HELP International School

( 原文寫於2021年6月15日｜馬來西亞 )

係人都知，菜苗最怕普通話。

佢細個連普通話卡通都冇興趣睇，而家嚟到馬來西亞讀書，點都避唔開要學華語（普通話）。

之前已經有朋友同我講過，馬來西亞學校嘅華語程度同香港有少少唔同。例如呢邊五年級嘅程度，大約相等於香港二年級左右。

聽落好似輕鬆咗，但我哋都唔敢抱太大期望。

畢竟，佢連中文本身都唔太鍾意學。

所以我哋一直都只係鼓勵佢：「盡力就好啦。」

😂😂😂

前幾日同佢傾開學校趣事，佢突然同我講：

「我而家開始覺得華語好少少啦！」

我即刻精神一振。

咦？呢個係重大發現喎！

原來老師上華語堂時，係用英文加華語去教，而唔係全程華語教華語。

聽完之後，我真係好感恩遇到呢間學校。

我同菜苗講：

「咁咪好囉！終於搵到適合你嘅方法啦，咁就盡力去學習啦！」

菜苗爸聽到之後都忍唔住話：

「其實同我當年學日文一樣啫。老師係用廣東話加日文去教，唔係日文加日文教㗎嘛。」

「如果一開始全部都係日文，點會聽得明？」

諗落又真係有道理喎。

🤣🤣🤣

雖然因為疫情關係，學校一路維持網課直到暑假，但菜苗每日都上得好投入。

每逢小息，佢就會衝落樓搵零食。

夠鐘之後，又會自己走返上樓上堂。

功課唔使催，自己會做。

原來學校嘅功課除咗評估學習進度之外，仲會為自己所屬嘅 House 爭取分數，令學生更投入校園生活。

呢個設計，我覺得幾有心思。

最近我哋仲將佢嘅書枱搬咗去二樓客廳。

因為佢始終唔慣一個人一間房，夜晚成日又走過嚟同我哋一齊瞓。

😂😂😂

所以最後決定重新安排書枱位置，方便佢自由出入。

結果搬出客廳之後，效果出奇地好。

今日上堂時，佢笑到好大聲。

我喺樓下廚房煮飯，都聽到佢喺樓上哈哈大笑。

見到佢學習得咁開心，我哋終於放心了。

有時候，適合孩子的教育，未必係最出名嘅學校，也未必係最嚴格嘅制度。

而係有人願意用佢聽得懂嘅方式，陪佢一步一步成長。🌻🌿

11 | The Right School for Jason

Originally written on June 15, 2021 | Malaysia

Everyone who knows Jason knows that Mandarin has never been his favourite subject.

He wasn’t even interested in watching cartoons in Mandarin. So when we moved to Malaysia, learning Chinese (Mandarin) became something he simply couldn’t avoid.

Before we arrived, friends told us that the Mandarin curriculum here was generally easier than in Hong Kong. For example, what Malaysian schools teach in Year 5 is roughly equivalent to Hong Kong’s Primary 2 level.

That sounded encouraging, but we still didn’t expect too much because Jason had never really enjoyed learning Chinese.

Our only expectation was simple: just do your best.

😂😂😂

Yesterday, while we were chatting about school, Jason suddenly said,

“I’m starting to like Mandarin a little more now.”

That was such a pleasant surprise!

When I asked him why, he explained that his teacher teaches Mandarin using both English and Mandarin, instead of teaching Mandarin entirely in Mandarin.

At that moment, I truly appreciated this school.

I told him,

“That’s wonderful! You’ve finally found a way of learning that works for you. Just keep trying your best.”

Jason’s dad smiled and said it reminded him of when he first learned Japanese.

His teacher used Cantonese together with Japanese. If everything had been taught only in Japanese from the beginning, how could beginners possibly understand?

When you think about it, that really makes sense.

🤣🤣🤣

Although classes were still online because of the pandemic, Jason enjoyed every school day.

Whenever there was a break, he would happily run downstairs to grab a snack, then head back upstairs on time for his next lesson.

He even completed all of his homework without anyone reminding him.

The school also had a House system, where homework and participation earned points for each student’s House. It was a fun way to keep everyone engaged and motivated.

This week, we also moved Jason’s desk to the upstairs living area.

He wasn’t used to staying alone in his bedroom and often came to sleep beside us at night, so we rearranged the space to make him feel more comfortable.

After moving his desk, I could hear him laughing during class all the way from the kitchen downstairs.

Hearing that laughter made us realise something important.

Sometimes, the best school isn’t the most famous one.

It’s simply the one that helps a child discover the joy of learning.🌻🌿