samthebear
Member
Title sounds ridiculous but for everyone who is of Chinese descent who wants to apply to study continuers chinese (especially if you're going to apply into a saturday school) this is going to be very handy.
Also, and i quote:
My half swedish-half malay friend was put into background just because his dad can speak malay. Beware. halfies are not exempt from this rule.
* i have also learnt (the hard way) that it doesnt matter if YOU cant speak the language. as long as your parents can you will still be opted for the background course and denied entry into continuers. They operate on the assumption that because your parents can speak it therefore you can too. very fucked up reasoning but hey - this is the BoS.
Even if you have indicated an asian language as 'occasionally' you can still be put under suspicion of having more knowledge of the language than you've let on.
Things get harder still if you've attended school overseas. if you've even attended school up to grade 2 or 3 in a country with chinese as the main language you will NEVER be allowed to do continuers. so if you've studied primary/elementry school in china, HK, taiwan etc you will NEVER be allowed to study continuers chinese unless you've studied there for LESS than a year (in any grade as long as its under highschool standard).
Be prepared to justify why your abilities only extend to continuers. (my mother had to call the saturday school for a whole two weeks to convince the principal and language co-ordinator that i'm not a background speaker) and i quote:
But i believe by 2011, the continuers course will not be available to anyone of Chinese heritage. they will instead have to do this thing called a "Heritage course" which sounds totally fucked up imo (and really racist - why dont they have a 'heritage' course for all other languages? why only chinese?) apparently, its supposed to provide more 'opportunities' for 'native' speakers (by native i mean people who're chinese - doesnt mean that you can actually speak the language) in that they can 'learn' more about their heritage while at the same time leveling out the playing field in the continuers course for 'non-native' speakers (by 'non-native' speakers i mean anyone who ISN'T Chinese by descent).
In short: Applying to get into continuers chinese when you're chinese is near impossible unless you're doing the course through your school in which they may be a bit more relaxed with the BoS regulations. If you're going to apply through saturday school, be prepared to justify (and provide evidence beyond doubt) why you (as a chinese person) has language abilities extending only to continuers chinese.
When you apply and get a form thing (it looks like this: http://www.curriculumsupport.educat...uages/sscl/assets/pdf/ssenp091011appen208.pdf ) make sure you NEVER fill in any of the boxes with an asian language. even if your parents occasionally (or often) speak canto/mando/hakka/hokkien/teochew/[insert name of another chinese dilect]
Also, and i quote:
This means; (for everyone who couldnt be bothered reading) if you (or your parents) can speak malay or indonesian you are NOT eligable to do continuers chinese. How does malay or indonesian compute to chinese - i have no idea.
My half swedish-half malay friend was put into background just because his dad can speak malay. Beware. halfies are not exempt from this rule.
* i have also learnt (the hard way) that it doesnt matter if YOU cant speak the language. as long as your parents can you will still be opted for the background course and denied entry into continuers. They operate on the assumption that because your parents can speak it therefore you can too. very fucked up reasoning but hey - this is the BoS.
Even if you have indicated an asian language as 'occasionally' you can still be put under suspicion of having more knowledge of the language than you've let on.
Things get harder still if you've attended school overseas. if you've even attended school up to grade 2 or 3 in a country with chinese as the main language you will NEVER be allowed to do continuers. so if you've studied primary/elementry school in china, HK, taiwan etc you will NEVER be allowed to study continuers chinese unless you've studied there for LESS than a year (in any grade as long as its under highschool standard).
Be prepared to justify why your abilities only extend to continuers. (my mother had to call the saturday school for a whole two weeks to convince the principal and language co-ordinator that i'm not a background speaker) and i quote:
You will be assumed a background speaker unless you can convince them other wise. (guilty until proven innocent)
But i believe by 2011, the continuers course will not be available to anyone of Chinese heritage. they will instead have to do this thing called a "Heritage course" which sounds totally fucked up imo (and really racist - why dont they have a 'heritage' course for all other languages? why only chinese?) apparently, its supposed to provide more 'opportunities' for 'native' speakers (by native i mean people who're chinese - doesnt mean that you can actually speak the language) in that they can 'learn' more about their heritage while at the same time leveling out the playing field in the continuers course for 'non-native' speakers (by 'non-native' speakers i mean anyone who ISN'T Chinese by descent).
In short: Applying to get into continuers chinese when you're chinese is near impossible unless you're doing the course through your school in which they may be a bit more relaxed with the BoS regulations. If you're going to apply through saturday school, be prepared to justify (and provide evidence beyond doubt) why you (as a chinese person) has language abilities extending only to continuers chinese.
