[Leeah's mom]

I was wondering does anyone send their child(who only knows English) to local school ??

I heard some parents send their children to local school purposely to let them pick up mandarine easily .

I heard also local schools have levels, so some good local school fees are as high as international ones.

Does any one know much about it??

I was thinking of sending my child to international school cos she only speaks and understands English (we're not cantonese)
but my husband says it will be better for my daughter to go to good local school to learn mandarin then she can write, read and talk in mandarine?? He thinks speaking English and mandarin will be very useful in the future.

Can any one give me some advice ? and recommendations on good local school choices in N,T as well please. I want to find some information.

[sunniefaith]

I work as a NET in a local primary school. As far as I know, most primary schools have Cantonese as Medium of Instruction. Do check on the school before deciding. Cantonese is not mandarin. I also hate to say this...But even with English lessons, instructions are given in Cantonese. I actually had to stop a couple of teachers from translating everything that I say.

[carang]

local schools DO NOT use mandarin... they use cantonese...so picking up mandarin would not be as easily done. most of the local schools have mandarin lessons the same as they have english lessons.

most local schools are run completely differently than international schools. you would need to contact the education department to find out more information about enrolling in them.

also, i would ONLY enroll my child in a local school if the child is very young. it would be too difficult for an older child to learn enough cantonese to survive fast enough. also, there is a HUGE emphasis on grades and exams. if your child is not academically inclined and not prepared to do hours of homework every night, then local schools are not for you!

good luck with your decision.

[sunniefaith]

I forgot to add....notices are in chinese as well. And basically everything is thought in Cantonese and when they write, they write traditional characters. So it can be very difficult if you want to help your kid with homework. And the kids have loads and loads of homework as well

[spockey]

You may want to consider PMI or EMIs if you are concerned about Cantonese. In these schools, English or Putonghua (Mandarin) is used as a medium of instruction. The concentration of non-Chinese kids would generally be higher in these schools.

[angelmhhui]

Originally Posted by Leeah's mom

I was wondering does anyone send their child(who only knows English) to local school ??

I heard some parents send their children to local school purposely to let them pick up mandarine easily .

I heard also local schools have levels, so some good local school fees are as high as international ones.

Does any one know much about it??

I was thinking of sending my child to international school cos she only speaks and understands English (we're not cantonese)
but my husband says it will be better for my daughter to go to good local school to learn mandarin then she can write, read and talk in mandarine?? He thinks speaking English and mandarin will be very useful in the future.

Can any one give me some advice ? and recommendations on good local school choices in N,T as well please. I want to find some information.

You can go to some DSS or private school. The subjects are by English and Putonghua. They will accept some non-Chinese speaking student such as PLK TSL, St. Margaret's Co-educational English Secondary & Primary School and PLK CKY.

[talk2amy]

Does anyone know of any good Cantonese and Mandarin bilingual pre-schools in Kowloon? I am not fussed with English too much because both my husband and myself are native speakers. Thanks

[bekyboo44]

My son is not even a year old and already we have started thinking about his future schooling....and if we were to stay in HK I think Mandarin would be a great language for him to learn. However there are a number of concerns I have with him attending a local school in the future,

a). Neither my husband nor I speak Cantonese or Mandarin so we would be unable to help him with his homework, which would cause problems. Not only that but parent/teacher meetings would be conducted in Cantonese/Mandarin and also any communication with the school and teachers. We would have to rely on someone in the school who spoke decent enough English to translate everything and that's bound to cause frustration etc.

b). Local schools are run very differently from Western schools. In the majority it's all about academic grades and performance, and there is a lot of studying and revising and cramming for exams. I would worry about that dampening my sons creativity and would worry that if he isn't academically inclined- but more inclined towards sports, or music, or drama then this would be neglected.

But every child is different, as is every parent, so you would have to make the best decision for you.