Can my kids be bilingual?

Losing the battle in my 用心良苦 attempt to have my kids be effectively bilingual!

So we've been investing deliberate efforts since Yx was young, speaking to her in Mandarin as much as we can. It helps that she was under the care of both yeye and nainai who are primarily conversant in mother tongue. Well, not 100% pure Mandarin, as there are times when we mash in a few English words (most of the times nouns and adjectives), but mostly and mainly Mandarin! We even teach her multiplication tables in Mandarin, and borrow 1-2 Mandarin books from the library each time. 

But recently, I observed she's beginning to think and respond in English... I guessed she's been exposed to too much of it at school and on TV (Wiggles, Peppa Pig etc).  Well I have nothing against her English because her spoken English is really very decent for her age! It's just that gradually she's switching from more Mandarin to English... when she's nervous she even speaks with an outlandish Peppa Pig slang it hurts my ears >.<

Discussed this observation with wifey (who has a rather good command of spoken English) who didn't feel it was a big issue - she'd rather Yx be a master in English than speak typical broken Singlish like most Singaporeans do. My counter was that school-goers will be using and hearing English 95% of the time in school any way, furthermore it is easier to pick up English than Mandarin; hence we should practise Mandarin at home... this discussion didn't reach a conclusion yet and it doesn't help that wifey is more comfortable and intuitive in English... =/ So both of them would be exchanging convo in complete English sentences like in an English class. I've observed that Yx would speak/ask/initiate to wifey in English... And beginning to do the same to me.

Really don't want my kids to turn out to be uncomfortable in Mandarin in future. It's been the trend in kids (and teens!) these days. English fi-li-fey-ley but mother tongue is like alien to them, worse, they even admit with arrogance that it is! Reminds me of my experience with Yx's cousin, J who is 5 years+, he speaks English at home and attends Berries:

Me to him: "你吃饭了没有？"

J stared blankly at me, eyes wide open and afraid to blink. He looked right at me like his brain was processing what I said but he doesn't know how to respond; he uttered nothing and only mustered a tiny tiny nod, the look in his eyes reflected that he hoped that's the right answer to my question.

SIGH!

Readers, if you have any tips pls share some guidance!

Netflix shows I watched in 2020

I really, really invested alot of time on Netflix in 2020. Okay, to use "invest" is arguable as it would mean I gained something out of it; I'll rephrase and say that I depended much on Netflix to unwind in 2020. Almost every night, I found myself glued to Netflix on TV. 

In the early part of the year when babywye was still oblivious to her environment, at night I was able to watch shows whilst carrying her to sleep. Later on, as she developed and learnt that TV with its flickering lights and distracting sounds = entertainment, I could no longer do that, so I could only watch after she's fallen asleep and in the cot. Which means I only couched damn late (maybe 11.30pm thereabouts). Which means I also slept damn late. To make matters worse, Netflix shows are so addictive, geez! Episode after episode. Luckily for wfh, I could afford 30-45 mins more sleep the next morning haha...

Minus movies and some series that I watched a few episodes but didn't like (e.g. Suits, Brooklyn 911), here's the series I watched in 2020!

Would take up too much time to give my review for each and every one of them; so I'm gonna categorise them into three groups:

1) DAMN GOOD MUST WATCH!

2) NOT BAD, has a good storyline and rather captivating:

I was really surprised by myself that I finished all 50 episodes, despite the novice dubbing and then budget cast of actors and calefares. But it was really enthralling, the fight scenes and the build up to the climax and twists. It turned out to be one of the most viewed series in HK. 

Queen Gambit

Enthralled and captivated by the lead's acting.

3) Not rubbish, can watch if you've run out of shows:

Vaccinated!

(The typo was on purpose because the vaccination was done at Terminal 4.. geddit?)

Privileged to be amongst the firsts to receive the vaccination (Pfizer) locally. One small jab for man, one giant leap towards normalcy...

(I'll save u the hassle- 1237 did not appear on the 4d results that day lol 😂)

Magic Mom's sewing

After Yx's first ballet lesson, she feedback that her ballet attire was a lil loose at the shoulders. Magic mom took a look and exclaimed, "Ok I know what to do."

2 days later - 

Mom did ruching to the back seam.

A closer look:

The best thing is, the ruching can be removed when required.

If this is not magic, what is?

Sometimes I really admire my mom for being so skilled.

My birthday card

Throwback Dec 2020: 

Received a most touching bday card from darling first-born. It was the night before my birthday but Yx had hidden this secret from me for a few days now; she couldn't hold it back any more and barged into the toilet (whilst I was having my shower) and asked, "Papa do you want to see your birthday card?"

And here it was.

Favourite activities with Papa, she said.

Thank god for giving us this charming sweetheart.

Review of 2020 (the year nobody ever imagined it to be)

Bidding farewell to the year 2020 that everyone wished it didn't turn out the way it did. All thanks to Covid-19, the year actually felt like this:

Jan-Mar: Alternate day WFH
Apr-Aug: Circuit Breaker. Cooped up indoors
Sep-Dec: Alternate day WFH

We saw and experienced many firsts this year. Who brought about digilisation in your office?

a) Chief Exec Officer
b) Chief Finance Officer
c) Chief Development Officer
d) Covid-19.

Fortunately to technology, work was able to resume up to 80-90% for most of us white collar workers. Zoom meetings were the new norm. Blurring of "working hours" and replying to emails late at night were no longer uncommon. Am grateful and thankful that during this pandemic and the large impact on the economy, close family and friends around me and I are still holding on to our jobs and gainfully employed.

Here's looking back at my targets set for 2020:

1) Be prominent in my new work role

Assessment: Happy to be working with multi agencies and picking up construction knowledge in the midst. An irony is that while I officially rotated to BMEP, there was no replacement for my previous EM role (the guy left after 3 months) so I had to double-hat; as a result I led the joint-investigation of the false fire alarm incident on 23 JAN (just two days before CNY, huge phew!) and that earned me opportunities to present to the Management and now I am known within the company as the go-to guy with regard to FM200. 

2) Train earlier for IPPT.

Circuit breaker brought my fitness to a new low. My weekly futsal sessions were abruptly stopped in Apr 2020 together with the closure of sports facilities and non-essential services. Although exercising outdoors was allowed, lazy bum me hated running and I all but jogged only twice. However, lesson learnt from previous years was that I diligently trained sit-ups and push-ups. At my IPPT, I clocked 14 mins for the run (I started walking from 3rd round onwards) but my static stations (39 situps, 35 push ups) helped to secure a pass with incentive (could even get the award with a run time of 15:20mins). 

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Not much happened this year, but still going ahead with the month by month review of 2020:

Jan
How lucky that we were able to celebrate CNY before the full force of Covid-19 hit us.

Feb
Despite the increase in local and imported Covid-19 cases, the Airshow would go on, albeit it was significantly scaled down. Many organisations pulled out of the exhibitions, many foreign delegates preferred not to travel (and some by travel advisory) and local visitors also chose to err on the safe side and did not visit the biannual global event. I was tasked to do up the staff transport for Management, staff and exhibitors. It ran really smoothly across the 4 days. It could have been that the demand was more manageable, but credit to our meticulous planning, we had already catered measures to cope with it (increased buses during peak hours, signages, bus stubs, bus ridership list) anyway. As per all events, there was slight hiccup with wayfinding at the bus pick-up point at CEC, but my awesome part-timers resolved it on their own. Damn brilliant and proactive and on the ball they all were, I sent them and their employer a well-deserved compliment.

Mar

Apr
CIRCUIT BREAKER imposed - Other than essential services, every shop and facility to close! Even hairdresser and salons! No dining outside absolutely! Bubble tea shops also cannot operate! 100% work from home. Things we did to keep us sane:

- growing bean sprouts from beans
- performing a ukulele-shaker duo with yx
- going downstairs with yx to look at the ant mounds and long wild grasses, which have been able to sprout because of the reduced horticulture activities
- dancing to Just Dance on Youtube
- Netflix became my daily nightly routine!

May
CCB (Continued Circuit breaker), some term it as PCB (Prolonged CB) - same as above. Cabin fever was very tortorous for me, and I sought respite from lunch breaks and supermarket grocery shopping. 

Jun
Phase 2! With a large decline in community cases, some CB measures were lifted. Welcoming social gatherings up to 3 visitors a day allowed. Can dine in but subject to safe distancing measures (such as wearing mask, 1m spacing between tables, safe entry in/out).

Jul
EPL restart. Was going bonkers going without sports/entertainment after 4 months! Arsenal lifted the FA Cup woohoo! Can't remember the details but I think phase 2 also improved from 3 visitors to 5 visitors.

Aug
Did a major overhaul of electronics! Refer to previous post. On hindsight, should have gotten the 65" instead of the 55"... lol...

Nov
Due to a reschedule in timing of her Teacher Chloe's weekly classes, yx didn't continue with term 4. So we signed her up for other enrichment classes in gym and ballet (at her request), she was most delighted. A blessing in disguise, probably, for her to gain exposure in non-academic cirriculum.

Dec
Phase 3 lifted wef 28 Dec. Social gatherings up to 8 pax, max 8 visitors per residence at any one time. Futsal 4v4 allowed is the greatest news!

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Targets for 2021:

Life is kinda at a plateau for me right now. Career/job is fulfilling and paying well, family bonds and relationships are close, I'm not actively looking to further my studies or seek alternative income; so I guess the most important aspect to maintain and/or improve is 'health'. 

1) Stay healthy.
2) Help more people in need.

Yx left her books lying around

This happened a couple of weeks ago:

Yx was on the sofa watching her fav Peppa Pig on tv. She has a habit of stacking books on the sofa and wouldn't touch them until forever, explaining she's leaving them there for reading later. So it happened again this time. I sighed, sat down beside her and asked,

"Can you not put your books on the sofa?"

Distracted by the tv, of course Yx was, so there came only silence.

"How many times must I say?" I followed, in a bid to nudge her response.

Still no reply from Yx.

So this time I raised my volume abit, just to make sure she can hear me, "Can you answer me?"

Yx heard my presence this time. Okay good, I thought. She replied, "Err err.... two times."

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Did u get it? Lol. I was so tickled by her answer I related what happened to wifey. Her response was, "huh why did she say that?" Lololololol.