart, this video was taken in last October.  My mother should know this song by now, he sings it to her every time when she calls.

I always beat myself up that the boys are not able to speak Mandarin, much less speaking it well.  They read with a strong accent and it is hard for them to grasp the four tones.  It is easier for Johann, but the three older brothers have more difficulties.  Stiffer tongue, I would say.

The Chinese school annually organises concerts.  Every class, every students are to come up with a class performance.  It was our first time attending such an event, a Chinese event, a China Chinese event.  I had never in my life attended an event organised by the mainland Chinese, the closest I have seen, or rather watched, are shows broadcasted on TV, back in Singapore.  To me, they always come across as so Chinese.  Singaporean Chinese are not so Chinese-Chinese, we are what we are, always speaking with a mix of English, Mandarin, Malay and some dialects.  To have to speak in 100% Mandarin can be quite a brain-straining exercise, as I am experiencing it every Saturday with the Chinese mothers in school.  I have to be watchful with my pronunciation, and dig hard and deep into my memory all those words and phrases I have long forgotten.  Most of the time, though, I listen more than I open my mouth.

This is one of the opening dance by the dance troop of the school.  Isn't it so Chinese-Chinese?  All the ching-cheong-chiang reflected in the song, the music, the dance, the costumes.  Yes, I did feel a little out of place.

But this one (below), I can definitely relate to, the song I mean. I listened to this song in my childhood.  I was so pleasantly surprised they used it, and secretly feel proud that at least I know of one song.

I am, in many ways, thankful for the existence of this Chinese school here.  Bart had at least one full year of attending a private kindergarten that focused on both English and Chinese in class before we moved to Malaysia.  Enzian and Ludwig had a mere few months and looking back now, it was almost close to nothing.  But we had their grandparents who spoke only Mandarin to them, daily.  The best environment for language acquisition.  This subsequently came to a big temporary halt when we moved out of Singapore.

We opted to send the children to a German school, to acquire their father's native language.  A language which was more foreign to them than Chinese at that time.  Their path was decided upon by their parents, but it was not my intention to stop or shun them from learning Chinese, nor was Christophe's.  It was a matter of priority then.  In fact, I had no slightest inclination that we were paving our way towards Germany.  It was my plain naivety that sending them to the German school in KL was our way to supporting them for a German education, simply for the reason that the one in Singapore is more expensive.

As soon as they were settled in the German kindergarten/school, I started searching for a suitable Chinese class and/or Chinese teachers.  For over 4 years, they had attended a few classes here and there, but there was not one that could meet my expectations, and it was fundamentally due to the local accent, which was a tad too overpowering for me.  Towards the end of our final year, I did manage to find one teacher who could almost speak accent-free Mandarin, she came once a week and did many activities with them, all conducted in Mandarin.  It was good, only thing was the frequency was not enough.  It was deemed as an exposure exercise for the children.  I was not hoping for more.

So one can imagine my excitement when the Chinese grandmother in the primary school told me about the Saturday Chinese school her two granddaughters are attending.  It was like, at last!, after getting more information from her, it looked like it was the ideal school for us!

After some initial hiccups at registration, the boys were ready for their formal Chinese education.  I like to view this education as my gift to them, one that pushes (read: forces) me to reinforce what they have learnt in school at home, finally a good external structure that is in place for me to follow.  No need to source for teaching materials, no need to think of what to teach them, just revise and supervise their homework.  Haha... just revise and supervise their homework.  It certainly sounds like a piece of cake.  It is NOT. Sometimes I ask why I do this to myself, 4 boys to teach, a little every day.  I have since cut down the frequency to 3 to 4 times a week, it has become quite overwhelming for all of us, so the reduced frequency helps and we now have a good regime in place.

Enzian and Ludwig, seated at the front rows with their classmates, all dressed and waiting for their performance.

To prepare for their class concert, the teacher would use the last 10 minutes of the lesson every week to teach them the dance.  Johann was feeling unwell so he did not participate in the performance.

Back to the stiff tongue.  99% of the pupils have mainland Chinese parentage.  So naturally, they are ahead of my children in terms of understanding and speaking the language.  I can't help but sometimes feel a little inferior when we are in the group.  Many mothers who overheard me would ask me why I speak English to the boys, assuming I am one of them.  I have to always repeat my story to them, that I am a Singaporean and Singaporeans speak English and the Chinese there learn Chinese as their second language.  Most of these mothers (a few fathers) came to Germany to study, and eventually settle down with a German spouse.  Therefore, they speak both German and Mandarin.

I would die with a smile on my face if my boys could speak half as good as them.  Now they can't, I don't know if they could in the far future.  I am not ambitious, I dare not say near future.

I especially love the following poem recital of 悯农.  You would love it too.

The pre-school pupils performed a simple dance, you will see Enzian and Ludwig at the last row on the right hand side.  The lady (without glasses) on stage in the centre is the boys' class teacher.  The file is too large for upload directly at blogger, so I had to upload my video to youtube first, here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVNvn1gCTs4&feature=youtu.be

You can imagine my delight when I listen to the Emcees speak.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7QEXyDbDFU&feature=youtu.be  One of them also speaks with an accent!  Hahaha... what a comforting discovery!  Now I really don't have to feel so bad anymore when my boys don't speak accurately.  Phew!

Bart did not participate in his class performance.  He went there as an audience but I hope he will be involved next year.  Attending this concert has allowed me to envision where my children will be... it kind of boosted my confidence a little and it certainly motivated me to work harder with the boys.