Tips for creating a bilingual household Let me know which area you'd like to explore! Singapore‟s Multilingual and Bilingual Policy
Here, Lee takes the reader through the tumultuous 50 years from Singapore’s independence in 1965 to the present day of the book. He leaves no stone unturned regarding the tough decisions that shocked and angered different segments of society:
Mother Tongue connects us to our heritage and values.
My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore's Bilingual Journey (PDF Top Resources)
The high-stakes nature of Singapore’s education system turned bilingualism into a hurdle. Many students found themselves "English-dominant," struggling to achieve fluency in their Mother Tongue, leading to the common trope of the "Mandarin-hating" student or the "English-illiterate" elder.
is the personal irony at its core: the man who engineered a nation's bilingualism struggled profoundly with it himself. Amazon.com
Despite its good intentions, the bilingual policy has faced numerous challenges over the years. Some of the key challenges include:
Singapore's bilingual policy was first introduced in the 1960s, with the aim of promoting English as a common language while preserving the mother tongues of the various ethnic groups that make up the nation. The policy was designed to facilitate communication among the diverse population, foster national unity, and provide a competitive edge in the global economy. The government's commitment to bilingualism was clear: to ensure that every Singaporean is proficient in English and their mother tongue.
The PDF feature "My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore's Bilingual Journey" may include: