Anonymous wrote:And nice to see some parents have already decided that their kids are going to work for some multi-national Fortune 500 companies with emerging interests in China....

I think most of you are frustrated that you are middle class SAHM's, with nothing else to do other then worry about this stuff and are jealous of those who can send their kids to school with "Prep, Arms, and Country Day Schools" in their names.... And forgot to name your kids Chase and Avery.

I think you're the cynical one.

Fortune 500 companies employ the most workers, so that's not exactly a "pie in the sky" dream.

And, the Global Fortune 500 composition has changed dramatically in just the last 10 years. Some 50 of them are now Chinese companies. They want in our market too.

I'm not sure, exactly, why you are so jaded (and what's with the nasty dig at childrens' names?). Maybe the sum total of your hopes and dreams for your children are for them to have a nice job at the post office and avoid becoming parents themselves before age 20. And, that's perfectly OK. It's pretty common, in fact.

But, having knowledge of where the economy is heading and trying to give your children all of the educational tools to explore whatever avenue they want to take is hardly a radical idea. You asked why anyone would want their kid to learn Mandarin and made some idiotic and ignorant remark about ordering Chinese food. I (foolishly, perhaps) answered you.

But maybe you're just one of these MERKA, FUCK YEAH! types. In which case, just sit back, rest that Bud Light on your swelling ut, smoke your ciggy, and watch wrestling on the TV with your kids some more. No skin off my nose.

And nice to see some parents have already decided that their kids are going to work for some multi-national Fortune 500 companies with emerging interests in China....

I think most of you are frustrated that you are middle class SAHM's, with nothing else to do other then worry about this stuff and are jealous of those who can send their kids to school with "Prep, Arms, and Country Day Schools" in their names.... And forgot to name your kids Chase and Avery.

So it's all about how to give your kid an edge on college applications? I know several families that sent their kids to one of the Chinese immersion programs for elementary school. The only thing they got out of it is a family trip to China. Very little mastering of the language, no retention because now they have no interest in it in MS. Once done with immersion, many return to their home MS, where they don't even know any of the kids.....

Anonymous wrote:Why shove mandarin down the throat of a kid? Send him to any public school in Wheaton and he will learn spanish, a more usable language in the US....

I don't think Harvard and Yale cares if your kid got straight A's at magnet schools vs non-magnet schools.

They most certainly do care about the rigor of your academic schedule since forever..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because you are all "stage" parents living vicariously though your children. You children are not going to be Broadway starts because they went to Loiderman or doubtful they will be some linguist Rhodes scholar because they went to Chinese immersion. Why do you want Chinese immersion anyways? So they can order for you off the other menu in the restaurant?

We live in a global economy. 95% of the market is outside the USA and the fastest growing markets will be in the BRICS. Knowledge of Mandarin or other Chinese dialects will be a skill set in the labor force in 20 years. I'm surprised you do not know this. Are you normally an ignorant fool?

Not the PP, but this is debatable.. Mandarin has many limitations that prevent it from becoming a truly global language.

I didn't say it was going to be a global language. What I said is that the BRICs are still the fastest growing markets. Global companies want a piece of those markets. Often they want to put their own people there rather than rely on locals. This will be true for the next several decades at least.

Anonymous wrote:Why shove mandarin down the throat of a kid? Send him to any public school in Wheaton and he will learn spanish, a more usable language in the US....

I don't think Harvard and Yale cares if your kid got straight A's at magnet schools vs non-magnet schools.

knowing multiple languages is a plus on college applications, duh.

Why shove mandarin down the throat of a kid? Send him to any public school in Wheaton and he will learn spanish, a more usable language in the US....

I don't think Harvard and Yale cares if your kid got straight A's at magnet schools vs non-magnet schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because you are all "stage" parents living vicariously though your children. You children are not going to be Broadway starts because they went to Loiderman or doubtful they will be some linguist Rhodes scholar because they went to Chinese immersion. Why do you want Chinese immersion anyways? So they can order for you off the other menu in the restaurant?

We live in a global economy. 95% of the market is outside the USA and the fastest growing markets will be in the BRICS. Knowledge of Mandarin or other Chinese dialects will be a skill set in the labor force in 20 years. I'm surprised you do not know this. Are you normally an ignorant fool?

Not the PP, but this is debatable.. Mandarin has many limitations that prevent it from becoming a truly global language.

Anonymous wrote:Because you are all "stage" parents living vicariously though your children. You children are not going to be Broadway starts because they went to Loiderman or doubtful they will be some linguist Rhodes scholar because they went to Chinese immersion. Why do you want Chinese immersion anyways? So they can order for you off the other menu in the restaurant?

We live in a global economy. 95% of the market is outside the USA and the fastest growing markets will be in the BRICS. Knowledge of Mandarin or other Chinese dialects will be a skill set in the labor force in 20 years. I'm surprised you do not know this. Are you normally an ignorant fool?

Anonymous wrote:Because you are all "stage" parents living vicariously though your children. You children are not going to be Broadway starts because they went to Loiderman or doubtful they will be some linguist Rhodes scholar because they went to Chinese immersion. Why do you want Chinese immersion anyways? So they can order for you off the other menu in the restaurant?

Since when is being a linguist some unattainable goal?!?! If you master a language you are setting yourself in a good place to go IB. Magnet students most certainly could be Rhodes Scholars though I'm not sure why you don't mention Blair Magnet and Rhodes Scholar together...

Because you are all "stage" parents living vicariously though your children. You children are not going to be Broadway starts because they went to Loiderman or doubtful they will be some linguist Rhodes scholar because they went to Chinese immersion. Why do you want Chinese immersion anyways? So they can order for you off the other menu in the restaurant?

Anonymous wrote:Just send them to the school in the neighborhood you chose to move into...............

because those are desirable programs

Anonymous wrote:Just send them to the school in the neighborhood you chose to move into...............

You do it with your own kid and don't worry about us. Magnet exists so we take advantage and apply. Point blank period.

They get worked up because they are so frustrated with the dismal status quo. Any school that offers something better will be in high demand. But, of course DCPS then goes on to even screw that up by for example doing things like setting up a magnet that isn't test-in.

Just send them to the school in the neighborhood you chose to move into...............