Sunday, October 26, 2008

graduation


both my wife & i are not native mandarin-speakers, & we can't read the above message to save our lives. so we were a little apprehensive when the boy was selected to give this address to open the kindergarten graduation ceremony.


but our anxieties were unfounded & instead, we were pleasantly surprised that he recited the speech with ease. perhaps there is hope that he will even more than just get by when he enters primary 1 in a mandarin-medium school next year.


but we know he did enjoy himself in kindergarten. he even looked forward to playing The Beast in the school version of Beauty & the Beast....


p/s. i had originally titled this post "valediction" but i thought that was going a bit overboard!

18 comments:

TZ said...

Doc, are you going to send your son and daughter to chinese school?

iml said...

Not to late to pick up the language, besides,it will keep that gray matter going!!!

Michelle Mak said...

wah...
*pats on ur son*
he look good in the pics..
especially the second one..really know how to pose...lol

doc said...

TZ,

my daughter is already in Sec 2 in national school. only the boy will be in mandarin-medium school.

doc said...

Iml,

i'm picking conversational mandarin from my colleagues as well as from the CCTV channel on astro.

Alex Tang said...

hi doc,

congrats. Another milestone!

doc said...

Mich,

yeah, he's a little show-off, isn't he?

doc said...

hi Alex,

thanks. many more to come.

Michelle Mak said...

will see..
in less than 20 years...
we see how he pose for his uni grad..
ahahaha
remember to post it here by then k? hehe

doc said...

Mich,

when he graduates, he will definitely get front-page exposure in this blog!

Yan said...

I, for that matter, am a little "tongue-tied" by the speech (must have been prepared by the teacher). The last sentence asked those who were present to "repay" the months-long preparation and practices of the school with applause.

Having said that, your son is definitely well-composed! Way to go, little one!

Bengbeng said...

let him enter the Chinese medium. he will face a handicap but by the time he reaches secondary it wont matter anyway.

doc said...

Yan,

yes, the speech was prepared by the teacher & he was given a month's notice of his task. actually, he has picked up mandarin quite well at this particular kindergarten.

doc said...

Beng,

i pray he will be able to bear the rigours of the school. after all, he's has a gentle personality.

Bengbeng said...

my kid is finally catching up to his peers at std 3. but he excels in the other languages in comparison with his frens so it doesnt affect his ego too much. the prob is i dont read or write chinese so it is a handicap for him

Anonymous said...

I see pencil marks on the speech ;)

doc said...

Beng,

kids learn fast when they are motivated to do so, & soon Beng Hui will be speaking like a native Chinese!!

doc said...

Fibrate,

those are the hanyu pinyin translation, so that we can check on the boy.