Including Academic Subject Content in Chinese Learning
When children are young, providing meaningful context in language learning is much more natural. Our daily living almost automatically serves that platform, that is, as long as we are more intentional about it. When they grow older, however, especially when schooling and peer influences start to dominate in English, children tend to stay at that level of proficiency, at best.
It seems more intention is in order. Subject-related content in Chinese is crucial in continuing their level of competency, especially in science, mathematics and history. Research shows that there may be cognitive costs due to language switching. But as in all extent of bilingualism, the long-term benefit may outweigh today’s pace of learning. It is a value your family needs to hold fast to while under the pressure of comparison.
As much time as your family can allow, in all academic content, a child will benefit to know the vocabulary equivalence in Chinese, both in terminology and in concept. Today, ample modern resources are widely available to complement our incompetency in many subjects.
In science, narrating simple processes such as the water cycle, photosynthesis and earthquake is a good start. Doing a nature walk will provide that backdrop of topics to discuss. In mathematics, multiplication table and fraction operations are areas to explore, even at a meal time setting: we have only two hot dogs on the table, and we have three people, how much hot dog can we eat? (All spoken in Chinese of course!) Playing card games such as Uno in Chinese can be another fun way to practice numeracy. (You may also make up many math games using the Uno cards.) For history, a family dinner table discussion over current events, political movement, or the past can be more wholesome and effective than an actual lesson.
We must be aware that teaching academic content does not need to be all didactic. It can continue to be meaningful and fun, as it used to be when the children are younger. The key is your intention and persistence. Fostering curiosity and imagination in a real context is still key to teaching the habit of lifetime learning.
