Reply to chinese immersion in ES and chinese language in HS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]14;21 poster here:  I grew up with kid who were native Taiwanese, Chinese or HK-ese, and they all hated -- I mean HATED -- going to Chinese school on weekends.  Ok, and all these kids also had native Ch-speaking parents at home! These kids, to ME, were all high-flyers, super-high achievers, etc.  We were all in the same classes/same track in Ffx Cty public schools back in the day and are still friends today. But they all tell me today, "Oh, I was such a loser in Chinese school.  B/c I hated it.  I wanted to be American."  So I (native US, with an adopted Chinese child now) am sooooooooooooooooooooooo torn as to what to do with my child now!!!!!!!!!   Even my friends (the aforementioned native Ch, Taiwanese, or HKese US kids, aka my peers) cannot reallly advise me one way or another, b/c they too feel the emotional ties and pulls one way or another.  AKA, help?  Anyone?  Any additional insights not mentioned here?  (I guess, for the "adoption" point of view, I should give my child the option, and should he/she eventually choose to pursue it or reject it, at least it is her/her decision??) [/quote]

I'd find a nurturing heritage language classes catering to kids adopted from China - several good options in Rockville and a couple in Silver Spring, they start with playgroups at age 3 or 4.  You want to be aware that 1st and 2nd generation immigrant kids may give yours some grief for being adopted and speaking Chinese like an American - as you probably know, adoption is just starting to gain wide acceptance in China/Chinese culture.

Our kid initially got some grief for being a biracial Cantonese speaker at a weekend school, but it faded away because her Cantonese is better than some of the immigrant kids' (my spouse, in-laws, our Cantonese-speaking au pairs and lots of cartoon DVDs see to that).  We plan to start Mandarin in MS.  My husband refused to attend Chinese school on weekends after age 10, in the late 70s, because he saw no point.  He regrets it now because he can't read and write characters  - says that although nobody could have predicted China's rise, he should have listened to his parents and stuck with it.  They weren't hardcore Tiger parents and let him play sports instead.  In this day and age, your kid is unlikely to ever hate weekend classes, or in-school classes or immersion, because of tremendous new momentum to learn Chinese.  It's become hip.  Hardly the case for an earlier generation of ABCs (American Born Chinese) and immigrant children.

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