When will Your Child Start
Learning Chinese?
We know our children should learn a second language. We were often told foreign languages are best learned at young age. And we understand that the most culturally rich, most spoken, most useful and with lifetime benefits foreign language is Chinese. But, it hasn't really occurred to many that our children should be learning it now.
To most parents, Chinese is too hard - with countless characters to memorize, complex ways to write and strange sounds to pronounce. Not to mention, not many at home can understand let alone help. Chinese is simply too foreign.
These problems are the result of parents thinking logically like an adult. Young children are way smarter when it comes to learning a language. They immerse in role-play, stories, songs and games to have fun. They learn without thinking they are learning.
By the way, Chinese has a relatively uncomplicated grammar. It has no verb conjugation (no need to memorize verb tenses!) and no noun declension (e.g., gender and number distinctions). The basic word order of Chinese is subject — verb — object, exactly as in English. Numbers 0 to 9 are all single syllable – the real secret of Chinese students' math superiority, believe it or not.
The ultimate environment of learning a foreign langua2012SCV-NY.pdfge is immersion in which the target language is used as the means of instruction. In-class activities, such as math and those outside of the class, such as meals or everyday tasks, are conducted in the target language. Students gain almost-native proficiency by age 10-11. Chinese immersion programs nationwide have grown dramatically in recent years. Many have achieved stunning success not only in language, but quantifiable improvements across the academic spectrum. SCV Chinese School has established an exploratory working group to start the first SCV immersion program. We welcome your participation and support.