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Learning can be fun

Students who are proficient in Chinese and English are more exposed to the wealth of both cultures, says Mr Chan.
PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

The one great passion that drives Mr Chan Cheow Thia is teaching.

His mission – to help students become effectively bilingual in English and Chinese so that their proficiency in both languages, and a deeper insight into the two cultures, will give them a richer world view.

Mr Chan, 30, is a curriculum planning officer (Chinese language) in the curriculum planning and development division of the Ministry of Education (MOE). He is one of the planners behind the new mod-ular Chinese language curriculum for primary schools.

Launched in 2007, this programme allows pupils of different home-language backgrounds and learning abilities to gain language proficiency at their own pace. The teaching approach places emphasis on making learning enjoyable.

Under the programme, parents are also encouraged to show interest in their children's learning experiences and join them in activities such as reading books and newspapers.

Says Mr Chan: "My parents piqued my interest in Chinese. My father created a home environment that was conducive to learning. We had lots of books and newspapers around. "I used to read many English language books, but in my adult years, I started to read more Chinese books. "In 1996, he won the Prime Minister's Book Prize for his outstanding bilingual results in the A-level exams when he was in Hwa Chong Junior College (JC).

After that, he won an Overseas Specialist Award (Teaching) offered by the Singapore Public Service Commission in conjunction with the People's Republic of China's State Education Commission Un-dergraduate Scholarship.

He went on to spend four years in Fudan University in Shanghai and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese language and literature.

On returning home, he served his national service from 2001 to 2003, after which he enrolled for a year-long course at the National Institute of Education for a post-graduate diploma in education.

He taught for a year at Cedar Girls' Secondary School and then joined MOE in 2005.

"I intend to go back to teaching sometime this year and will probably be in a secondary school or junior college. I think teaching is a very meaningful profession."

"The reason I joined the curriculum planning division was for the opportunity to help devise a curriculum which will benefit, hopefully, generations of students who will remember their learning journeys," he says.

"In a way, we are creating com-mon memories for them since this is a national curriculum."

Mr Chan, who is single and has a twin brother and an elder sister, remembers his secondary school and JC days when he had very good teachers who inspired him to hone his skills in creative writing. Some of them were part of the theatre scene in Singapore.

Later, he also attended a Chinese language elective programme in Hwa Chong JC, where he picked up useful skills on how to critique works of literature."

"I love interacting with students. My challenge is to convince them about the merits of becoming effectively bilingual," he says.

"Besides, being among them makes one feel young."

He remembers fondly his years as a undergraduate in China.

He explains: "It was enriching because I was exposed to all gen-res of Chinese literary works from the classical to the contemporary, and I met students from all over the world."

"It was eye-opening because in my travels around China during the vacations, I saw many different communities, cultures, lifestyles and scenery. China is not a homogeneous country; it is very heterogeneous."

He says it was rigorous because students were left to their own de-vices in studies.

"There were no tutorials, no co-curricular activities; just lectures and self-study."

"We had no lecture notes photo-stated for us. We had to take notes by hand, and in the years there, I developed my own form of Chinese shorthand."

"Lecturers would mention the relevant reference books or au-thors, and it was up to us to go to the libraries and bookshops and assess which reading material was useful."

His advice to children on how to improve their command of Chinese: "There is no shortcut – read more, write more, speak more and watch quality Chinese programmes on TV. Also, have friends who are keen to learn the language."