Reply to Yu Ying. Is it really that awesome?

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Reply to "Yu Ying. Is it really that awesome?"

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[quote=Anonymous]I only got through page five of this posting and got thoroughly annoyed, so here's my two cents:

Homework- No one expects you to help your kids with their Chinese homework. You're just expected to make sure they do it.

The school gives tons of resources to help your children. There's a family portal with more resources than I know what to do with. (I, too, have never heard of Saturday Chinese, but then maybe I'm not paying attention.) Exposure is key. There's music, movies, tv shows, smart apps, etc. It's what you make of it.

If you make sure your kids read the little books they send home, that's probably enough. I make my kids watch cartoons in Mandarin. They don't get any other TV all week, so they're happy to watch in Chinese. I also make them play games that help them with stroke order. That seems to be sufficient for now.

Books- If you did speak Chinese, you'd have a very hard time finding books in Mandarin that your kids would like because they will not be reading at the same level as kids in China. If you find books for 1st graders in China, your YY first grader won't be able to read them- it's just too advanced. You could read it to them, but they wouldn't be able to read them alone.

A tutor- If you're super worried about homework, skip eating out one night and spend $25/week on a tutor or double up with another family and spend $15/week. It's not prohibitively expensive, it just has to be a priority for your family. We've not had a tutor consistently, but have used them now and then when the kids were falling behind in a specific skill and during the summer to make sure they retain the major characters they should know.

Bilingual advantage- My kids are performing above what's expected in Chinese and we have no Chinese in the home. (We do have a second language, but it's not Chinese.) They have friends in their class who do have Chinese in the home and are performing below what's expected.

It's very much an academic endeavor and has little to do with what's spoken at home. If you go to any other country in the world (ok, I'm exaggerating... say Europe) where kids are raised bilingual, trilingual, and more- they're still typically getting one language at home and the other languages at school and are still able to speak several languages. Special needs aside, your kids are never at a disadvantage if you're exposing them to another language.

Finally, believe it or not, your kids will pick up Chinese just from being exposed at school. I was shocked when I took my kids to China and actually saw them communicating in Chinese (and yes, they did a heck of a lot of translating for me- not that's not abusive). They're not bilingual, but they're in a fantastic position to communicate well in Chinese and take their Chinese to another level in the future should they choose to.

Good luck to you! :)[/quote]

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