Talk to your children about their thought process in Chinese so that they can translate that into their writing. For a primary 1 child, they can begin a journal using only hanyu pinyin to start since hanyu pinyin is the focus for that level. To facilitate this process, children are encouraged to keep a journal that is written only in Chinese. Thinking in Chinese leads to a more effective flow of sentences when they put their thoughts to the paper. In order to help our children to write better, we need to guide them to think in the language that they are writing. One of the main issues in primary school Chinese composition writing is the thinking process of our children. We can encourage them to start a journal! How can we help our children to write better Chinese compositions at school? Therefore, we can appreciate how frustrating it must be for children who are desperately trying to put in their best efforts at their primary school Chinese composition writing, and despite their best efforts, fail to achieve their expectations. The lack of vocabulary can also be an issue as children struggle to find the right words to describe what they want to say. The true meaning of what they intend to convey is lost in translation as a result of this process.

Why do primary school Chinese compositions seem harder to write than English ones?įor starters, a lot of children tend to think in English and translate their thoughts into Chinese when they pen down their stories. Naturally, this can be concerning because we do not want our children to be left behind in either language. What about speaking, reading and writing in Mandarin?Īs a result of a strong English environment that our children are constantly immersed in, some parents realise that their children tend to fare poorly in their primary school Chinese compositions compared to their English compositions. Being a bilingual student in Singapore has its challenges, especially when the child’s environment is predominantly in English.

Struggle session hanyu pinyin