The Learning of Languages (Part 2)

Singapore's problem lies in the fact that more and more people use English as their first language. The first language functions as a reference language. Much has been said about the Swiss and Dutch people being linguists. But the languages that they learn are all closely linked to their first or reference language. European languages in general (Greek and Russian excepted) all share the same latin alphabets, and the same latin roots. This makes the learning of multiple languages much easier.

But when the reference language is not linked, the learning is much harder. English and Mandarin is a perfect example. English is phonetic. Mandarin is character based. English is an atonal language. Mandarin has four tones. A student learning to read English is taught to pronounce words through verbalising consonents and vowels of the alphabet. A student learning Chinese has no choice but to commit the meaning of the word and sound to memory. You can read an English word even if you do not understand the meaning. You cannot read a Chinese word unless you know the character. Moreover, a Chinese character can have multiple pronounciations, and when combined with another character, can have multiple meanings. Mandarin requires a lot more memory work.

Chinese is an exceptionally difficult language for an English speaker to learn. The US Department of Defense uses a Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB)to test an individual's potential to learn a foreign language. Only students with the highest scores are deemed capable of learning Chinese. Chinese is grouped together with Arabic, Japanese and Korean as a Category IV language - languages which are the hardest for an English speaker to learn.

With more and more households in Singapore using English as their primary language, is it surprising that Singaporeans are struggling to learn Mandarin? Moreover with English still the dominant language in our world today, students who are disillusioned with Chinese simply give up.

If this is the root of the problem, then a radically different approach may be needed to make a nation that is increasingly speaking English at home, raise children that are comfortable using Mandarin.