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[quote=Anonymous]DC also just got into MV and YY off the waitlist, and we're thinking along these lines too.

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Of course Spanish is more useful than Chinese, but I think a lot of parents are attracted to the perceived academic rigor of Chinese and Yu Ying. There is no doubt that studying any second language as a child will enhance his or her ability to learn any language later in life.

It could be argued that Spanish is a relatively easy language for English speakers to learn, so a child would benefit more from early experiences with a more difficult language such as Chinese or Russian. These can be really difficult for English speakers to master later.[/quote]

This was our thinking as well.  It's a given that Chinese, English, and Spanish are going to be the most important languages of the future.  This isn't just about economics, it's about demographics.  The second most common language on the internet after English is Chinese (which is not surprising, considering that 1 in 4 people on the planet speak Chinese, and their economic impact is growing).  That isn't going to change unless someone wipes China off the map (which won't be us, since they're going to be our financial overlords).  That said, as an American today, it's largely more practical on the streets to speak Spanish, and that trend will only increase.

In the end, we chose Chinese.  It's one of the hardest languages for English-speakers to learn, whereas Spanish is the easiest.  If DS can master Mandarin, we're confident he can master Spanish.  Also, now that we know all the immersion schools are working on an Immersion/International Bac MS/HS, we think he can pick up Spanish as a 3rd language easily.

Again, that was our thinking.  YMMV.  In the end, you're better off with either Chinese or Spanish than anything else (especially including the vanilla "we-don't-care-about-globalism" English-only).[/quote][/quote]

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