Why is the new Secondary school Oral exam syllabus more difficult?

The new oral format was recently just announced. One of the most drastic change is replacing the picture description segment with video description. Personally I was appalled by the bold changes as I feel that the ministry is raising the bar for Chinese which might in turn shun more students away from embracing the subject.

Why is video description more difficult that the former picture description?

1) The contents of the picture would change quickly and thus foundation-ally weak students may not be able to respond in time with a proper description. Normally the students would be given time to view the video beforehand to prepare. Yet many would forget specific details at the beginning after completing the video. This is unlike picture description where the picture is just stagnant for you to see and describe.

2) the dialogue in the videos may be misheard due to its speed. Careful listening must be observed.

3)videos without dialogue are harder to interpret. Especially the one on the topic of tourist attractions, students do not know how to say.

4) inaccurate use of vocabulary.

5)students' sentences are not coherent.

How to cope with the changes?

1)I  will normally use the recent, most talked about news broadcast and make them watch and answer questions, mastering their answering skills.

2) hand-picked omy.sg to practice. Their short news report videos can be "exam samples"

3)use audio or video recording, webcam for practice which is the most effective way to learn.

Is The Secondary New Oral Exam Syllabus (video) Difficult?

2014 November O level Exam Paper

 

IB Exam; Is Last Minute Dash still Useful?

Who needs me specifically in the IB context?

Students who studied and learnt a lot but to no improvement. Their learning proficiency may not be up to par due to a weak language foundation most often due to the student's ethnicity. For example, a Caucasian who did not live in Singapore all his/her life. They may have lost confidence towards doing well in Chinese, but they do not want to give up.

How much time left to IB exam and is it enough?

For IB exam candidates this year, they have slightly more time with 6 weeks to the big battle. An estimated 6-12 lessons with added 12/24 hours of preparation.

What do the IB students learn?

1) Analyse past year IB papers.

2) Practise writing 480-word essays on the hot topics of that period.

3) Learn written paper techniques to namely score in Comprehension and Cloze passages. 

4) Learn the common phrases, idioms and proverbs that the IB exams often test or use 

A level and O level exam preparation;is Last Minute Dash Useful?

For Chinese only:

Who needs me specifically?
They are those zealous students who have high expectations of themselves and aim to be best in their class/cohort/school.

The amount of time left to this year's examinations, is it enough?

The O level Chinese and A level chinese exam will start in about 3 weeks' time(O:4 Nov, A:27 Oct) . This equates to 3/6 lessons where the student has 6-12 hours of added preparation.

What will I teach?
1) Analyse own schools' prelim papers. After their preliminary exams, I would make them understand where did they go wrong. Develop more on their strengths for each component and reduce their weakness and common errors to prevent unnecessary loss of marks.
2)Teach them techniques to tackle components like comprehension, cloze passages and in the case of A level, summary exercise.
3)I will give them hot compo topics to analyse where the points will be taught to them so that they do not just memorise them blankly, but are able to use them in different contexts.
4) Impart proverbs, idioms and commonly used phrases, teaching the meaning and how it is used in forming sentences.

Is IB Chinese Curriculum easy?

There are many who think that IB Chinese is very easy to score. Is that really so in reality? Well in my opinion, compared to GCE 'A' level and 'O' level, it is definitely easier. However one needs to consider who is taking it. For most local students, having studied the Chinese Language for 13 years, it's really not difficult especially for those who passed their Chinese in Secondary 4.

Let us take a closer look at the components of the IB exam,

1) The composition segment of IB indeed I feel is not that tough in its minimum word requirement of 480.More over there is a wide spectrum of genres one may write i.e. argumentative, speech, interview, discursive and even personal recounts. Yet having said that, all these might still deem challenging to the foreign students. Their limited vocabulary of Chinese words and inability to construct coherent sentences stops them from having a thorough development of their chosen topic. Even if the student takes effort to memorise sentences by heart, for a student with Chinese standard of primary school, he or she would just give up due to the overwhelming demand of writing nearly 500 words in a stipulated time

2)In the written paper 2 where there are close passages and comprehension segments, the local students will find them easy having done them for the past 10 years. Conversely, the foreign students would not have that advantage and thus even if  "give-away" segments like the comprehension MCQ are present, they would still fail the exam.

3) The Oral component is one that you can prepare very much beforehand. I find that this is one component that separates the diligent students from the average where the ill-prepared cannot score well. Just this year, I managed to spot a topic on "捞鱼生” (Prosperity Toss) for this IB student. After getting affirmation of the "hint" by the teacher, I had him practice describing the picture by reading out aloud a draft description which I have prepared for him. In order to show him the correct way to pronounce and express every word and syllabus, I recorded myself reading out my passage aloud to let him listen. And that was how he improved. Repetition after repetition, as he tried to imitate my tone and pronunciation, he managed to improve. The boy who normally lacks confidence in his speech managed to impress his teacher with his improvement in class. Subsequently the question which i have spotted indeed came out for his exam.
I would say Oral would prove to be the most challenging obstacle for a foreign student because it is hard for he or she to capture the right tone, pronunciation and expression during passage reading. Moreover, during picture description, he or she would under perform due to a failure to use exceptional words to describe scenarios accurately.
For a person who have been so used to speaking in English, it is hard for them to adapt to the 4 chinese Han yu ping yin tone. Sometimes, they have developed bad habits in pronouncing which are hard to break. However, time and techniques are what they need in order for them to change the way they speak and pronounce. As a tutor to countless of foreigners (adults and students alike) in my many years of teaching, I have the relevant experience and patience to develop their proper Chinese intonation. Hence, correcting the way they speak Chinese in their daily lives.

Yet Oral is one of the most important determinants of the overall Chinese grade. It must be prepared thoroughly.

IB Program Exam Outline

SJI O level Testimonial Joshua Tay

Joshua Tay

Prior to the tuition sessions with Mr Kok, Chinese and I weren't the best mix. I couldn't really grasp the language well, much less speak or write well during exams. In fact, I actually started to alienate the language.

However, when I started attending Mr Kok's lessons, one could say it totally changed my perception of Chinese. No longer did I view it as a foreign language that I couldn't master. I started seeing it as a friend, something I can better relate to with the help of Mr Kok. I started reading Chinese and subsequently, I could speak the language fluently.

I have improved my oral skills through the voice recording method that he takes to teach his students. It has surely boosted my confidence to speak up during discussions in class and with teachers. The skills that have been imparted to me have truly upgraded my speaking ability.

In this year of being guided through the languge, I found that I did not just learn new words or how to write well, but also the esential moral values that the laguage upholds. One can truly say that Mr Kok has done a wonderful job in inspiring his students to do well.

A Sec 4 from SJI '14一

2014 PSLE Chinese Oral Picture （游乐场）

Picture of a Playground（游乐场）

At the bottom left of the picture, there is a boy at the sand pit playing. He accidentally kicked some sand into a little girl eyes. The girl's mother is running over to the girl and looks very concerned. 

At the bottom right of the picture, there are two children playing on a toy horse. Their father is taking a photo of them.

At the top right corner of the picture, there are two children on a swing set. The older girl is pushing one of the children.

On the top left corner of the picture, there is an old couple taking. Beside them, there is a young girl throwing her rubbish into the rubbish bin.

How a Sec 1 student is able to comprehend a chinese novel fully and be confident for a book review test, all within 3 hours

O level Oral picture conversation topics

How a Sec 2 CHIJ student Improve her Chinese from C6 to B3?

Hey! I am Sandra and I have been under Mr Kok for two years and his teachings are very useful. When i was in Secondary 1, I was not used to the new syllabus of Chinese so I suffered a lot and my results started to drop

tremendously. Secondary 1 was a new level for me and the standard of Chinese indeed became harder, to the extent that I actually failed one of the exams. That was when I started to panic and I went over to ask Mr Kok for help. Under his guidance, my Chinese gradually improved and my results started to improve bit by bit. For the year end Chinese paper, I only scored 52 marks and I was not really that proud of it because I felt that I could have done better. When I turned 14, my CA1 Chinese results was 52 marks and I was literally shocked. Mr Kok started to teach me in a way which is easier to understand We went through many months of practice especially on cloze passages because that is my weakness and I am not too good at that so I eventually got a lot of confidence in that section. But I guess hard work paid off because I scored a 7/10 for my cloze passage and I was really on the moon.  Because of

this new method together with my improvement in cloze passage, I scored a 67 for my Chinese in the recent SA1 test and I was the top two in my Chinese class. My mum was surprised because she never thought that I could have done so well and improved so much. I do not really study well just on books so when I heard that Mr Kok would start teaching through the internet or on the computer, I was literally stunned because most teachers would ask us not to use our electronic devices but Mr Kok allowed us to and I was really happy.(for work purposes) When I learned new vocab words, because it was hard to remember them or their meanings, Mr Kok would use the word and form a statement with it till I understood. Through his teachings, I definitely was able to learn more vocabulary words and I believe that every child would able to do well under his teachings because the way he teaches is really different from other Chinese tutors.   

P6 Clarissa Marymount convent Pri Testimonial

http://soundcloud.com/vincent-kok-8/1-wav

Clarissa shares tips on PSLE Oral Exam

http://soundcloud.com/vincent-kok-8/second

P6 Tao Nan Sch student, Lynn's Testimonial

http://soundcloud.com/vincent-kok-8/third

SJI Sec 4 Joshua Tay ' testimonial

http://soundcloud.com/vincent-kok-8/joshua-tay

SJI Sec 4 Nathan's Testimonial

http://soundcloud.com/vincent-kok-8/nathan-sji

2014 O level Chinese Paper 1 Questions (June)

2014 O level Chinese Paper 2 (June) questions

2014 hot topics for O level Oral and Composition/email writing from Topschoosl

2014年中四会考作文，私人电邮，口试题（选自名校考题）

1）霸凌问题越来越严重，造成青少年自杀率上升。

2）小印度客工骚乱。

3）我国多名政府机构高官和慈善组织领导贪汅。

4）国家环境局在小贩中心实行碗碟归还计划，参与与的小贩中心已看到成效。

5）62%受访者认为，新加坡生活节奏太快，不能成为优雅社会。

6我国的小六会考制度应否取消，争论多年，至今还在争论不休。

7教育部规定全国会考，不公布全国状元和优秀生名单。

8）为了落实'每一所学校都是好学校'的教育理念，教育部废除中学成绩等级制。

9）我国有些大学新生入学时，因为不会做家务，所以带女佣到宿舍打扫。

10）近年來，半工半读的学生有増加的趋势。有人认为他们这么做有利也有弊。

11）调查发现，新加坡15至19岁青少年，与其他年龄层相比，最不快乐。

12）调查显示，国人少运动的主要原因是依赖网络。

13）调查结果，新加坡人在'缺乏情感指数'全球排第一。

14）私人电邮：网上购物。

15）私人电邮主题：靑少年睡眠不足。

16）公务电邮：向地铁局投诉列车经常发生故障，搭客非常不满。

17）你发现一些购物中心和咖啡店的公共厕所条件差，不但肮脏，臭气熏天，有些设备还损坏。

118）分数是衝量一个学生的标准吗?试提出你的看法。

19）有人认为，在教育学生方面，表扬胜于批评。你同意吗?试写出你的看法。

20）有一天，你在搭乘地铁时，列车突然停止行驶，你被困在车厢里。试描述当时的情况，并写出你的感受和感想。

Common Reasons why Students Cannot Do Well

If you know your child's attitude towards his/her current Chinese tuition is not positive, why not try one lesson here?

You may have found out that your child does not treats his/her work lightly such that the teacher or tutor often complains of him/her not handing in work (if he/she do so the work is all copied from peers), not paying attention during classes and failing 听写 all the time. What could be the root cause? Other than the 10 reasons i have posted below, your child could just simply have a lack of interest towards Chinese along with a weak foundation that is not built properly from young.

Tests/Exam scenarios
Paper 1)
Pri Sch: Composition's word count too low, did not capture the main points the 6 pictures is trying to depict, sentences are incomplete and the final picture is often left undescribed or barely touched due to a lack of time.
Sec sch: Situational composition/newspaper article review 
Common problems include illogical content, recurrent "ill" sentences which are often plagued with basic language errors. Essay also often lacks coherence and the required main points (worse still runs out of point).

Paper 2)
Pri Sch: The student may be unfamiliar with the words from the syllabus. This will impedes them to score even for MCQ questions which are meant to pull up a student's overall score. Many students who possesses a "heck-care" attitude towards Chinese will guess and write anyhow. This is especially so for the last comprehension question which will require a certain level of analysis.
Sec sch: Similarly students may not be familiar and proficient in the usage of textbook vocabulary, affecting their performance in close passages and comprehension segments. Top schools' exam papers often habour a higher level of difficulty causing students to just give up because they know they just can't finish.

Paper 3)
Pri Sch: In the oral component, passage reading is often the Achilles' heel. For those students with weak foundation, they will have to skip across many words because their teacher said so to skip if you are unable to read. This can lead to as much as half of the message not being read. Picture description often is simpler. Normally students are able to describe the picture in plain details. However they may not be accurate in the jargon, with speech that is not coherent and complete in sentences. Likewise, students are also unable to elaborate their answers to the examiner in the conversation segment.
Sec Sch: Students with a weak foundation will also find passage reading challenging. Recently there has been a change in syllabus, where picture description is introduced. Still, many are not able to go beyond the "surface" to express how they feel about the behaviour of a person. Picture in this case is a photo which depicts a real-life scenario. Students are required to possess some kind of current affairs knowledge to be able to apply to the photo in order to score the maximum marks. Speech with frequent stutters and slow pacing will result in the loss of marks. In the conversation segment, answers given have to be on the spot and natural (like you are indeed having a lively conversation with a friend). Students that keep hesitating and repeating their words awkwardly will be penalized. This could be due to their not being equipped with current affairs knowledge or they may have the knowledge but being more proficient in English, they are unable to translate their thoughts to proper Chinese.

Paper 4) Listening comprehension (LC)
Pri Sch: Usually the standard is relatively easy. Most of the students will find it rather easy.
Sec Sch: Similarly based on what I have consolidated from the annual broadcasts of the LC recording, I find that it has become easier over the years. Last year I let a P6 kid try the exam, and surprisingly he is able to answer some questions.This segment may prove to be a challenge to foreign students who not too long ago started learning Chinese from scratch.

10 reason why Your Child may Need Me

What these students need is patience, patience and more patience, yet more often than not, schools neglect them as teachers place them under the "hopeless" or "problematic students" category. Actually all they need is just a little bit more care and attention, their psychological conditions can improve along with their grades. Some of their subjects may even reach stellar heights.



Students with:

1) extremely short concentration span that is less than 15 minutes

2) Attention deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)

3) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), excessive attention on handwriting causing the child to not be able to finish his/her work on time.

4)Autism

5)Inferiority complex

6) Phobia towards Chinese which may be triggered by abuse from a Chinese teacher in the past

7)Extremely strong foul towards Chinese

8)Extremely poor memory 

9) Stuttering speech disorder

10)Foreign students struggling with Chinese

Normally if you suspect that your child may have any of the syndromes above, a professional Psychiatrist or pediatrician from the Child Guidance Clinic (CGC) is required to make a proper diagnosis and decide on the treatment to follow which may include medication, workshops and counselling sessions. As for what I can help as a tutor, i can offer patience and counselling to your child if he/she is under me.

In the past ten years, I have met with numerous students that fell under the above category. My 30+ years of expertise was severely tested. I have learnt that these students can only be treated with love, patience and the will to help them improve.

1)Love would produce acceptance, which means accepting the child for who they are despite its imperfections.

2)Patience require me to explore all sorts of methods to cater to that child's special needs.

3)The will to help them improve is important because many times I would feel like giving up. But just reminding myself that they are not hopeless and can be changed would keep me going. Only if I choose not to give up them can they have the will not to give up on Chinese.

I will always aim to build a friendship with the student. Learning about his hobbies, chatting about things under the sun and even lending a listening ear to his problems if he is open enough would put me in a better position to encourage him not to give up on Chinese. Winning the child's heart, this I feel is more challenging than teaching Chinese itself.However at the end of the day, seeing these type of "challenging" students accepting me as a friend and mentor, seeing that my patience and determination in helping them pass Chinese has paid off, and seeing them grow from primary school to their completion of secondary school is what keeps me going in this job for 40 years.