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RE: A Battle of Languages-- Raising Bilingual Children
I agree with @blocktrades. My girls went to Japanese preschool and now are in a tri-lingual public school. (English, Spanish, Mandarin). If the desired language is not spoken at home, the teachers at both Japanese and now elementary school recommend movies, cartoons, etc... as a supplement. We do Mandarin movie nights at school once a month. I look for Chinese children programming on youtube to help the kids. We take if for granted but English is one of the most hardest languages to learn because of all the weird rules and pronunciation. Cheers.
Wow! They have tri-lingual public schools now. I didn't know that. That's great! Do your daughters speak Mandarin at school with their friends? Having a language partner, I think, is also very important. Thanks for the advice. It's greatly appreciated!
It's trilingual it is mostly focused on the Mandarin track in the earlier grades. It's like 50% Mandarin, 30% English, and 20% Spanish. They focus the majority on Mandarin because it is more difficult to learn than Spanish. They slowly increase the Spanish percentage every year as they go. They speak only Mandarin/Spanish to their respected teachers as it is required. When at home we are responsible for speaking and reading English books to make sure they are getting enough. I tried to learn Mandarin with them when they first started in Kindergarten but I couldn't keep up. It is crazy how fast they learn when at an early age. Your daughter will be fine because you are certainly a good father and on top of it. A learning partner is a real good idea. Thanks for the great post. Cheers.
That sounds like a pretty incredible school. It's really interesting how you are exposing your daughters to so much culture and language. I'd like to hear about how they absorb all of that culture and language and use it in their everyday lives.
And thanks for the vote of confidence.