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More and more English-educated Chinese Singaporean parents are becoming increasingly conscious of the importance for their children to be proficient not only in the all-important English language, but also in Chinese.
The emergence of China as a potential political and economic superpower has driven home to them that, becoming bilingual will not only enhance their children's employment prospects, but also make them a man of two cultures.
This drastic change in these Chinese Singaporeans' perception of the usefulness of Chinese is quite remarkable.
Not so long ago, they would be proud to proclaim that they knew only English and some even felt somewhat contemptuous of the Chinese culture.
Today, many are regretting for not being bilingual. As if to redeem themselves, some have become ardent supporters of Chinese art and culture. They also visit China regularly in order to imbibe its splendors and rich heritage.
It is common knowledge that, to master any language, especially one's mother tongue, one must begin from childhood. But there are challenges and impediments for children of English-speaking homes to surmount in their journey towards bilingualism.
Take my family as an example. While my wife and I are products of English education, we had some grounding in Chinese which we kept up in our working life. But the language of communication in our home is predominantly English.
We are gratified that our three children had between eight and 11 years' Chinese schooling before switching over to English medium schools.
Their foundation in Chinese has become an asset in their adult life. They can hold their own in the spoken language, but would find it hard to compose a business letter in Chinese through lack of usage.
We have a grandson who will be two years old shortly. His parents have given my wife and I the unenviable task of making him bilingual. It is a very tough assignment, as we are with him only a couple of hours on most days.
For the rest of the time, he is being subjected to English sounds by his busy parents and his most devoted maternal grandparents.
Fortunately, our perseverance is beginning to pay dividends. After eight months of coaxing him to get accustomed to hearing Mandarin sounds, he can now quite comfortably identify common everyday objects and numerals in fairly distinct Mandarin, much to our unconcealed delight.
Letting him listen to Chinese nursery songs has helped in his learning process.
A recent authoritative British study has shown that a Mandarin speaker would utilise both lobes of his brain to comprehend the language, while an English speaker would use only one. It also claims that children in bilingual homes are more likely to develop their minds more vigorously, after they have attained proficiency in both languages.
Another US study finds that for a child to benefit most from language learning, he should start before reaching three years old. Thereafter, his linguistic abilities would decrease as he gets older.
As the educational experts believe that bilingualism helps stimulate a child's intellectual development, discerning Singaporean parents should take note of this sound advice.
Like it or not, bilingualism is here to stay. A good knowledge of English, coupled with a firm grounding in one’s mother tongue, will provide a much needed cultural ballast for Singaporeans to take their deserved place under the sun.
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越来越多受英文教育的新加坡华人父母，已经意识到孩子在掌握不可或缺的英文的同时，也通晓华文的重要性。
中国崛起成为政治和经济超级强国的巨大潜能，让他们充分理解到孩子掌握双语的好处——既能增加他们的就业机会，也能让他们接触和熟悉东西方两种不同的文化。
这些人对华文的态度几乎完全转变，对华文的功能也完全改观，改变不可谓不快。曾几何时，他们还非常骄傲地宣称自己只懂英文，一些甚至对华族文化抱着鄙视的态度。
很多人已经开始后悔没有学好双语。或许是为了弥补过去所不珍惜的，一些人已开始积极支持华族文化和艺术。他们也不时走访中国，欣赏壮观的自然风景和认识丰富的文化遗产。
众所周知，要掌握任何一种语文，特别是母语，必须从小就开始学习。因此，在以英语为沟通用语家庭里成长的孩子，在掌握双语的道路上，必须克服许多困难和阻碍。
以我自己的家庭来说，我和太太都受英文教育。不过，我们的华文有一些基础，也一直努力维持我们的华文根底。但是，英语却是我们在家中沟通的主要用语。
我们的三个孩子是在接受了8至11年左右的华文教育后，才转入英文源流学校，对此我们感到非常欣慰。
他们的华文基础在他们长大成人后，成为一项重要的资产。他们完全有能力用华语同他人沟通，不过，因为疏于练习，要用华文书写商业信件便力不从心。
我有一个就快两岁的孙子，他的父母给了我和我太太一分艰难的差事——教育他掌握双语。这可不是一件容易的事，我们和他在一起的时间，多数时候不超过两三个小时。其他时候，他所听到的全是他忙得不可开交的父母，还有非常疼爱他的公公和婆婆所说的英语。
幸好，我们锲而不舍的努力总算慢慢有了点成绩。我们非常开心，经过8个月的时间，他已经比较习惯听华语，也能够以相当准确的发音，用华语说出一些日常用品的名称和数目字。
让他多听些华文儿歌，对他的学习过程也大有帮助。
根据英国最近的一项调查，理解英语时只需用左脑的颞叶，要理解华语却需要同时使用左右脑的颞叶。调查也指出，来自双语家庭的孩子，在掌握了两种语文后，脑部活动有可能会更活跃。
另一项美国的调查显示，孩子在三岁前开始学习语言效益最大。年纪越大，掌握语言的能力相对的也越低。
教育专家相信双语能力能够激励孩童的智力发展。这一点家长们应该注意。
无论如何，我们的双语政策将不会改变。在掌握英文的同时，如果也有坚固的母语基础，新加坡人将有扎实的文化根基，在瞬息万变的环境里稳步前进。
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