Education and Entertainment of Children

Here are questions from some Taiwanese students in the university:
1. If you had another chance to choose, do you still want to be a Northern European?
No, if I could get another change, I would like to be something else than Northern European, at least something else than Finnish. Maybe Asian, but at least for me, I feel that I don’t belong to here.

2. Since the welfare of your country is so good, do you still want to study?
Yes, I want to study, coz even the welfare is quite good comparing to many other countries I still want to survive by my own. And that way I can also earn more and have better life.

3. In Taiwan, if a child disobeyed his mother’s words, wandering along the street, the mother will blame on him and say“the police will come to catch you and put you into the prison!!”If the same thing happened, what will the elders do or say in your country?
They probably will give “home arrest” for the child, that he/she cannot go out for awhile or meet friends also at home. And parents also may not give so much financial support for the child at that time.

4. What do you think about Taiwanese students (from seven to twelve grade) who have to learn every subject such as Math, Science, History, Geography...., whether they like it or not?
It’s good to get at least the basic knowledge of those important subjects, but maybe not so good to go too deep and too difficult things.

5. How do the elders describe to children about death and divorce?
In a death case depending maybe how near that person is for child and how old the child is at that time, but if it’s for example father or mother dies, I think they sit down at home with a child and then slowly not straight to say that thing. In divorce case it might be that they say to the child that now parents has decided to live in different places, but the children can still meet both of them and live with both of them in certain times.

6. What is the normal age for kids to start talking?
Around when they are about 1-year old, some even earlier.

7. Generally speaking, when we are teaching little kids new words, we often use reduplication, for example, “che”which means car, and we will say“che che”. How about you? Are there any special methods to teach children?
In Finland they also use to repeat words and generally the language they speak for the kid, is not like what they use with adults. In my opinion that is not so good, coz it might cause some effect for children’s developing and their language. At least for me, when I was young, my grandma always use this “children” language, and I got some influence from it when I was young, but later it change to normal.

8. If a child makes mistakes, what would the elders do? For instance, stealing, being late, breaking something, and lying.
Well it depending a lot, but for example of stealing, I would go with my children to the place, where he or she stole something and return the thing, and put my child to do something for the person from she/he stole. I also wouldn’t accept lying, but punishment depending so much of the level of lie. Being late of course is not good, but that one is still not so bad than those previous examples. But I would teach my kid to be rather early than late. But if he or she continue being always late, I would let my child taste the same medicine, so maybe that would help the child to learn. And about breaking things, if it was accident, well… those happens, and we cannot do anything, but we have to teach the child be more carefully. If it’s again on purpose, I wouldn’t let child go out with a friend for awhile and not supporting him or her so much by financially before she or he has got some kind of punishment and maybe learn that way to behave better. I don’t believe for violence but I believe to give a punishment that the child feel it by himself that what he has done for others.

Name: Mikael Vaitti
Age: 27