Mumsnet Talk

Hello
Does anyone know of any Cantonese schools in London (preferably central London) or SE England? I'm keen to have our baby get used to the language (I'm Chinese and hubby is English).

Thanks

There is one in Dartford, another in Harrow as well.
There used to be one on Wardor St (China Town) many years ago, not sure whether its still there.

Hi babyOcho,
Does the one in Dartford do Cantonese?
Thanks

apparently yes, my mum has seen it advertised on the chinese channel.

apparently yes, my mum has seen it advertised on the chinese channel.

The Greenwich Chinese Community School holds classes every Sunday at Meridian Primary School in Greenwich. I believe the classes are in Cantonese and Mandarin.

Thanks a lot!
I'll look into those but I guess they won't take kids until they're at least 5. Is that right?

yes, you are right. The Greenwich school also expects at least one parent to have a working knowledge of Cantonese.

Well, that's me out! I wouldn't classify my Cantonese as 'working knowledge' at all. I barely get by as it is. I'll look at the one in Dartford.

pixie, I hope I did not set the bar too high by describing it as 'working knowledge'. In my case, I studied Mandarin as a second language. My Mandarin is very basic. I can understand a lot more than I speak - from watching Mandarin dramas in my youth. My speech is probably at the fluency of a 5 year old and stuttered. Lack of practice. But the teacher was happy that I would be able to support the lessons.

The fact is, 3 hours of Mandarin a week is not likely to lead to any significant progress unless one parent (tries to) speak with the children at home as well. She does not want to waste your money.

I agree. The only problem is my Cantonese is really quite bad and I've been told that a lot of Chinese families supplement with TVB shows for their kids. Which poses a bit of a dilemma for me as I don't want to encourage the little one to watch too much television.

pixie - you can always play songs and audio stories. That's my plan, so that the kids don't think I'm the only person in the world who speaks Mandarin! And you can learn along - my chinese has improved immensely since ds1 was born...

slng

Where did you get your songs/audio stories from? I would like to teach my baby cantonese.

JC - sorry slow reply. Have been away. I've only looked at Mandarin things, but try these ones - they'll probably have Cantonese versions:

www.xihaha.co.uk/online/

so138.com/sov/63904C50-BE45-4B08-98E4-780F77744B77.html

Thanks slng!

There are loads in London.

I think Ealing has one. There's one in Soho.

I used to attend Cantonese classes which goes up to GCSE in Hounslow.

Try
www.ukfcs.info/ukfcs%20eng%20website/english%20main.html

and

www.linkchinese.co.uk/452e/index.php

Just wanted to let everyone know I've set up a Cantonese playgroup in central London where we sing a few nursery rhymes, play games and encourage the kids to make Cantonese speaking friends. Email me fiona.falcone@gmail.com if you want more details.

Does anyone know of anything aimed at older kids, mine are 8 and 5, a muzzy type programme for instance. I have left it abit late, but my youngest is starting to curious about the language!!

Just wanted to add that we've just set up a website with a bit more information on it - have a look at www.playcantonese.com.

Trying2bgd Where are you based? I think your kids are a good age to start Chinese school - are there any near you?