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local language in international schools?
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| Junior Member |
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| posted by migao 151 days ago |
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I don't know where to compare but I feel that it's a relic of a colonial "apartheid" system that none (?) of the international schools in HK are teaching Cantonese. I feel a bit awkward every time I meet people that have lived all their lives here, gone to school here, but still can't speak the local language at all - is it common for international schools elsewhere as well not to teach the local language?
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| Regular Member |
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| of trenchancy |
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| posted by smog 151 days ago |
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English is an official language of Hong Kong. And as I understand it pretty much all these schools require everyone to study Mandarin (also an official language of Hong Kong) as well. So two out of three ain't bad.
And why should it make you feel awkward? You're not the one in that position are you?
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| posted by puyi 151 days ago |
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beijing official line is canto is a dialect ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
darren rudd is a sinophile
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| Junior Member |
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| posted by migao 151 days ago |
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2 out of 3 but in the wrong order of relevance in the city state where vast majority speak Cantonese as mother tongue and as the main language of daily communication. I mean c'mon, Cantonese is THE language of Hong Kong, in reality English and Mandarin are foreign languages here.
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| Regular Member |
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| posted by smog 151 days ago |
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Indeed, but for all practical purposes English is sufficient.
And in the wider world outside this one city, the languages you need to do business around the world are English, Mandarin and then probably Spanish. Speak them all fluently and have a good general education and the world's your oyster.
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| The Designer |
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| posted by HKBloke 151 days ago |
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I would never ever EVER want my kids to waste their time learning Cantonese as it is not an important language.
If you want your kids to learn Chinese they will learn Mandarin which is why that is the subject offered by the international schools.
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| Junior Member |
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| posted by migao 151 days ago |
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I agree that Cantonese is not an important language outside Hong Kong. But in Hong Kong it is the single most important language. So if you're only visiting here, it's okay not to learn it, but if you're here for the long term I just don't understand why can't you mix with the culture of 95% of people here.
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| posted by sunwaterandsky 151 days ago |
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Migao, most of the children in Hong Kong's International schools are actually Chinese and Native Cantonese speakers. Their parents choose international schools because of dissatisfaction with local schools or a desire for English and Mandarin education. There are some private schools that offer all three, but I believe that three languages of instruction might be difficult for students.
Private/international schools offer what there is a market for. If you want to complain about that, you need to complain to the people who create most of that market - the local Cantonese speaking parents.
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| The Designer |
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| posted by HKBloke 150 days ago |
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quote:
Originally posted by migao
I agree that Cantonese is not an important language outside Hong Kong. But in Hong Kong it is the single most important language. So if you're only visiting here, it's okay not to learn it, but if you're here for the long term I just don't understand why can't you mix with the culture of 95% of people here.
If you had the misfortune to be posted to Cardiff would you push your kids to learn Welsh ?
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| Regular Member |
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| posted by smog 150 days ago (edited 150 days ago) |
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An excellent analogy (although perhaps more true in somewhere a bit more to the north, like Bangor or Holyhead would be better).
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| posted by migao 150 days ago |
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I guess I'm talking with native English speakers here... I guess it's a waste of time as you guys rarely really learn any foreign languages in any case...
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| Regular Member |
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| posted by Killer Tomato 150 days ago |
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quote:
Originally posted by sunwaterandsky
but I believe that three languages of instruction might be difficult for students.
I find that hard to believe, when i went to school i had Dutch, German, English and French. and no one thought that that was too hard on anyone
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| posted by sunwaterandsky 150 days ago |
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Killer, you might have studied four languages, but did you study all subjects in those languages? There is a difference between studying languages and using them as the language of instruction. Local schools use Cantonese as the language of instruction, but they also study English and Putonghua as language subjects. They don't study math, science or humanities in those languages.
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| posted by Killer Tomato 150 days ago |
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sws maybe i missed your point there before, off course there should be only 1 language in a school. however i dont see the problem of people learning cantonese, we may or it may be a dialect, it gets spoken by a s**tload of people, and it would be a smart addition.
German is a language, but i dont think you can find one school in switzerland or austria for example where they speak proper german, rather they speak and study in their dialect....heck i dont even think that most swiss can speak proper german at all
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| posted by sunwaterandsky 150 days ago |
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Actually, I don't see a problem with students learning Cantonese, but schools offer what parents want. Very few parents are demanding Cantonese - they generally focus on Putonghua. Some schools use both traditional and simplified characters to ensure that students can read local papers though.
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| posted by Load Toad 150 days ago |
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Cantonese isn't much use at all - I think the most useful languages would be English, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic and Urdu. Anything else is just a bit o' fancy slang.
You used to speak the truth.
But now you're clever.
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| Junior Member |
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| posted by migao 150 days ago |
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Jeez. You guys all live in a fookin bubble. 95% speak Cantonese here and you don't find it useful at all. Get a fookin life folks.
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| posted by mr scott 150 days ago |
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Is Cantonese actually taught in any of the schools here though? It is the language of instruction of course but it isn't being taught; there's no curriculum for it.
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| The Designer |
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| posted by HKBloke 150 days ago |
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quote:
Originally posted by migao
Jeez. You guys all live in a fookin bubble. 95% speak Cantonese here and you don't find it useful at all. Get a fookin life folks.
nope. i have never found a need for it sorry. It's a dead language.
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| posted by Killer Tomato 150 days ago |
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erh Bloke you do live in a bubble then!
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| posted by Load Toad 150 days ago (edited 150 days ago) |
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The fact that it is the local language doesn't mean you need it to get by. I travel for business all over the place and guess what - I can't be arsed to learn any of the languages of the countries I have to go to cos I aren't paid for language ability. Each to his own etc. Now I guess shooting at your chefs or ordering veggies from the market might need a bit of Canto - but as a language of influence and use in the world it's probably about as important as Welsh.
You used to speak the truth.
But now you're clever.
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