Growing up in Singapore, Ling Yeo learned English as her first language, Mandarin as a second and French while studying at boarding school. The multi-linguist now runs Mon Petit Monde – a global preschool right here in Sydney.
“A part of what I am trying to offer is the opportunity that I was presented when growing up," says Yeo.
Opened in 2011, the Paddington school is the first of what Yeo plans to grow into a global brand. Offering five different programmes, which focus on teaching French and Mandarin, Mon Petit Monde teaches languages to littlies by immersing the children in a classroom where the foreign language is the only one spoken.
“What it really comes down to is our core concept of creative play and movement,” says Yeo, who tailors the programmes by designing her own curriculum. “My concept of un, deux, trois ... et voilà, utilises the three senses of sight, hearing and touch.” Which means that children are learning language as they go about the school’s daily routine, which includes yoga lessons and learning manners at mealtimes.
So why would a three year old need to be bilingual, let alone trilingual? Yeo says it's “because you’re only young once.” (Wait – is ‘YOYO’ the new ‘YOLO’?)
Mon Petit Monde may translate to ‘my little world’ but for these tiny tuckers we think the world is their big oyster. Or should that be ‘huître’?