A Very Personal Journey
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly five years since I started this blog. Time flies, doesn’t it? We’ve been having fun too (for the most part).
The journey began when my eldest daughter started primary school. She had always loved Chinese – in fact, she thrived in a bilingual kindergarten where she was fluent in both English and Chinese. But something unexpected happened once she entered Primary 1. Despite all the progress she made in kindergarten, she suddenly couldn’t even read the short stories she had written herself just a year before.
t was a tough pill to swallow. As a parent with no Chinese-speaking family members around, I found myself completely lost. I didn’t understand how this regression happened, especially since she was so engaged with the language before. But what I didn’t realise at the time was that language regression is actually quite common – especially for non-Chinese-speaking families in Singapore, when children transition from a more intimate, bilingual setting to the large, bustling environment of primary school. Why does it happen? Simply put, an hour a day of classroom instruction in a room full of 30+ kids is just not enough to foster true fluency.
Being an engineer and geek at heart, I took it upon myself to dive deep into the world of Chinese language resources. I became analytical, researching everything from books to apps, and scouring the internet for creative ways to surround my daughter with the language at home – both visually and aurally. And that’s how this humble blog was born.
Then Came COVID-19: A Global Challenge
Just as I was starting to build this resource hub for friends in a similar position to us, COVID-19 hit. Suddenly, schools closed, and face-to-face learning stopped. Some schools moved online, or in my daughter’s case, they just stopped completely. My daughter’s exposure to spoken Chinese all but disappeared. What had been a personal challenge quickly became a global one, with families everywhere scrambling to find digital resources, apps, and online classes to support their children’s learning.
The language challenge was upped another notch. But in a strange way, this shared experience helped us feel less alone. Through this blog, I was able to connect with like-minded parents and families who were facing the same struggles. We swapped tips, discovered new resources, and found solace in knowing we weren’t the only ones navigating this tricky terrain. The connections I’ve made along the way have enriched our journey in ways I never expected. I was grateful to meet new friends and link-minded families during this period.
It’s so worth it
Fast forward half a decade, and I am proud to say that my eldest daughter is graduating from primary school with a strong command of Chinese, which played a role in her early acceptance to the secondary school of her choice. My middle child just received nearly perfect marks in Chinese for her end-of-year exams, and my youngest started primary school. Of course every child is different, but I do feel very well placed to support her on her own bilingual journey through primary school.
While this blog has taken a back seat during the whirlwind of PSLE preparations, DSA applications, and the everyday chaos of life, I’m finally back and will update you all in coming posts on the lessons we’ve continued to learn, the resources that helped most, and how far we’ve come in our language learning journey.
If you or your child are struggling with Chinese, or you’re unsure how to approach choosing a mother tongue language, I want you to know that it’s possible. It’s not too late to turn things around if you need to — even if, like me, you don’t speak the language yourself. With the right mindset, tools, and support, it’s very likely you can do it.
I know many of you reading this have also come a long way on your journeys too – thanks for sharing in ours! You deserve a pat on the back too. Do reach out to my via IG (@lahlahbanana) if you have questions or ideas which you’d like to see explored.
