Mom's Diary from Tokyo

All about Ling Ling

My daughter Ling Ling goes to a local Taiwanese school in Kaoshing, Taiwan. She is only 2 years old but she belongs to the youngest children’s class. That class is called “you-you ban” in Mandarin.

Taiwanese people are very concerned with education, especially studying. Sometimes it is too much! Many kindergartens force the small children who can’t grip a pencil properly to write letters and then if they cannot, some teachers punish the children. Of course it is natural that such small children have trouble writing. It is scary, isn’t it? Many kindergartens don’t have playgrounds, because they are in buildings.

Ling Ling’s school is not such a strict one. The teachers esteem the children highly and they praise the children even for small things. There are many activities, for example physical exercise, music and painting. They can play with their friends on the playground so they get covered with mud and sometimes they go on a picnic.

Ling Ling really enjoys her school life. She cannot speak a lot, but she remembers her classmate’s names and calls them. I would like her happy school life to continue.

Nov.16,2004

Ling Ling’s Bedroom

In Japan, small children don’t have their own bedrooms; they generally sleep together with their parents. When my daughter Ling Ling was born she never used her crib and has slept with us in the same bed ever since. After Ling Ling’s sister May May was born, May May slept in her crib in the other room but Ling Ling still slept with us. But about one week ago, Ling Ling chose to sleep in her own bed by herself.

I didn’t force her to sleep alone at all. It was her own decision. But there was a small trigger. There is a bed that no one use beside May May’s crib. I made the bed with pretty sheets. The sheets have a Peter Rabbit print. She likes Peter Rabbit very much and she told me she wanted to sleep on that bed.

I don’t know the workings of her mind. I might have realised unconsciously that she could now sleep alone so I covered the mattress with her favorite character’s sheets. Anyway I respect her decision and I am very proud of her little independence.

Nov.25,2004

Ling Ling in the Multilingual Environment

My daughter Ling Ling is now in a multilingual environment. She goes to a Taiwanese kindergarten so she speaks Mandarin Chinese and we are Japanese so she speaks Japanese with us. We give her English videos for children and she has English class at her kindergarten so she speaks English. Of course she is two years old now so her words and sentences are limited.
We put her in that multilingual environment intentionally because we hope she will be able to speak not only Japanese but also Mandarin and English. Some people, especially most Japanese people say “Why does she have to learn English and Mandarin? She cannot even speak enough Japanese.” “If parents put small children in a multilingual environment, children are confused and their native tongue will be rotten.”
I don't deny some of their point of views. Ling Ling sometimes mixes Japanese and Mandarin and English in one sentence. I know that each language development is delayed in such an environment.
However I am confident that being raised in a multilingual environment will benefit her in the long run. Anyway she is not emotionally confused. She enjoys her school life, communicates with us normally and likes to watch English videos. In addition we have more opportunities to praise her. It is natural to her that she can speak three languages but we say to her “Great!!” even when she speaks Japanese. She seems happy, doesn't she?
Of course her native language (in her case Japanese) is very important for Ling Ling. However it is very hard to completely master one language. If she were able to speak Mandarin and English at 7 years old, then we went back to Japan, but did not continue study those languages, she might not keep them. It is easy for small children to forget things that they achieve in childhood.
In other words, the most important phase for learning one's native language is not in early childhood, especially under 6 or 7 years old. It is said that native languages are established from 10 to 12 years old. It is also hard to study a second or third language above 12 years old. Therefore, we put Ling Ling into a multilingual environment. We have a relative who is a native English speaker and one who is a Mandarin speaker. I hope Ling Ling will speak them in English and Mandarin.

Dec.12,2004

Two Williams

Ling Ling has a private English teacher named William. He teaches Ling Ling English every Saturday, but Ling Ling is too small (she is almost 2 and half years old) so William is more like her baby-sitter. He takes care of her very well. He often carries her and sings songs. Of course Ling Ling likes him very much but she is pretty shy so she doesn’t talk too much with him and doesn’t say his name except for when she is home without him.
Her school friend’s name is also William. He is 6 years old so he is in a different class at kindergarten but Ling Ling and William know each other because they ride on the same school bus from the same place. Ling Ling loves that William,too. When we are waiting for the school bus and William, she sometimes says ‘William’s coming soon’.
One day she said to me, ‘William, William’ when we were at home. I couldn’t understand what she meant. I asked ‘William what? ’. Can you imagine what she answered? She said to me ‘My William, My William’. I don’t know which William is her William. Anyway she likes both Williams and she is very happy.

Feb.13,2005

Ling Ling’s Easter Bunny

This Easter we went to our friend’s Easter party. We are Catholic so it is not uncommon to celebrate Easter but Ling Ling and I had our first experience in hunting for Easter eggs. We enjoyed it very much but she became tired and had a nap at lunchtime because she had gotten up at 5:30 that morning.
My friend said to Ling Ling, “Why did you get up so early? Did the Easter Bunny come to wake you up?” She could not understand what my friend meant but if that were true, I would punish that bunny. Ling Ling woke up the rest of family at 5:30 in the morning!

Mar.31,2005

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