A two day workshop was held on the 14 th and 15 th of April 2007 at the Multi Purpose Hall in Than Hsiang Temple. Its objective was to upgrade to the correct teaching of the Chinese language. The workshop was jointly organized by the “Jiao Cong” and Than Hsiang Kindergarten. There were four sessions in the workshop, namely, “The correct usage of Chinese Language”, “Han Yu Pin Yin”, “Correct pronunciation” and “How to write and recognize Chinese characters”. This workshop attracted 103 pre-school and primary teachers and parents.

Participants from the mainland were at the premises as early as 7:30am to avoid the morning traffic jam. After a simple breakfast at the temple, they joined in the queue for the registration for the workshop at the Multi Purpose Hall on the 5 th floor at 8:30am. After a simple opening ceremony, Mr Tan Zhao Qiang, a lecturer from the Perak Teachers' Training College in Ipoh gave a wealth of information on the correct usage and pronunciation of the Chinese language. He emphasized that the Chinese language, an exquisite language, had over the years been “polluted” by the mixture of the Chinese dialects and even worse, mixed with Bahasa Malaysia. He urged teachers to take the lead by breaking the bad habit of incorrect speaking of the Chinese language and to use the correct way of speaking the Chinese language to nurture the preschoolers and primary school children.

Mr. Tan's crystal clear and powerful, yet pleasant voice kept all the participants hungry for more information. Not a dull moment was felt and the time passed quickly enough. From his years of experience, Mr Tan shared his personal encounters on the incorrect verbal usage of the Chinese language. Only then did we realize that our daily usage of Chinese was incorrect. He gave a simple example and yet the sound was in such a melodious rhythm that it was very pleasant to the ears.

The second speaker, Mr. You Jie Hua, a lecturer from the Ulu Kinta, Perak Teachers' Training College, touched on the topics on correct method of writing and classroom teaching. Mr. You said that it was important for the teachers to teach the child the proper way to hold the pencil and the correct sitting posture before proceeding to teach the child how to write. In writing Chinese characters, teachers need to be knowledgeable of the sequence of strokes. In preschool, speaking and recognizing words preceded writing. Teachers were advised not to burden the children with lots of writing as some parents were wont to demand. Mr. You also clarified that in preschool, teachers need to introduce interesting activities to carry out their lessons instead of the mono method of teaching and writing.

By sharing their invaluable knowledge to the participants of the workshop, the two speakers had definitely made the workshop a resounding success.

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Below are some sharing from the participants:

“I thank Than Hsiang Kindergarten for organizing the workshop so that teachers from the Northern states were able to participate. If not for Than Hsiang Kindergarten I would have to travel to Kuala Lumpur for this kind of workshop.”

“I learnt that pre-school children must not be allowed to do a lot of writing. If I am to heed this advice, the enrolment will be affected greatly. How do we convey this correct method of teaching to the parents?”

“I have learnt a lot from Mr. Tan and Mr. You on how to use the correct method to teach the Chinese language.”

“I would like to voice my appreciation to Than Hsiang Kindergarten for organizing the workshop. The environment, P.A system, and the food deserved a word of praise. The toilets were so clean.”

“After attending the workshop, I learnt so much on the correct method of teaching the Chinese language. I hope that this can be passed on to the next generation.”

“In future, I hope Than Hsiang Kindergarten will organize more workshops to help us to upgrade our teachers.”

“I hope that children will be given a happy environment to grow in. They are not to sacrifice their childhood due to academic pressure.”

“Learning is very industrious activity and the correct process of learning needs a lot of creativeness.”

This sharing was from a parent:

“I had learnt a lot from the two day workshop. I want to know how to choose not only a good kindergarten, but also one that provides the correct education.”