Can moving to Singapore help my 18 month son learn Mandarin?

[afchoma]

My husband and I would like our 18 mo son to learn Mandarin. We currently live in NYC and was wondering if moving to Singapore would provide him more exposure to the Mandarin language. (Sinapore is the only Asian office my husband may have a chance of transferring to.) I believe in full immersion in the language - that is how I learned Mandarin. As a US expat in Singapore, how much exposure would my son get to Mandarin? For example, Mandarin playdates, classes, daily life exposure (i.e. going to the store, running errands). What is the main language that you hear when you walk around town?

Background - I currently have Mandarin speaking nanny, I speak only Mandarin to son, dad speaks only English. But all his classes, playdates are English speaking. Already he is speaking more English words than Mandarin. Will moving to Singapore give him a better chance of learning to speak Mandarin?

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

Forgive me, but do you consider Amy Chua your personal savior? Honestly, if you are an expat from the US (and look like one) in Singapore, full 100% immersion would be close to impossible. With intense tutoring however, your 18 month old (!) should be able become fluent in Mandarin. Singapore is a predominantly English speaking nation, with a polyglot of other languages being spoken all around you everyday.

[nakatago]

Singapore is a predominantly English speaking nation.

...with a lot of caveats.

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

^^ Agreed. Hence the resulting polyglot.

[nakatago]

^^ Agreed. Hence the resulting polyglot.

I'd like to think that a polyglot uses many languages, indeed, but usually one language per paragraph.

[JayCee]

Jet Li just admitted he's moved here so his kids will be bilingual (so Singlish and Spandarin count as languages? )

[ksl]

Jet Li just admitted he's moved here so his kids will be bilingual (so Singlish and Spandarin count as languages? )

Singapore is the worst place in the world to learn Mandarin, you can do much better in Chinatown USA. That's no kidding.

My daughter was born in Taiwan, so we prioritize Mandarin, she is an 'A' student 5th grade in Chinese. But the tuition is shocking in Singapore unless you can find a good one on one teacher and that can be a challenge in itself.

The government is looking to bring in more Chinese teachers, not that it will help much. Singlish and Spandarin is about all they will achieve so I would stick with China Town USA.

Character learning and stroke order is the most difficult part, that you do not get enough of in Singapore.

[aargon]

You can guarantee she`ll learn Singlish and maybe Mandarin with a bad accent if she`s lucky,

[JR8]

Forgive me, but do you consider Amy Chua your personal savior? Honestly, if you are an expat from the US (and look like one) in Singapore, full 100% immersion would be close to impossible. With intense tutoring however, your 18 month old (!) should be able become fluent in Mandarin. Singapore is a predominantly English speaking nation, with a polyglot of other languages being spoken all around you everyday.

ah, only now do I 'get' the significance of the comments

[breedmon]

Jet Li just admitted he's moved here so his kids will be bilingual (so Singlish and Spandarin count as languages? )

Singapore is the worst place in the world to learn Mandarin, you can do much better in Chinatown USA. That's no kidding.

My daughter was born in Taiwan, so we prioritize Mandarin, she is an 'A' student 5th grade in Chinese. But the tuition is shocking in Singapore unless you can find a good one on one teacher and that can be a challenge in itself.

The government is looking to bring in more Chinese teachers, not that it will help much. Singlish and Spandarin is about all they will achieve so I would stick with China Town USA.

Character learning and stroke order is the most difficult part, that you do not get enough of in Singapore.

This is entirely BS. I think it is obvious that most posters in this thread can't even speak Mandarin to begin with.

Singapore does provide a good environment to learn Mandarin since Mandarin has the most number of first language speakers in Singapore; English only the second. And the Singaporean Mandarin accent is say much better than the Malaysian or Hong Kong one for example. Half of China does not even speak Mandarin to begin with.

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

Jet Li just admitted he's moved here so his kids will be bilingual (so Singlish and Spandarin count as languages? )

Singapore is the worst place in the world to learn Mandarin, you can do much better in Chinatown USA. That's no kidding.

My daughter was born in Taiwan, so we prioritize Mandarin, she is an 'A' student 5th grade in Chinese. But the tuition is shocking in Singapore unless you can find a good one on one teacher and that can be a challenge in itself.

The government is looking to bring in more Chinese teachers, not that it will help much. Singlish and Spandarin is about all they will achieve so I would stick with China Town USA.

Character learning and stroke order is the most difficult part, that you do not get enough of in Singapore.

This is entirely BS. I think it is obvious that most posters in this thread can't even speak Mandarin to begin with.

Singapore does provide a good environment to learn Mandarin since Mandarin has the most number of first language speakers in Singapore; English only the second. And the Singaporean Mandarin accent is say much better than the Malaysian or Hong Kong one for example. Half of China does not even speak Mandarin to begin with.

But ~ only 47% of Chinese Singaporeans speak Mandarin at home.

[Eau2011]

Jet Li just admitted he's moved here so his kids will be bilingual (so Singlish and Spandarin count as languages? )

First time I heard this word. Got it....

Refer to the thread "Singaporeans speak Singlish"

Maybe we need another thread "Singaporeans speak Spandarin"

[Eau2011]

Singapore is the worst place in the world to learn Mandarin, you can do much better in Chinatown USA. That's no kidding.

My daughter was born in Taiwan, so we prioritize Mandarin, she is an 'A' student 5th grade in Chinese. But the tuition is shocking in Singapore unless you can find a good one on one teacher and that can be a challenge in itself.

The government is looking to bring in more Chinese teachers, not that it will help much. Singlish and Spandarin is about all they will achieve so I would stick with China Town USA.

Character learning and stroke order is the most difficult part, that you do not get enough of in Singapore.

This is entirely BS. I think it is obvious that most posters in this thread can't even speak Mandarin to begin with.

Singapore does provide a good environment to learn Mandarin since Mandarin has the most number of first language speakers in Singapore; English only the second. And the Singaporean Mandarin accent is say much better than the Malaysian or Hong Kong one for example. Half of China does not even speak Mandarin to begin with.

But ~ only 47% of Chinese Singaporeans speak Mandarin at home.

And the rest? Cantonese or Hokkianese?

To be honest, their Mandarin is as good as their English, I dare say.

[sundaymorningstaple]

According to those in the know, the majority's Mandarin is as bad as their English. It more commonly called singdarin and their English is called singlish. Both are atrocious and the government has been running campaigns for years trying to correct it to no avail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singdarin

[Eau2011]

According to those in the know, the majority's Mandarin is as bad as their English. It more commonly called singdarin and their English is called singlish. Both are atrocious and the government has been running campaigns for years trying to correct it to no avail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singdarin

I was being a bit sarcastic to say their Mandarin is as good as their English.... because Mandarin is still my mother tongue.

So...which language can Singaporeans speak properly, if not English and Mandarin?