I FIND it disturbing that many English-speaking families cite Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's remarks about mistakes in the bilingual policy to justify their inability or that of their children to cope with the Chinese language.

Some even urge de-emphasising Chinese in assessing student performance in examinations.

Many of my friends and I grew up in Mandarin-speaking homes. English was as foreign to us as Chinese was to children from English-speaking families. But we learnt to communicate well in both languages, and we appreciate English literature.

Although it is not easy to be effectively bilingual, it is possible to be comfortable in both languages.

MM Lee is right about sparking interest in learning Chinese, for we learn much better and faster when we are interested in the subject. However, lowering standards will not increase a student's interest in the subject. While teaching Chinese by using English may be useful, the method should be used sparingly during the formative stages of learning the language.

Lowering standards time and again is not the way to pique interest in the language. All Mandarin-speaking students experienced the madness of ting xie (spelling) and mo xie (dictation) during English lessons too because this is a necessary stage when learning a language; there is no short cut.

Many English-speaking parents lament their children's struggle to learn Chinese. They should provide their children with a fun-filled preschool education, not (as was described in a letter) have them examined by a child psychologist to obtain a note to exempt them from the PSLE Chinese exam.

Preschool exposure to Chinese in a fun and stress-free manner will increase their interest in the subject, making it easier to pick up the language.

Tan Ying Hong (Miss)

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