My lecturer said that programming is one of those few subjects where in order to progress to the next topic you'll have to fully and completely understand the topic learnt before that. Heck I'm already struggling with the more basic concepts atm yet I'm trying to learn the harder ones to keep track with everybody else. Sigh and I have no interest in it either and totally lack motivation to improve on it.
for most other engineering students, programming is a pain in the btt side-dish to go through, they follow you throughout your years; but at least we don't have to go deeply into it. for for those who major in computers....the side-dish becomes main course, no wonder you're stressed.
poor darling!
o wilku mowa...♪
The only thing I need to know is that I don't know anything.
Maybe you should change to marine biology like one of my fellow physics major.
什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟
和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩
Two major concerns for me:-
Family - how my children's education will work in the initial years. My family doesn't speak Malay, Tamil or Mandarin at home, and yet those are the only options unless we pay through our nose for international or private schools. Mandarin is currently the place where my eldest will go to in a year or so, and hopefully he'll get the hang of things. We try to encourage him at home, but it's blatantly obvious none of us speak Mandarin voluntarily anyway.. we speak Canto and English at home.
Work - I've recently left my comfort zone and started something I've always wanted to do. The expenses are now a reality and significant, and the pressure is on to start generating income as soon as possible and make my dream pay. I'm sure I'll have no regrets in a year's time or so, but for now it's really really scary.
If Malay kids can speak fluent mandarin after joining Chinese school, I'm sure you son should have no problem.
什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟
和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩
o wilku mowa...♪
The only thing I need to know is that I don't know anything.
My family, no one knows how to compromise and understand or even try to especially the men. They are no role models for anyone and perhaps I suck for saying this, but I can't stand them much longer. I resent their mindset and their traditional mentality. Basically my concern is what comes next for a cracked (not entirely broken) family. At this rate, I'm surprised that I'm still sane.
Less Than Perfect
o wilku mowa...♪
The only thing I need to know is that I don't know anything.
This sounds like how I feel. The way the people in the previous generation are...in addition, I'm starting to see the people that my cousins and brothers are growing up to be...I'm not having any children.
I hope that both of my siblings and all of my 30+ first cousins AND their future babies will be more successful than me. If not, then my relationship with them will only get crappier.
I like me.
As discussed earlier, it's necessary that you make a concerted voluntary effort to speak some (simple) Mandarin at home and make sure that your son understands and can respond to whatever you say in Mandarin too. Every year, I have students with various language backgrounds (Canto+Eng, Tamil+Eng, Malay+Eng and Eng only) who struggle with Mandarin. Those who gain a functional knowledge of the language for academic use are those who are very determined/motivated (they want to learn for themselves) and those whose family members take pains to ensure that the children get sufficient exposure to Mandarin (through conversations at home, tutoring, etc).
On the other hand, there are kids who speak Mandarin at home all their lives and have no functional knowledge of the language for academic use, mainly because their parents feel that the ability to speak will lead to the ability to read/write/understand without further effort. Parents like these are a real pain, and it's really unfair to the kids, because they do poorly because of their parents' ignorance, apathy and "tidak-apa" attitude (after being told and thus, no longer ignorant).
Take care, work hard and hang on to the Lord's hand. You'll get through it.I'm sure I'll have no regrets in a year's time or so, but for now it's really really scary.
Unfortunately, the time period of learning to speak and the process of doing so also happens at the same time as a lot of new information and knowledge being imparted to the kids. The difference between the rate of learning to speak and the rate of learning to read/write/process new information in Math, Mandarin Language, Science and Moral Education is so great that unless a concerted effort is made to ensure all the new stuff is learnt, all the kids walk away with would only be the ability to speak.
I have many Malay parents who speak fluent Mandarin (courtesy of being in the Chinese school), but cannot even read a simple message written Mandarin by the time they get to their 30s. I also have Malay/Indian job applicants who can also speak fluent Mandarin but admit in their resumes that their Mandarin reading/writing ability is poor.
* * *
Back to Ian:
It's not that I want to make light of your concern for your son, or to brush aside kidd's encouraging words. I have seen kids suffer in Chinese school but I've also seen kids do well. With the right types and amount of support from the family, your son has a real chance of doing well. After all, he still has a year to go, and there is a lot that you/he can achieve in a year if you/he put your hearts to it.
Sincerely
HYS
That's pretty much the situation I faced when I was in school, only my problem was Bahasa Malaysia. I struggled with every subject which used Bahasa Malaysia as a medium, although I managed to (and still can) get by with the language (although my SPM P7 ensured that I could not advance to Form Six).
Yeah, we do have watch Mandarin programmes with him (he likes wuxia, so he's been watching a bit with me and I explain what's happening in a mix of Mandarin and English), but it's a struggle. More for me than him, really.
I wish our government didn't assume that every person in this country use either Malay, Mandarin or Tamil as a medium. We're not all UMNO, MCA or MIC people.
Less Than Perfect