Primary pupils get a chance to reveal their language skills
More than 100 children from the Po Leung Kuk's 17 primary schools, put on a variety performance to show off their Putonghua skills.
Pupils acted in dramas, sang and recited verses. The highlight was a choir performance by 100 teachers and students.
The officiating guest at the show was Dr Cheung Kwai-yeung, head of the Putonghua Channel and Finance Information Services at Radio Television Hong Kong. He said he was glad to see Po Leung Kuk putting so many resources into teaching Putonghua, which has become more important after the handover. As the Government realised the growing importance of Putonghua, more opportunities for students to learn it have been provided at schools and some community centres.
However, Dr Cheung said there were still insufficient opportunities for students to hear Putonghua, as there was only one radio channel broadcasting in the language.
Dr Cheng said: 'It's a pity that many newspapers are still written in the Cantonese style, which not only affects people's Chinese standards, but also their foundation for learning Putonghua.'
Principal Lo Suk-yu of Po Leung Kuk Fong Wong Kam Chuen Primary School said aside from two Putonghua classes each week, they had asked teachers to conduct Primary Three Chinese language lessons in Putonghua from last year.
'It's not easy to find good Putonghua teachers. We only have one, but we encourage other teachers to learn Putonghua. Two classes are not enough so we hope to introduce more opportunities for students to hear and speak Putonghua,' Ms Lo said.
Ten students at her school put on a Putonghua version of Snow White. The drama originally won a prize at a competition. Then three teachers decided to turn it into a Putonghua version for the variety show.
Pupil Wong Yuen-ting, 11, played Snow White. Yuen-ting said: 'After we changed the lines into Putonghua, I had to practise more, but I found myself speaking more fluently. To remember the lines I often practised with my sister at home.'
Leung Wan-kit, 10, played a dwarf. 'It was funny because we sometimes wrongly pronounced words that resulted in a completely different meaning. But the more we read, the more familiar Putonghua became,' Wan-kit said.
He thought Putonghua was as useful as English. When he went back to China with the family, he was able to ask directions and communicate with people there.
