Parents have an important role to play in shaping their children's attitudes and interests in the learning of mother tongue languages, especially during their early years, said Minister of State for Communications and Information and Education Sim Ann on Saturday.

Speaking at the Mother Tongue Languages Symposium, Ms Sim said parents and grandparents can read to their children and grandchildren regularly, as it is a "simple and inexpensive, yet powerful strategy" to help them pick up languages. She added: "When children hear grown-ups read, they pick up sounds that form the language, which in turn helps them to speak and interact using the language."

The symposium featured 10 sharing sessions and workshops for parents to help them enhance their children's learning of languages, conducted by pre-school teachers and experts. Exhibition booths were also set up by the Education Ministry and various schools from the pre-school to secondary level, to showcase innovative methods of teaching and learning mother tongue languages.