YY kids almost always understand a lot better than they speak, and only formal Mandarin. If you hire a native speaking tutor, but sure to ask him or her not to speak sub-dialect everyday "home" Mandarin, and not to use slang. Almost all the YY kids don't learn Chinese from anybody but the teachers and tutors who stick to the script, so the kids don't understand or use slang/everyday Chinese. They are taught to speak textbook Mandarin (what native speakers may jokingly call"GPS Chinese").

Anonymous wrote:I know one student who started in K, but this was a while ago so the student only missed PK3 (YY didn't have PK3 back then). From what I understand, it was a very rough time the first year. I'm not sure what happened after that. But the parents also didn't prepare for it.

I think that if you take a PP's advice to get a native Mandarin speaking tutor or au pair for a few months your child should be fine. Ensure that they only speak Chinese to the child for at least part of the day. That's how the teachers did it in PreK. They spoke only Chinese so the children were forced to learn it. It worked.

Good luck!

Me again. Sorry - should have been the student only missed PK4. And I meant to get the tutor/au pair over the summer before school starts. Good Luck!

I know one student who started in K, but this was a while ago so the student only missed PK3 (YY didn't have PK3 back then). From what I understand, it was a very rough time the first year. I'm not sure what happened after that. But the parents also didn't prepare for it.

I think that if you take a PP's advice to get a native Mandarin speaking tutor or au pair for a few months your child should be fine. Ensure that they only speak Chinese to the child for at least part of the day. That's how the teachers did it in PreK. They spoke only Chinese so the children were forced to learn it. It worked.

Good luck!

We're native Mandarin speakers who tried YY for a year. We left because we weren't impressed with the Mandarin, or English, and didn't like being a program without true bilingual Chinese-speaking students (there are just a handful in the entire school). It's a very friendly place with good facilities, but it wasn't for us. We know a good many upper grades kids who've been in the school for 5 or 6 years who speak like robots below the level of our youngest child, who's 3. If you're content to scrape by in Mandarin at YY, really, no need to knock yourselves out. It's a reality that parents and admins don't want to acknowledge, but it's the reality nonetheless.

I know a family that put a kid in in K. The dad is Chinese and doesn't speak Chinese, and he married a woman who is a native Mandarin speaker, so they felt able to support it. It seems to have gone ok, but also their child is just really, really smart and good at languages, so that's part of it.

My child started at YY well above K. However, he already had been studying Chinese for most of his life. YY supported us as we applied for the school, but made it clear that admission would be by lottery only. He did get in by lottery. Sadly, we had to pull him out a couple of years later due to a work transfer.

YY would do well to facilitate admission of students in the older grades, especially those who already speak Chinese. Other bilingual schools do manage to admit students throughout the elementary grades.

Other than that, we had a great experience at Yu Ying and I recommend it highly to other parents.

If you lottery in, you could catch a K kid up fairly easily by installing a native speaker in the home for a few months and requiring this person to speak only Mandarin to the child. YY's Chinese program is really easy going, kids are all over the map in their ability to speak and understand. Kids are not penalized for failing to speak well (helping explain why native speakers seldom try to lottery kids in). It's the understanding deficit that can cause a kid stress.

Anonymous wrote:We got a lottery offer for our pk4 child last year and they said it was unlikely they could accommodate our kindergartener as there were zero slots. Manage your expectations if you are hoping to lottery in

Per MSDC they took 1 K student late in the summer.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I am aware of the admissions situation. I appreciate the insights.

We got a lottery offer for our pk4 child last year and they said it was unlikely they could accommodate our kindergartener as there were zero slots. Manage your expectations if you are hoping to lottery in

Our neighbors child started in 1st. I do not think she spoke any Chinese before starting. She did have a tutor and I understand from speaking with the child (who is now 9 or 10) that it was very difficult at first. The child is still at YY and seems to like it. I'm not sure how common this is and I don't know the circumstances re: how the child was admitted.

This is really old territory. If you could lottery in for K without Chinese, I'd only bother if you could provide for a total immersion experience, or near total immersion, for the 4 or 5 months before enrolling. That would mean parking your kid in a Mandarin speaking zone of China for weeks on end, and/or having them speak Mandarin almost all day every day with a native speaker you hire in DC (e.g. a summer au pair, easily hosted through one of the au pair agencies/State Dept. J-1 Visa partners recruiting heavily from China like Au Pair in America, Go Au Pair or Cultural Care). That's it, that's all.

Anonymous wrote:You didn't find it - because it doesn't happen.

Well, that's not very nice, but sort of true. OP, there are only a couple of kids who I know that have gotten in at K or higher because there are just not many slots. One K'er was the older siblings of a PK3 kid accepted. I know one child who came in first grade and their Chinese is really, really far behind.

You didn't find it - because it doesn't happen.

I tried to search the archives, but all I found was 10,000 lottery lists...

If you have a child who started at YY in K or higher (i.e., did not get the 100% immersion), how has your experience been? Would you do it again and/or recommend it to other families?