7-year-old girl gives Chinese tuition, includes playtime in her lessons

[Fitvip]

Fr TST.

Her Tuition Fee Is $30 An Hour ...

7-year-old girl gives Chinese tuition, includes playtime in her lessons

Tan Xi En conducts three classes a week, each lasting an hour. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

 

Chin Hui Shan

UPDATED

 

MAR 23, 2023, 9:24 PM SGT

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SINGAPORE – Three times a week, Tan Xi En is parked in a room of a Housing Board flat in Ang Mo Kio, where pupils who are around her age are given Chinese-language lessons.

The twist? The seven-year-old is the teacher.

Xi En conducts three classes a week, each lasting an hour. For now, she has four pupils, and most take one-on-one lessons. She also helps her mother, a home-based Chinese-language tutor, in her classes twice a week.

“Sometimes it feels easy, sometimes it does not,” said Xi En. “At times, I will feel tired, but I see it as one of my responsibilities and a mission I want to complete.”

“I like to teach… and I am happy that more people get to learn Chinese.”

Xi En’s teaching journey began when she was just two, when she started helping her mother Avelyn Tan, 35, in the latter’s lessons for children at primary and pre-school levels.

Xi En would, for instance, read out aloud from storybooks and help collect assignments, before she graduated to bigger tasks such as assessing the work done and preparing lesson materials.

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She and her mother realised she enjoyed helping children learn Chinese, and they decided to let the child run her own classes.

In January, Xi En started offering Chinese-language lessons, while she herself was homeschooled by her parents, who are both educators and also have a 16-month-old son.

“When she was younger, she would totter over to try to mimic whatever I was doing when I was teaching,” said Ms Tan.

“We decided to involve her. It seemed fun and meaningful. Xi En will get to learn new skills, and I will get a new assistant too.”

Each class Xi En conducts is different, as it is often customised to suit the pupils’ interests. For instance, one of her pupils likes playing chess, so Xi En teaches him Chinese related to chess terms.

There are common features in each class too. Every class will involve reading aloud from storybooks, practising conversations and going through cartoon videos Xi En assigned her pupils to watch as homework during the previous class.

At first, Xi En wanted to teach only two pupils, but 20 people signed up for her class, said Ms Tan. Xi En increased her intake to four instead. They are charged up to $30 an hour each.

Tan Xi En (right), with her 16-month-old brother Tan Qi Zhe and her mother Avelyn Tan, 35, on March 14, 2023.  ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Her love for the language stems from Ms Tan, who started teaching Xi En Chinese when she was two years old. By the age of three, Xi En could understand the language up to the Primary 6 level, Ms Tan said.

Now, Xi En borrows about 60 books from the library every six weeks, and enjoys reading Chinese history books from the adult section. She recently finished a 400-page biography of Tang dynasty empress Wu Zetian, said Ms Tan.

In 2022, Xi En won an award at the National Primary School Chinese Storytelling Competition for finishing in the top 15 of the 70 participants. The contest allowed participants to hone their storytelling skills and cultivate their interest in the Chinese language.

Parents of Xi En’s pupils say they engaged her in the hope that she can be a role model for the children and ignite their passion for the language.

Ms Nancy Lim said she has always wanted to find someone who is more like a friend to her 10-year-old son and can converse with him in Mandarin.

“I hope this allows him to know that the language is beautiful, and there are peers around him who speak this language well,” added the 46-year-old part-time music teacher, who also homeschools her son.

While Ms Lim also teaches her son Chinese at home in skills such as spelling and writing, she said: “It is just rote learning, and there is not much enjoyment and motivation to do it other than to pass his tests. That hardly helps a child to pick up the language.”

Some parents also find Xi En’s method of teaching effective, with the inclusion of playtime.

Ms Josephine Kwok, who is in her 40s, said that instead of using a conventional classroom setting, Xi En sometimes teaches her six-year-old daughter while playing with dolls.

At times, they will even go to the playground and learn the related vocabulary.

“Although it is a one-hour journey to the class, my daughter does not dread going for it,” said Ms Kwok, a housewife.

“Maybe, to her, she does not see it as tuition, but more like a play date, except that she is actually learning.”

[Watwheels]

Whoa seh, isnt this child labour? Considered child abuse?

Can bao toh to MOM siah.

According to the the Ministry of Manpower, the legal age to work in Singapore for children and young persons is 13 years old.

Edited March 24, 2023 by Watwheels

[Jamesc]

Want to swap?

[Lala81]

fastest way to improve oral is to practice it with another person!

 

[Atonchia]

I remember when I was in P1

这个是笔。

这个是苹果。

 

This is a pen

This is an apple.

[Lala81]

On 3/24/2023 at 1:50 PM, Lala81 said:

fastest way to improve oral is to practice it with another person!

 

Ok just realised this can be interpreted in a naughty way.

Verbal communication.

[Lala81]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:11 PM, Atonchia said:

I remember when I was in P1

这个是笔。

这个是苹果。

 

This is a pen

This is an apple.

now if you are this standard in primary one, they send u to the special class for slow/weak students. 

[Atonchia]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:19 PM, Lala81 said:

now if you are this standard in primary one, they send u to the special class for slow/weak students. 

Yah...so true😅

Now the standard for Chinese is really high compare to the past especially for school with higher Chinese.

[Lala81]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:23 PM, Atonchia said:

Yah...so true😅

Now the standard for Chinese is really high compare to the past especially for school with higher Chinese.

I went through my girl's p5 higher chinese WA with her recently. She just passed it when she got the 2nd highest score in her class for pu hua.

I guess the difficulty is comprehending chinese passages which is difficult for them. TBH, i think the higher chinese last time also not easy even in my time. Have to remember our teachers were all chinese-ed teachers.

I feel that the increase in difficulty of the other subjects is more apparent. Whereas leaving out the PRCs, chinese language standards haven't really increased as we speak more english than chinese. It's not like my wife who grew up reading zaobao and wanbao. 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Lala81

[Atonchia]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:36 PM, Lala81 said:

I went through my girl's p5 higher chinese WA with her recently. She just passed it when she got the 2nd highest score in her class for pu hua.

I guess the difficulty is comprehending chinese passages which is difficult for them. TBH, i think the higher chinese last time also not easy. But then higher chinese has always been not easy even in my time.

I feel that the increase in difficulty of the other subjects is more apparent. Whereas leaving out the PRCs, chinese language standards haven't really increased as we speak more english than chinese. It's not like my wife who grew up reading zaobao and wanbao. 

 

Totally agree with you on practicing the language through conversation is best for learning the language.

My kids love to watch English youtube, so Chinese language sentence structure is literally translated from English. 

Luckily now watching more 西游记, more interest to learn mother tongue.

[Lala81]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:41 PM, Atonchia said:

 

Totally agree with you on practicing the language through conversation is best for learning the language.

My kids love to watch English youtube, so Chinese language sentence structure is literally translated from English. 

Luckily now watching more 西游记, more interest to learn mother tongue.

problem with chinese content is that it's very boring compared to the western content. 
At least my girl likes to read mi xiao quan joke books. I bought like the whole series and those cheng yu comics. 

My son reads lot more. He hardly reads anything in chinese language. Probably have to introduce him some japanese manga from china website when he's bit older.

xi you ji? which one. can't be the OG one bah.

 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Lala81

[Atonchia]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:45 PM, Lala81 said:

problem with chinese content is that it's very boring compared to the western content. 
At least my girl likes to read mi xiao quan joke books. I bought like the whole series and those cheng yu comics. 

My son reads lot more. He hardly reads anything in chinese language. Probably have to introduce him some japanese manga from china website when he's bit older.

xi you ji? which one. can't be the OG one bah.

 

Yup, not much content on YouTube.

The cartoon version. Not original TV serial. The school teacher occasionally let them watch in class.

 

[Fitvip]

On 3/24/2023 at 1:47 PM, Jamesc said:

Want to swap?

With whom?🤐

[Jamesc]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:52 PM, Fitvip said:

With whom?🤐

I was thinking my girl but I am not fussy any one of my kids also can.

And if people bargain hard they can have 2 and I just take one.

 

[Victor68]

I have originally given a like then when I read further, it was $30 per hour. Personally I don't quite like the ideal of a 7 years old doing this for money. 

[13177]

On 3/24/2023 at 2:58 PM, Victor68 said:

I have originally given a like then when I read further, it was $30 per hour. Personally I don't quite like the ideal of a 7 years old doing this for money. 

Parents idea la. Dont think a 7 year old girl would know.

[Fitvip]

The fastest and most effective way of learning a language is by immersion. Once you are in an environment which does not speak your language, you are forced to learn fast!

One good example is the the Thai singer 小邓丽君，Langgalamu. She went to China to learn Chinese to understand Teresa Teng's songs' lyrics. She picked very fast. Now she is very fluent conversing in Mandarin.

[Sosaria]

On 3/24/2023 at 8:04 AM, Fitvip said:

The fastest and most effective way of learning a language is by immersion. Once you are in an environment which does not speak your language, you are forced to learn fast!

One good example is the the Thai singer 小邓丽君，Langgalamu. She went to China to learn Chinese to understand Teresa Teng's songs' lyrics. She picked very fast. Now she is very fluent conversing in Mandarin.

Go Thailand or go PRC to immerse in the language, the best way is to get a "long hair" dictionary

Learn very fast.