{"id":7587,"date":"2013-03-05T21:59:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T13:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chengduliving.com\/?p=7587"},"modified":"2013-03-06T02:39:13","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T18:39:13","slug":"raising-a-child-in-china-learning-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chengduliving.com\/raising-a-child-in-china-learning-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"Raising a Child in China: Learning Languages"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post is part thirteen in the epic Raising a Child in China series – find the rest on our series page<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Gym<\/a> last week plotting with Chengdu Forum member JerryS<\/a> and watching men roll around with my oldest son,\u00a0Dorian<\/a>. In the space next door, some kendo practitioners were screaming in full kendo gear, cracking each other on the tops of their heads and then skating past each other. Standing outside of the kendo gym were two mixed-blood kids – like my own – and they eyed me and Dorian up. Peeping the familiar as it were.<\/p>\n

After practice I went to talk with the two boys – Alex, 7, and his little brother Jimmy. They spoke pretty good Chinese, had all the tones correct and it seemed to flow out easily, but I noticed that they hesitated a little bit with English. They had most of the vocabulary down, but there was a slight lack of the surety they expressed in what turned out to be their father language, Chinese. No surprise there. They have spent most of their lives here and they go to school here.<\/p>\n

But it nevertheless was instructive because I notice my boys are also more comfortable with Chinese than with English. Dorian and my younger son Damian understand pretty much everything I say in English, but that is because they know me, not necessarily the words that are coming out of my mouth.<\/p>\n

Chinese are always pretty standard when it comes to this topic. At first they wonder aloud,”Can they understand Chinese?” Usually posited as a negative, as in,”They can’t possibly understand Chinese, right?”<\/p>\n

When I (or less frequently, one of the boys) let’s them know that Chinese isn’t an issue, the reply is almost invariably,“Oh wow, they will grow up with both languages! Lucky!”<\/em><\/p>\n

And for those that doubt the ability of little ones to learn languages, let me state unequivocally that two languages is nothing<\/em> to a little kid. Easy as pie. Do it with their left hand. As long as they have the environment and exposure.<\/p>\n

They Pick Up What We Drop<\/h2>\n

Children are sponges, they say, and my experience corroborates. Both my kids speak a mish-mash of English and Chinese. Some examples:<\/p>\n