Reply to Yu Ying - Do/Can Non-Native Kids Actually SPEAK Chinese?

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Reply to " Yu Ying - Do/Can Non-Native Kids Actually SPEAK Chinese?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It comes up because a lot of parents wonder what the point of doing it is l, if a.) you’re risking your kid not understanding the fundamentals really well because they’re being taught in a foreign language and b.) the odds are that your child will never become fluent anyway.[/quote]

Yes, this is my basic concern. A couple years later, the ephemeral language gains are mostly lost, and the sum total of it might just be lost time on core subjects. I know there could be a lot of huffing about boiling it down to this but... if you're a teenager without Chinese speaking context, little language ability anyway, and a need to spend your time on your subjects or grades....could you really say it was worth it?

It's unclear enough to me to say, "Nah."[/quote]

Again, though, couldn't this be said of other language-immersion schools? Why would this be true for a Chinese-immersion school but not a Spanish-immersion school, for instance? [/quote]

Because Spanish language and culture and opportunities to practice in real life are more common in the US. [/quote]

Yes, but you're talking about using the language in the school context and concerns over whether it detracts from the child's ability to learn core subjects.  If a child is struggling in math, teaching in another language - any language - may be too much for that child regardless of how much exposure may be available outside of school.  If the child has little natural language ability overall, it may not be worth sending him or her to an immersion school where half of the day is taught in another language - regardless of the language being taught. [/quote]

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