< Return to Talk
06.21.08, 18:46 PM New York City
79 replies
What's the deal with the Mandarin language craze? Wny does everyone want their kids to learn that in particular? I'm all for learning as many languages as possible, but this seems to have become a big thing overnight. [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
New York City 06.21.08, 06:46 PM Flag
 

Dear UrbanBaby community,

Thank you so much for being a valued member of the UrbanBaby community. We wanted to inform you that we are shutting down the site on July 6th. We are grateful for your participation and support that has helped make UrbanBaby such an important resource to parents for many years.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can email us at urbanbaby-support@cbsinteractive.com.

Thanks so much,

UrbanBaby Support

»
Because by the time our kids are adults it will be the #1 spoken language in the world. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:49 PM Flag
»
It already is being spoken by most people on our planet as the mother tongue. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:52 PM Flag
»
I meant among non native speakers as well. It's not a craze in my family. DH speaks it so DCs will. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:53 PM Flag
»
I think it's good that Americans are learning an [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:55 PM Flag
»
I do not think it is correct to say that most people people on the planet speak Mandarin. I think the poster below may be correct that it is the language used by the most people. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:04 PM Flag
»
mother tongue, i said [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:29 PM Flag
»
I think Spanish is a much better bet. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:32 AM Flag
»
Not likely. In China students at good schools are all learning English. And then there's India. I think between those 2 populations and the rest of the world it's safe to say English will be the dominant language when our dc are grown. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:01 PM Flag
»
I think it's provincial to think that way. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:03 PM Flag
»
You can think what you like. We'll both have to just wait and see, won't we? Meet you back here in 20 years and one of us can say, " I told you so!" OK? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:09 PM Flag
»
;) [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:09 PM Flag
»
Sure. It's a date. I'll say it in Mandarin. :)* [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:09 PM Flag
»
NP: Wo gaosu ni! [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:18 PM Flag
»
^^^ le. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:18 PM Flag
»
LOL! [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:18 PM Flag
»
yes, but the cance that all these nyc private school kids taking mandarin will actually speak it one day is about zero! total waste of resources by the wealthy and over-indulged [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:37 PM Flag
»
My son's public school taught it up till last year. I said at a meeting it was silly and several parents gave me stink eye. I asked them where their kids would practice this language (as opposed to Spanish which they could use all over NYC.) [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 01:10 PM Flag
»
That's what I said when my kid was entering Kindergarten and now she's in college and she still doesn't need to know it unless she plans to do int'l banking or law. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 05:11 AM Flag
»
Because it's the hippest new thing. Once Brearley jumped on the bandwagon, everyone wants it! [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:49 PM Flag
»
ditto [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:52 PM Flag
»
Brearly is about 20 years behind my traditional, suburban high school. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:52 PM Flag
»
But not your traditional, suburban kindergarten, I'll bet. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:56 PM Flag
»
No. It was French and Russian in elementary school and French, Spanish, Russian, Latin, or Mandarin in High School. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:57 PM Flag
»
The new craze, as I posted below, is Mandarin for preschoolers and kindergarteners. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:58 PM Flag
»
Not a new craze. A long standing practice of teaching Mandarin and a long term trend of moving foreign language education to earlier years. Nothing out of the ordinary or special. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:01 PM Flag
»
Sorry but learning Mandarin in Kindergarten is definitely new. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:01 AM Flag
»
np: I live in Nolita. A bilingual pre-school opened here in 1998. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:03 AM Flag
»
In/near Chinatown? Wouldn't that make sense? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:23 AM Flag
»
I took Mandarin in HS. Hardly a new craze. Mandarin is the most commonly spoken language in the world (something like 15% of the world's population speaks Mandarin). [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:51 PM Flag
»
thought english was [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:52 PM Flag
»
Nope. Mandarin is spoken by more people than English. English is more widespread and is spoken in more countries and is a more common second language. But Mandarin is still spoken by more people than English. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:56 PM Flag
»
Really? Many Chinese people don't really speak it, Cantonese is more common in many parts of china. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 01:30 PM Flag
»
But the new trend - in NYC as well as rich burbs - is Mandarin for preschoolers and kindergarten at the latest. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:55 PM Flag
»
That's just pushing languages that have long been part of the normal curriculum to younger ages. And that is not so radical. The philosophy has long been that foreign language education should be moved from the middle school years to nursery and elementary school. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:00 PM Flag
»
Not in the top private schools of NYC, funny enough. They are just now changing back to introducing foreign language in K, but the thought for years & years was that kids don't need to have language classes until 4th grade or so. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:02 PM Flag
»
The top private schools of NYC aren't exactly models of educational excellence. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:05 PM Flag
»
So what are? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:06 PM Flag
»
New Zealand and Australian public schools get my top vote. Followed by South Korea. Focusing on the pedagogy of TT NYC private schools is just sad. Expensive schools, lots of competition, terrible pedagogy and parametrics. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:10 PM Flag
»
When were you in HS, and where? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:03 PM Flag
»
Graduated in 1990, Long Island [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:05 PM Flag
»
If you ask me, it's because China has become a superpower and has become a major economy (4th largest in the world right now and will be the biggest economy in a decade). [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:54 PM Flag
»
IMHO, the whole China as next superpower thing is overblown. That place is a f*cking train wreck and it's not going to get any better, only worse. Cost of labor will go up but their sloppy practices will continue and all of a sudden most of their exports will be overpriced crap, sometimes overpriced dangerous crap. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:57 PM Flag
»
That's what they said about Japan and other countries. It is the most successful economies in the world that is transitioning from command economy to market economy. They will have political upheaval who want more democracy to go with their new wealth and a growing middle class... but temperamentally, they are not likely to have a very radical upheaval like the French revolution. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:02 PM Flag
»
Taiwan and S. Korea are still hurting because they haven't figured out how to make the transition as well as Japan... [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:15 PM Flag
»
they were never command economies, [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:30 PM Flag
»
japan's economy has been in the dumps forever. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:33 PM Flag
»
np. ITA. I think India is going to be the country that emerges as the next world superpower. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:03 PM Flag
»
It will be after China, though, bec India's poverty is worse than China's. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:15 PM Flag
»
India's no where near the same league as China. China has public education, etc. India's poverty is going to really hamper growth... [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:17 PM Flag
»
China has a serious problem with water. They don't have enough. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 09:45 AM Flag
»
only a craze with finance parents. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:55 PM Flag
»
My DH's nephew speaks about 6 different languages. One of them being Mandarin. Because he speaks this language he has endless job offers and opportunities constantly. By the time our kids grow up it will be the #1 language spoken in the world. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 06:56 PM Flag
»
As someone who learned Chinese and speaks/reads it fairly well, I seriously doubt that it is ever going to come close to being as practical for Americans to learn as spanish will. That said, since few native english speakers know it, it is fabulous for the job market right now, hopefully these kids won't screw that up for me in 15 years. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.21.08, 07:33 PM Flag
»
we should learn proper English Grammar first. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:08 AM Flag
»
Because my daughter is Chinese and I'm not. As she grows up other Chinese people will expect her to be able to speak Mandarin, and rightly so. It's her heritage. 90% of her class is kids adopted from China, the other 10% are kids with a Chinese parent who feel they will be more accepting in a school setting than at home. I don't know of anyone in her Mandarin school who isn't in some way connected to China, and it's a pretty big one. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 06:55 AM Flag
»
I think that's great. I've met so many people who have adopted from another country that haven't really honored the culture of where their kids are from. I think that it will definitely help her in the future. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 09:48 AM Flag
»
Are you an adoptive parent? I don't think it's correct to say other Chinese people will expect your child to speak Mandarin. I fear you may be placing an unfair burden on your child: even if she was born in China and it is her heritage, she does not have to fill anyone's expectations about what that means. I'm also an adoptive parent of a child of another background. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 09:52 AM Flag
»
I'm not op, but I have spent a ton of time in China, and speak Chinese (I am white). The Chinese will expect the kid to know Chinese, I traveled with an american-born person of chinese decent who spoke zero chinese for a little while, and I felt really bad for her because people weren't very nice to her at all. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 09:54 AM Flag
»
^^^opp, I meant I'm not or [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 09:58 AM Flag
»
I was speaking of the expectations of Chinese people in this country. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:05 AM Flag
»
Well, I doubt that the OR was talking about this country. When one says a Chinese person, they don't usually mean Chinese-American. Most kids want to go back and see there home country when they grow up, I think that it would be traumatic if they found out that people would look down on them for not learning the language. I don't know if this holds true for other countries, but I think or is doing a great thing for her dd. It's a useful language to learn, it's not like she's wasting her dd's time. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:09 AM Flag
»
Thank you. Yes, you're right. DD has already repeatedly expressed a desire to go back to China. From the many Korean adopted adults I know, and Chinese adopted teens, I know it will be a happier experience for her if she speaks Mandarin. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 12:57 PM Flag
»
^^^ and, again, I question the wisdom of having your child meet someone else's expectations. It's a slippery slope--the fact of a child's international adoption has already offended somebody's expectations. The child doesn't have to prove herself. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:11 AM Flag
»
you don't think that she should give her dd a chance to experience the culture in which she was born? I think you are very judgmental of a parent's desire for her child to experience all sides of her heritage. I think that includes both the birth side and the adoptive side. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:14 AM Flag
»
I guess I was noting the poster's comment that her child would "rightly" be expected to speak Chinese and I am cautioning her to help her child become who she is outside of other's expectations. I don't think it's wrong for a child to learn Mandarin, but I don't think it makes her less of a person--or less of who she is--if she does not become fluent in the language. I see some international adoptive families almost appropriate their children's culture--and I question the wisdom of this. A book that goes into this is: http://www.yeongandyeong.com/beyond_good_intentions.htm [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:24 AM Flag
»
In this case, you are wrong though. At least, you are speaking contrarily to the most current expertise on the subject of Mandarin for Chinese adoptees. Or, in fact, for any international adoptees to learn their native language when they are young enough to learn it easily. You can quote books all you want, but I've consulted (extensively) with transracial adoption experts and I'm gonna say they're right, you're wrong. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 12:58 PM Flag
»
Mandarin (including writing) is not learned easily at any age. A weekly class or two will not accomplish learning the language. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 04:48 AM Flag
»
No but it will accomplish learning the tones and the rhythm of the language, which makes in-depth tutoring much easier later on in life if they choose to do it. DD doesn't speak it much but understands it quite well. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 05:44 AM Flag
»
Honestly, I think that the argumentative poster is an adoptive parent who has made no attempt to expose her kids to their birth culture/language and she is trying to rationalize this decision. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 05:57 AM Flag
»
I think you're right. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 11:37 AM Flag
»
I think that you hurt adoptive kids by not showing them that you embrace and respect where they came from. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:18 AM Flag
»
Have you traveled with an American of Chinese decent who spoke Mandarin? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 04:44 AM Flag
»
Many of us adopters have, our guides or other families on the adoption trips are often Asian-American and speak fluent Mandarin. My best friend from college is American of Chinese descent, I haven't traveled to China with her but I have traveled in the Philippines with her. She speaks Mandarin, and is held to a different code than Caucasians there--as in, it is fine for me to wear a bikini, but she will be literally yelled at, even though we are both American. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 05:46 AM Flag
»
Yes, I'm an adoptive parent. We have had an incredible amount of interaction with Asian adults adopted into Caucasian families, have discussed with experts in all realms of the international adoption field. We've read and researched, a lot. My best friend is Chinese, raised in the US, now living in the Philippines. We know that we are making the right decision for our daughter, and have the benefit of many people's expertise and experience behind us. You all can speculate and debate all you want, but unless you're the parent of a Chinese child and have done the research, I'm quite confident that you don't know what you're talking about. At all. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 12:55 PM Flag
»
I, too, have an adopted Chinese daughter. Which Mandarin school does she attend? We're looking. Thanks. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 11:16 AM Flag
»
I think there's a list at www.fccny.org. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.23.08, 11:38 AM Flag
»
Stupid...they should all learn Spanish. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 09:52 AM Flag
»
it's a trend by people who were afraid they were becoming too us-centric. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 06.22.08, 10:26 AM Flag
»
1/5 people in the world speak Mandarin. It's an important language. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 02.16.09, 11:56 AM Flag
Refresh » New Post »
Select Category
close [X]

close [X]

Select a Category (only 1)

category
Stages
Regions