Yu Ying - Transferring to Yu Ying from another state

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If it's that difficult to learn, maybe no children should be learning it, outside of those who are exposed to the culture outside of school. Really, this obsession that if my child doesn't learn "Mandarin" they won't be successful in the 21st century is ridiculous. Only time will tell, but perhaps some of these anxious parents are holding their children back by making them struggle with this difficult language in the early years at the detriment of other core subjects. Do the Finns do this, there children are not even in school?

The point of my post was that to teach a language to young kids that is not commonly spoken in the US you need an immersion school. And that in all likelihood, the kids who can test-in to the higher grades like 3, 4, 5 are native speakers from China not the children of kids whose parents are all gung-ho about their kids knowing Mandarin and supplemented with tutors and what-not.

Kids raised with a native speaking nanny develop amazing proficiency if they have that nanny from infancy through younger grades of elementary. I realize most families don't have such resources but there are PLENTY of families in DC with money and live-in childcare. I've met many families with Spanish-speaking nannies, a few with Mandarin-speaking nannies, and one with a Dutch nanny (because the mom is Dutch and wants to not be only one speaking Dutch with her kid). Since we're only talking about a few slots anyway at YY, with the nanny and classes and time in China(which some families do anyway), it's entirely possible that such families could have a child who tests proficient in the upper grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

Regarding the statement in bold: It's hardly a "huge advantage" to have the opportunity to enter a school that's PS-6 in 3rd grade, where: (1) seats will only be available if students leave the school; (2) your child must meet some sort of Mandarin proficiency test; and (3) you have to win a lottery among the people who meet #2 in order to get the very very few seats available because of #1. The idea that someone will give their kid 4 or 5 years of tutoring on the off chance they could get into YY for grades 3-6 is crazy.

You're either clueless or purposefully being misleading. Mandarin is the flavor of the month (and is likely to be for years to come), and parents are ALREADY investing in Mandarin language resources for their tiny ones, NOT just on the off-chance they'll get into YY, but because Mandarin is a priority for them and if they don't get into a Mandarin bilingual school, they'll find another way to supplement their kid learning it. The interest in Mandarin hardly begins and ends with YY. We were getting ready to send our DC to a Mandarin language school in our last city before getting to DC and arrived here already knowing about YY and hoping to get in. But regardless of admissions (or not) to YY, Mandarin was and is very important to us.

This is true for most parents who choose a Mandarin immersion school at other cities but not as much at Yu Ying simply b/c of the way the lottery is run here and the limited number of seats at desirable schools. There are many families at Yu Ying who originally sent their kids there b/c it's the best school they got into through the lottery not b/c of their desire for mandarin specifically. Then there are other families who chose it b/c it's the only Mandarin immersion school in DC. It makes for a diverse community and those who did not originally chose YY for the Mandarin become more devoted with time or they leave. Since there is very little attrition, looks like learning Mandarin eventually becomes a priority for those families too.

Your scope is too limited. You are speaking as if YY is the starting point for many parents. These days, it's not. There are a lot of parents committed to Mandarin a language their kids will learn "by any means necessary", having nothing to do with the existence of YY. There is a reason other DC schools are slowly starting to introduce Mandarin instruction, although not in an immersion way yet. If a parent is committed to Mandarin and has resources to work with, they will get it for their kid one way or another. If they get into YY, score, but if not, they are still moving forward. It's those parents who will have a huge advantage over everyone else (except native speakers) if upper attrition slots get filled during non-lottery years by proficiency test in, and then there will be no slots when it opens up again for 6th.

Actually, I don't think so. People on this forum seems to think learning Mandarin is the equivalent of learning Spanish or any other language. It isn't. Weekend classes starting when the kid is young won't do it. My BFF who is a native speaker in Mandarin has been sending her son to 1x a week classes since he was 4 as well as exclusively speaking to him in Mandarin since he was a baby. Her words but her 12 yr old son's Mandarin "sucks" if she can get him to speak it at all which she can't. He always answers back in English. For Mandarin for young kids, you need an immersion school and the well kept secret is that even Yu Ying has trouble getting their kids to speak Chinese on Chinese days.

I hope someday the policy will change so that kids who are proficient in Mandarin can test-in to YY for 3, 4, 5th grades. It'll be helpful to the kids who are already there.

+1. I am a sort of native speaker (parents speak it, I have been exposed to Chinese since I was a child, went to weekend classes, etc), and speaking Chinese is really, really hard (let's put aside the character). I am extremely skeptical that kids whose parents do not speak it at home are actually going to learn Chinese. Spanish is so much easier.

By this logic, my American-born Korean friend whose mother to this day can't speak English, shouldn't have learned English herself. Yet she attended an Ivy and is now a heart surgeon. It's amazing what daily language instruction and reinforcement in the public schools can accomplish.

Different poster, I get your point, but the reverse is really not the same. Your BFFs friend most likely never learned English because she was living in a Korean community in the US and had access to Korean media. But when you attend school starting in at least K, and it's a regular school where everything is in English, and you are out and about all the time for years beyond an ethnic conclave, it's very hard *not* to learn English. It is the dominant language and kids of immigrants going to public schools from a young age always learn it.

[Anonymous]

^^ Meant to say your BFF's mom probably never learned English because...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If it's that difficult to learn, maybe no children should be learning it, outside of those who are exposed to the culture outside of school. Really, this obsession that if my child doesn't learn "Mandarin" they won't be successful in the 21st century is ridiculous. Only time will tell, but perhaps some of these anxious parents are holding their children back by making them struggle with this difficult language in the early years at the detriment of other core subjects. Do the Finns do this, there children are not even in school?

The point of my post was that to teach a language to young kids that is not commonly spoken in the US you need an immersion school. And that in all likelihood, the kids who can test-in to the higher grades like 3, 4, 5 are native speakers from China not the children of kids whose parents are all gung-ho about their kids knowing Mandarin and supplemented with tutors and what-not.

Kids raised with a native speaking nanny develop amazing proficiency if they have that nanny from infancy through younger grades of elementary. I realize most families don't have such resources but there are PLENTY of families in DC with money and live-in childcare. I've met many families with Spanish-speaking nannies, a few with Mandarin-speaking nannies, and one with a Dutch nanny (because the mom is Dutch and wants to not be only one speaking Dutch with her kid). Since we're only talking about a few slots anyway at YY, with the nanny and classes and time in China(which some families do anyway), it's entirely possible that such families could have a child who tests proficient in the upper grades.

So the kid has the proficiency to test-in to 3, 4th, 5th grades which are currently left empty when someone leaves. Taking such families who are obviously very much vested in having their kid learn Mandarin (as well as native speakers and families like OP whose kid attends another Mandarin immersion school in another city) is a bad thing because ??? Oh that's right, not fair to kids who DON'T KNOW ANY MANDARIN.... Only in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If it's that difficult to learn, maybe no children should be learning it, outside of those who are exposed to the culture outside of school. Really, this obsession that if my child doesn't learn "Mandarin" they won't be successful in the 21st century is ridiculous. Only time will tell, but perhaps some of these anxious parents are holding their children back by making them struggle with this difficult language in the early years at the detriment of other core subjects. Do the Finns do this, there children are not even in school?

The point of my post was that to teach a language to young kids that is not commonly spoken in the US you need an immersion school. And that in all likelihood, the kids who can test-in to the higher grades like 3, 4, 5 are native speakers from China not the children of kids whose parents are all gung-ho about their kids knowing Mandarin and supplemented with tutors and what-not.

Kids raised with a native speaking nanny develop amazing proficiency if they have that nanny from infancy through younger grades of elementary. I realize most families don't have such resources but there are PLENTY of families in DC with money and live-in childcare. I've met many families with Spanish-speaking nannies, a few with Mandarin-speaking nannies, and one with a Dutch nanny (because the mom is Dutch and wants to not be only one speaking Dutch with her kid). Since we're only talking about a few slots anyway at YY, with the nanny and classes and time in China(which some families do anyway), it's entirely possible that such families could have a child who tests proficient in the upper grades.

So the kid has the proficiency to test-in to 3, 4th, 5th grades which are currently left empty when someone leaves. Taking such families who are obviously very much vested in having their kid learn Mandarin (as well as native speakers and families like OP whose kid attends another Mandarin immersion school in another city) is a bad thing because ??? Oh that's right, not fair to kids who DON'T KNOW ANY MANDARIN.... Only in DC

If you can convince someone to change the law to allow test-in proficiency, the YY community will thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot to say - the first group, the "no new students after 2nd grade until 6th grade" group, feel that way because there is a priority on mantaining the lottery as the only way to enter the school (no testing in, becaue that would give families who can pay for Mandarin classes/tutoring/nannies a huge advantage). I don't know anyone in that group that doesn't get why it wouldn't be great to be able to have more already bilingual students fill those slots, but it's an equity issue. But NONE of those people (or people in the "let students test in" group) want to see non-Mandarin speaking students thrown in with Mandarin speaking students in 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.

Regarding the statement in bold: It's hardly a "huge advantage" to have the opportunity to enter a school that's PS-6 in 3rd grade, where: (1) seats will only be available if students leave the school; (2) your child must meet some sort of Mandarin proficiency test; and (3) you have to win a lottery among the people who meet #2 in order to get the very very few seats available because of #1. The idea that someone will give their kid 4 or 5 years of tutoring on the off chance they could get into YY for grades 3-6 is crazy.

You're either clueless or purposefully being misleading. Mandarin is the flavor of the month (and is likely to be for years to come), and parents are ALREADY investing in Mandarin language resources for their tiny ones, NOT just on the off-chance they'll get into YY, but because Mandarin is a priority for them and if they don't get into a Mandarin bilingual school, they'll find another way to supplement their kid learning it. The interest in Mandarin hardly begins and ends with YY. We were getting ready to send our DC to a Mandarin language school in our last city before getting to DC and arrived here already knowing about YY and hoping to get in. But regardless of admissions (or not) to YY, Mandarin was and is very important to us.

This is true for most parents who choose a Mandarin immersion school at other cities but not as much at Yu Ying simply b/c of the way the lottery is run here and the limited number of seats at desirable schools. There are many families at Yu Ying who originally sent their kids there b/c it's the best school they got into through the lottery not b/c of their desire for mandarin specifically. Then there are other families who chose it b/c it's the only Mandarin immersion school in DC. It makes for a diverse community and those who did not originally chose YY for the Mandarin become more devoted with time or they leave. Since there is very little attrition, looks like learning Mandarin eventually becomes a priority for those families too.

Your scope is too limited. You are speaking as if YY is the starting point for many parents. These days, it's not. There are a lot of parents committed to Mandarin a language their kids will learn "by any means necessary", having nothing to do with the existence of YY. There is a reason other DC schools are slowly starting to introduce Mandarin instruction, although not in an immersion way yet. If a parent is committed to Mandarin and has resources to work with, they will get it for their kid one way or another. If they get into YY, score, but if not, they are still moving forward. It's those parents who will have a huge advantage over everyone else (except native speakers) if upper attrition slots get filled during non-lottery years by proficiency test in, and then there will be no slots when it opens up again for 6th.

Actually, I don't think so. People on this forum seems to think learning Mandarin is the equivalent of learning Spanish or any other language. It isn't. Weekend classes starting when the kid is young won't do it. My BFF who is a native speaker in Mandarin has been sending her son to 1x a week classes since he was 4 as well as exclusively speaking to him in Mandarin since he was a baby. Her words but her 12 yr old son's Mandarin "sucks" if she can get him to speak it at all which she can't. He always answers back in English. For Mandarin for young kids, you need an immersion school and the well kept secret is that even Yu Ying has trouble getting their kids to speak Chinese on Chinese days.

I hope someday the policy will change so that kids who are proficient in Mandarin can test-in to YY for 3, 4, 5th grades. It'll be helpful to the kids who are already there.

If it's that difficult to learn, maybe no children should be learning it, outside of those who are exposed to the culture outside of school. Really, this obsession that if my child doesn't learn "Mandarin" they won't be successful in the 21st century is ridiculous. Only time will tell, but perhaps some of these anxious parents are holding their children back by making them struggle with this difficult language in the early years at the detriment of other core subjects. Do the Finns do this, there children are not even in school?

The point of my post was that to teach a language to young kids that is not commonly spoken in the US you need an immersion school. And that in all likelihood, the kids who can test-in to the higher grades like 3, 4, 5 are native speakers from China not the children of kids whose parents are all gung-ho about their kids knowing Mandarin and supplemented with tutors and what-not.

You clearly didn't do your research (as you previously stated), we don't have a large population of native Chinese speakers in DC. I really don't know who you are but every time you post your story changes, you are definitely not someone I would trust to open a school your seem to just be jumping on the bandwagon immersion and parents fears that if their little Johnny doesn't get into an immersion Mandarin school. "the sky is falling". Pray tell why should the DC tax payers fund your school?

[Anonymous]

i don't understand why people say speaking Mandarin is hard. It's not. because the writing is not phonetic it takes an investment of more time to read and write than a close romance language. But russian or arabic take time too. Chinese is actually one of the simplest languages, structurally, out there. Verbs don't conjugate they just have one form, you don't have masculine or feminine, you don't have to make verbs and nouns agree, tenses are extremely simply. tones are unfamiliar to many of us so they seem impossible but really, to someone who starts at a young age it will seem the same as anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If it's that difficult to learn, maybe no children should be learning it, outside of those who are exposed to the culture outside of school. Really, this obsession that if my child doesn't learn "Mandarin" they won't be successful in the 21st century is ridiculous. Only time will tell, but perhaps some of these anxious parents are holding their children back by making them struggle with this difficult language in the early years at the detriment of other core subjects. Do the Finns do this, there children are not even in school?

The point of my post was that to teach a language to young kids that is not commonly spoken in the US you need an immersion school. And that in all likelihood, the kids who can test-in to the higher grades like 3, 4, 5 are native speakers from China not the children of kids whose parents are all gung-ho about their kids knowing Mandarin and supplemented with tutors and what-not.

Kids raised with a native speaking nanny develop amazing proficiency if they have that nanny from infancy through younger grades of elementary. I realize most families don't have such resources but there are PLENTY of families in DC with money and live-in childcare. I've met many families with Spanish-speaking nannies, a few with Mandarin-speaking nannies, and one with a Dutch nanny (because the mom is Dutch and wants to not be only one speaking Dutch with her kid). Since we're only talking about a few slots anyway at YY, with the nanny and classes and time in China(which some families do anyway), it's entirely possible that such families could have a child who tests proficient in the upper grades.

So the kid has the proficiency to test-in to 3, 4th, 5th grades which are currently left empty when someone leaves. Taking such families who are obviously very much vested in having their kid learn Mandarin (as well as native speakers and families like OP whose kid attends another Mandarin immersion school in another city) is a bad thing because ??? Oh that's right, not fair to kids who DON'T KNOW ANY MANDARIN.... Only in DC

Puh-leeez. We get it. Testing in at these critically important grades is much more important to you. We get it we get it. When you wave your magic wand to change the Feds rules, apparently many here will thank you. Now give it a rest already because it isn't allowed right now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If it's that difficult to learn, maybe no children should be learning it, outside of those who are exposed to the culture outside of school. Really, this obsession that if my child doesn't learn "Mandarin" they won't be successful in the 21st century is ridiculous. Only time will tell, but perhaps some of these anxious parents are holding their children back by making them struggle with this difficult language in the early years at the detriment of other core subjects. Do the Finns do this, there children are not even in school?

The point of my post was that to teach a language to young kids that is not commonly spoken in the US you need an immersion school. And that in all likelihood, the kids who can test-in to the higher grades like 3, 4, 5 are native speakers from China not the children of kids whose parents are all gung-ho about their kids knowing Mandarin and supplemented with tutors and what-not.

Kids raised with a native speaking nanny develop amazing proficiency if they have that nanny from infancy through younger grades of elementary. I realize most families don't have such resources but there are PLENTY of families in DC with money and live-in childcare. I've met many families with Spanish-speaking nannies, a few with Mandarin-speaking nannies, and one with a Dutch nanny (because the mom is Dutch and wants to not be only one speaking Dutch with her kid). Since we're only talking about a few slots anyway at YY, with the nanny and classes and time in China(which some families do anyway), it's entirely possible that such families could have a child who tests proficient in the upper grades.

So the kid has the proficiency to test-in to 3, 4th, 5th grades which are currently left empty when someone leaves. Taking such families who are obviously very much vested in having their kid learn Mandarin (as well as native speakers and families like OP whose kid attends another Mandarin immersion school in another city) is a bad thing because ??? Oh that's right, not fair to kids who DON'T KNOW ANY MANDARIN.... Only in DC

If you can convince someone to change the law to allow test-in proficiency, the YY community will thank you.

Yu Ying is not one monolithic community. There are many who will not welcome this change if it comes.

[Anonymous]

When did you YY petition the city council to change the lang. preference rules and whom did they petition. I keep reading on these threads that YY has "been trying for years", but no one can ever give specific info. That would help if parents wanted to band together and try again. Climates and political forays do change. Now could be the time to go to the council and the congressional oversight committee to get real change going.

[Anonymous]

My guess is that the school's administration went to the PCSB. Search their archives to see if there's a record.

Regarding future fights, you're welcome to lead them if you'd like. Right now the school seems to be focusing on creating a brand new middle/high school (including finding swing space to house it for the next few years and renovating the space they were awarded at Walter Reed), expanding to offer a program for 3 year olds, and educating the children already in their care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If it's that difficult to learn, maybe no children should be learning it, outside of those who are exposed to the culture outside of school. Really, this obsession that if my child doesn't learn "Mandarin" they won't be successful in the 21st century is ridiculous. Only time will tell, but perhaps some of these anxious parents are holding their children back by making them struggle with this difficult language in the early years at the detriment of other core subjects. Do the Finns do this, there children are not even in school?

The point of my post was that to teach a language to young kids that is not commonly spoken in the US you need an immersion school. And that in all likelihood, the kids who can test-in to the higher grades like 3, 4, 5 are native speakers from China not the children of kids whose parents are all gung-ho about their kids knowing Mandarin and supplemented with tutors and what-not.

Kids raised with a native speaking nanny develop amazing proficiency if they have that nanny from infancy through younger grades of elementary. I realize most families don't have such resources but there are PLENTY of families in DC with money and live-in childcare. I've met many families with Spanish-speaking nannies, a few with Mandarin-speaking nannies, and one with a Dutch nanny (because the mom is Dutch and wants to not be only one speaking Dutch with her kid). Since we're only talking about a few slots anyway at YY, with the nanny and classes and time in China(which some families do anyway), it's entirely possible that such families could have a child who tests proficient in the upper grades.

So the kid has the proficiency to test-in to 3, 4th, 5th grades which are currently left empty when someone leaves. Taking such families who are obviously very much vested in having their kid learn Mandarin (as well as native speakers and families like OP whose kid attends another Mandarin immersion school in another city) is a bad thing because ??? Oh that's right, not fair to kids who DON'T KNOW ANY MANDARIN.... Only in DC

If you can convince someone to change the law to allow test-in proficiency, the YY community will thank you.

Yu Ying is not one monolithic community. There are many who will not welcome this change if it comes.

Like who? I'm a YY parent, I know quite a number of YY parents. A few of them speak Mandarin, and their opinions are highly valued. The families we are friends with, chose YY because we believe in expanding our children's educational horizons. I would be personally very surprised to meet anyone who would deliberately limit their children's exposure to Chinese when given an opportunity otherwise.

[Anonymous]

If families are genuinely serious about Mandarin, then why would they oppose the change?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
If it's that difficult to learn, maybe no children should be learning it, outside of those who are exposed to the culture outside of school. Really, this obsession that if my child doesn't learn "Mandarin" they won't be successful in the 21st century is ridiculous. Only time will tell, but perhaps some of these anxious parents are holding their children back by making them struggle with this difficult language in the early years at the detriment of other core subjects. Do the Finns do this, there children are not even in school?

The point of my post was that to teach a language to young kids that is not commonly spoken in the US you need an immersion school. And that in all likelihood, the kids who can test-in to the higher grades like 3, 4, 5 are native speakers from China not the children of kids whose parents are all gung-ho about their kids knowing Mandarin and supplemented with tutors and what-not.

Kids raised with a native speaking nanny develop amazing proficiency if they have that nanny from infancy through younger grades of elementary. I realize most families don't have such resources but there are PLENTY of families in DC with money and live-in childcare. I've met many families with Spanish-speaking nannies, a few with Mandarin-speaking nannies, and one with a Dutch nanny (because the mom is Dutch and wants to not be only one speaking Dutch with her kid). Since we're only talking about a few slots anyway at YY, with the nanny and classes and time in China(which some families do anyway), it's entirely possible that such families could have a child who tests proficient in the upper grades.

So the kid has the proficiency to test-in to 3, 4th, 5th grades which are currently left empty when someone leaves. Taking such families who are obviously very much vested in having their kid learn Mandarin (as well as native speakers and families like OP whose kid attends another Mandarin immersion school in another city) is a bad thing because ??? Oh that's right, not fair to kids who DON'T KNOW ANY MANDARIN.... Only in DC

If you can convince someone to change the law to allow test-in proficiency, the YY community will thank you.

Yu Ying is not one monolithic community. There are many who will not welcome this change if it comes.

Like who? I'm a YY parent, I know quite a number of YY parents. A few of them speak Mandarin, and their opinions are highly valued. The families we are friends with, chose YY because we believe in expanding our children's educational horizons. I would be personally very surprised to meet anyone who would deliberately limit their children's exposure to Chinese when given an opportunity otherwise.

We are a YY family and we would oppose it, and we're not the only ones. It is an issue that is much more complicated than "more or less exposure to Chinese". I'm not here to argue about it, but the PP is right, YY is not monolithic and we are one of a few families we know who have discussed this and would not support it.

[Anonymous]

^^Why?