Prime time for Chinese rhymes

It’s a surreal experience hearing nursery rhymes like ‘I’m a Little Teapot’ and ‘Frère Jacques’ sung in Mandarin – but it’s not unusual at Ultimo Library.

Each Tuesday morning during school terms, the library plays host to Chinese Rhymetime, a City of Sydney Council initiative which sees mums and bubs (and the occasional dad or grandparent) take part in sing-a-long sessions in Mandarin, to support language and literacy development, and provide a valuable cultural lesson for children from Mandarin-speaking backgrounds.

“We’ve been coming here since my daughter Lana was a few months old,” says Wing Kingston, one of around 30 mothers who regularly attend the free weekly sessions.

“She’s two years and four months old now, and it’s a big part of her life. She really looks forward to it – like me,” she laughs.

Ms Kingston says that apart from giving Lana skills which will help equip her for school, the sessions are also a source of friendship and support.

“My husband is in the army, and I work as a hairdresser on weekends, so it’s hard to find time to make friends – but this has helped us meet many new friends,” she says.

Underscoring the friendly nature of the sessions, Anne Duffield, Team Leader at Ultimo Library, says: “Chinese Rhymetime isn’t held during the school holidays but during the most recent school holidays, the usual Chinese Rhymetime customers came along and sang their own rhymes together!

“It was great to see that this regular session has fostered some lovely social interaction between customers – children, parents and carers.”

The social aspect is one reason for the burgeoning popularity of the sessions – demographic factors are another.

While Chinese immigration to Australia has historically been from Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong, recent years have seen an upswing in migrants from Mandarin-speaking mainland China and Taiwan.

Reflecting this, the City of Sydney is about to expand the Chinese Rhymetime sessions in Mandarin, commencing weekly sessions at the newly-refurbished Haymarket Library this Friday.

The Haymarket sessions will run in addition to those already operating at Ultimo and at Green Square Library.

And then there’s Bilingual Storytime, a fun session of storytelling and craft activities for pre-schoolers in Mandarin and English, at Green Square, Haymarket and Ultimo libraries.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said: “These bilingual sessions at our libraries show off the strength and diversity of our inner city area.

“They’re not just for children who speak Mandarin at home, they are a great way to get children from all backgrounds interested in new languages.”

Ms Moore added that the revamped Haymarket Library now boasted the largest Chinese language book collection of any public library in Australia.

Chinese Rhymetime:

For ages 0–3, 10–10.30am

Monday – Green Square Library, Tuesday – Ultimo Library, Friday – Haymarket Library.

Bilingual Storytime:

For ages 3-5, 11–11.45am

Monday – Green Square Library, Monday – Ultimo Library, Friday – Haymarket Library.

No sessions on school or public holidays.

Visit www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au for more information on these and other City of Sydney library events and services.