Monday, April 17, 2006
我是一只小小鸟 - I'm a little bird
(I have lots to update, but I'll just do a short post because I have lots to do at work)
Zara doesn't speak Chinese, or rather nobody speaks to Zara in Chinese so she has not picked up any Chinese. I tried to do what Shiaulin has taught me, to repeat each English phrase I say to her in chinese so she learns to associate the two. However, after a few attempts, I got lazy. It's tiring when you have to talk to the kid and repeating everything (already, lots of repetition in English to get a massage across).
Then I tried speaking to her just in Chinese, but she'll say, "Don't Want" when she hear non-English words coming out from me.
Me : Mummy 跟你讲华语要不要 (Mummy speaks to you in Chinese ok?)
Zara : Don't want
Sometimes she even says : 不要 (Chinese: Don't want). Don't know if she really know what it means.
However, she likes this particular Chinese song which I sing (only the chorus) to her quite frequently. Here is her singing this together with me (I must say for someone who doesn't speak Chinese, her pronunciation is quite good).
我是一只小小小小鸟 - Translated based on my best knowledge
我是一只小小小小鸟
Wo shi yi zhi xiao xiao xiao xiao niao (I'm just a little bird)
想要飞呀飞却飞也飞不高
Xiang yao fei ya fei que fei ye fei bu gao (Even when I attempt to fly, I can never fly too high)
我寻寻觅觅寻寻觅觅一个温暖的怀抱
Wo xun xun mi mi xun xun mi mi yi ge wen nuan de huai bao (I'd been searching for a warm embrace)
这样的要求算不算太高
Zhe yang de yao qiu suan bu suan tai gao (Is this a very difficult request?)
(The song sung by the original singer can be found here)
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29 comments:
eh, she can duet with u ler! so clever girl! *clap*clap*clap*
I dun think it matters whether she wants to speak in mandarin or not... the language will sub-consciously go into her mind one... if enough people talks to her :)
Round of applause for Ahmeen and Zara!! :))
Clever Zara, i agreed that her pronounciation is quite good leh..actually singing a a good way for kids to pick up languages! :)
I tried that too speaking to bb in that repeating manner. Sometimes I forgot. But his Mandarin is like "Kuai Lou".
AIks, I have problem hearing the sound clip...
*clap clap* Bravo Zara!!! she sang so good!! her pronounciation is very 准！and 拍子、音调 also correct! clever girl.
as to speak in repeating manner to my Xuan only carry for a month or two, now Xuan can understand English very well when i speak to him (so i no need to repearting in both languages), and he even can speak to me in very simple English now.
for ur case, u can try what maria do. U speak to Zara in Chinese, then daddy in English. However, what egghead commented is true also, as we all learnt Malay in quite an old age too right? ;)
Woo. Richie Ren. Your girl got taste :)
that's what i heard from other people as well..if you want them to learn another languange, you gotta repeat the sentence again in the languange you want her to learn.....i did that with the "limited" mandarin that i know..hahaha....i havent been doing it religiously..but i think it's worth the try eh? cause i heard that children can pick up langunages very easily before the age of 4.
My friend who's afraid of her girl can't speak good english also "insisted" on speaking to her in english only. But now, she wants to teach her 4 years old chinese, the girl refuses to learn. So, I campur campur both languages when I speak to Justin.
I think if you just speak in chinese sometimes without translation, someday she'll pick up. It's very easy for kids to learn a few languages.
same fate here, feel damn 失败 man LOL... but nvm lar, they will pick up.
Oh, my mom suggestion -- they refuse to speak Mandarin because they know we can understand English mah, so when they speak English we pretend don't know, so they will try to speak the language we "know", just like the kid talking to their maid (*sigh*... become maid liao).
but time consuming also lar, I don't have the patience.
awwwww..she is just too kiut la...karen oso speaks oni english..cos i dun spend a lot of time w her..so i kenot teach her anything else..her granparents sometimes speak hokkien to her, but she'll reply in english...eh , u still havent given me ur yahoo e mail add..
Jesslyn,
*curtsey* thank you.
Egghead,
The problem is.. nobody speaks Mandarin at home.. Told MIL & FIL to speak to her in Mandarin, but they still use Cantonese on her. :(
Blurblur,
Maybe I should just blast more Chinese song for her to listen. :P
Allyfeel,
So he can speak Mandarin a bit?? Actually if you visit Shiaulin's blog, I find Xuan also speaks like kuai lou.. I think b'cos Mandarin has lots of intonation and at this age they still don't master it, so they all sound very kwai lou. :P
Now can listen? Most people can.
Shiaulin,
*chanting* I shall try to do it.. I shall try to do it.. I shall try to do it..
(but tough ler.. tiring for the mouth)
Gbyeow,
Err.. This is Zhao Chuan la.. the ugly singer.. not the handsome Ricky Ren.
Mom2Ashley,
Yes, I kept telling myself that too.. If I don't do it now.. It'll be very late.. :(
Ok ok.. *chanting* I shall try to do it.. I shall try to do it.. I shall try to do it..
Shoppingmum,
I plan to send her to Chinese school, so I guess, I better start to speak to her SERIOUSLY. :(
Maria,
Yeah loh.. I also don't have patience.. I just want to send the massage across, so the easiest is to speak a language she knows.
But I should try.. really should try.
Eve,
Aiyo.. Karen also angmoh?? :P
Eh.. you leave me a comment here with your email address can? Then you just delete the comment after that.. I'll get an email notification with your email. I don't have any other email id, I will let you have my work email but I don't want to publish here. :P
Yah, somehow if they know you can speak and understand English, they will not converse with you in Mandarin. It has to be someone else who plays the role of "Mandarin speaker" in the household. But I think what's important at this age is to ensure that they do not dislike the language - you could get her a Chinese DVD - try Miyazaki's films (I highly recommend My Neighbour Totoro); when kids see characters they like, they might sprout the lines from the show.
Hey, I've started to teach Gavin Chinese too. At first he wasn't interested. But now, I teach him to say the words of things he likes and he has started to pick up.
His Chinese teacher is also very good in this. She made him feel comfortable with her and everyday, she'll pen one Chinese character on his hand to teach him
Aiyoo! She is so clever!
I believe it's a matter of whether you want to talk to her in Mandarin or not, Zara sure can pick up Mandarin very fast!
encore! encore! *clap clap clap!*
Zara's still very young, she'll pick up Mandarin in no time if there's someone who'd speak that dialect to her on a regular basis.
Hahaa! So cute! Should let her listen to "ke ren lai", "san zhi lao hu" also.
BTW, how come u let her listen to this song leh? so young in search for a 'bird' liao?? LOL
ya, I remember this song...
Bravo! Bravo! encore! encor! hehehe..well dun worrie abt the language..i am sure she will pick up as she go along... :)
U r doing marvelous job here my dear..should give urself some credits! :)
hehe..don't wanna speak mandarin, but can sing mandarin, not bad wohh. Future Sally Yeh liao lerr!!
OMG! You girls sound so cute together. I've also been told to repeat each word with another language and like you, I got lazy too. So, now, my job is to speak to Belle in cantonese and english. The hubby and his folks will take care of the Shanghaiese part. As for mandarin, I guess she will just have to pick it up from other conversation.
It seems like Zara understands what you say. After all, she did reply "bu yao" to your question. ;)
Hahaha, Zara's voice so cute and can duet with mummy.
No worries, no worries. When she enters kindy, I'm sure she'll learn the 3 languages.
Destinee is speaking rojak languages with us now. She's so used to speaking Cantonese (1 year with her nanny who spoke Cantonese only) and now when she's speaking in 'jap pa lang' - Cantonese, a little of English, Mandarin and Malay.
Take your time.. maybe start with some interesting chinese cartoons to engage her interest in the language?
She's really cute.
Good, must teach her cantonese too. She will pick it up fast, as you start to teach her.
My son is also learning tamil. He speaks tamil when at in-laws.
Fuzzoo,
I do let her listen to Chinese songs, especially the kids one. And on my way to work, I listen to the Chinese radio station in the car with her. :)
Sesame,
AAah.. the Chinese teacher is from his school, or you got a tutor for him?
Jefferene,
My Mandarin also half pass six.. that's why hard to converse to her. Anyway, I'm trying.
May,
Guess, that someone will have to be mummy.. No one in the family speaks Mandarin.
Jason,
Soon huh.. wait.. let her slowly learn. She can do the Wei-wei bu-yau pa also.. :P
Shiaulin,
B'cos I like the song ma.. And wanted to teach her what a bird is in Chinese. :P
Simple American,
Oh boy.. so both your kids don't speak Chinese but you do? The one who call your kid stupid was a real bully!
Let her learn up more songs first.. Now she can only do the ending word in each phrase.
Blogie Talkie,
Nice song.. meaningful too.. But Zara doesn't have a clue what it's about. :P
Gene Lim,
thank you thank you *pat myself on the back*
Jasmine,
Yeah hor.. Sally Yeh!! :P
Vien,
Wow, you are exposing Belle to so many languages, she'll be a real linguist!
Tracy,
That's the thing loh.. if you expose them to too many languages, they'll speak campur campur.
Domestic,
Starting with songs first.. :P
Mother Superior,
Thanks.
Geetha,
I'm not so keen in Cantonese but more so in Mandarin. More useful as a whole. :P
Aaa.. that's good, they speak the mother tongue. Mine is Hokkien, but I'm not even exposing her to any which is a shame.
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