USA: New York toddlers, as young as 18 months old, learn to speak Mandarin

Strollers pack a New York facility's foyer but these toddlers are here, not for a play group or music lesson, but to learn Mandarin. The children, aged mainly between 18 months and three years, are enrolled in Xiao Bao Chinese, which is one of only a handful of Chinese language program for infants, toddlers and preschoolers in New York. As China's economy booms and the world becomes more interconnected, U.S. parents and schools are beginning to demand language lessons that go beyond the conventional romance languages. There is a long way to go. Only about 24,000 of about the 54 million elementary and secondary school children in the United States are studying Chinese, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Danielle Chang, who used to edit a magazine, founded Xiao Bao at the urging of friends who wanted their kids to learn Chinese. The 10-week course costs 310 U.S. dollars. Chang has a total of about 60 students in four classes this semester and has a waiting list with enough students to double that. Chang says that research has shown that the best time for a child to learn a language is between the ages of one and six years old. The mother of two told Reuters that, surprisingly, many of the kids are not of Chinese origin. "About half the kids in the class are non-Chinese. Parents realized that the earlier their children learn Chinese, the better," said Chang. At Xiao Bao, two teachers with master's degrees in education sing to the students the "Alphabet Song," read books and teach them the body parts, all in Mandarin with translations in English. Rachael Moore has two daughters attending the class, three and a half year old Helena and 13-month old Kalista. Moore believes the lessons are a great opportunity for her children to be knowledgeable about a culture totally different from what they're used to. "There is a commonality between all the European languages and this gets them totally outside of that. I think it will exercise their brain, it's sort of a mental puzzle, I guess, for children who are European descendant. I don't know, I think they'll just enjoy it, my older daughter really seems to like it," said Moore. One mother, Susan Jennings brings her nearly three-year-old adopted Chinese daughter Faye to lessons, because she wants her to know the language of the region she's from -- and that trips to Manhattan's Chinatown don't help because Cantonese is the main language spoken there. "She was born in China and we adopted her, my husband and I adopted her when she was ten and a half months old and we always wanted her to continue to hear Mandarin and to have that language if she chooses to continue with it," said Jennings. The students sit on mommy's or nanny's lap, sing, point, or wander about. Seventeen-month-old Thor spent most of a recent class staring wide-eyed at the teachers. He claps his hands when the teachers urge him to in Mandarin. His mother, Lainie Warnken, said she doesn't expect Thor to become fluent, but that exposure to another culture at a young age could help him better grasp cultures and languages when he gets older. "I by no means expect my child to leave sixteen weeks of class or twelve weeks of class being fluent in Chinese. But he does, you know, know how to clap his hands and say xiao xiao bao and he claps his hands and he does know dog because we see dogs in the park. It's not necessarily to push Chinese on him or push any sort of language for that matter, just to expose them to a different culture, some day he'll hopefully be able to appreciate and understand a little bit as he gets a little older." Warnken added. With such young kids learning a language, it appears that the parents take in more information than their children. "For children of this age that aren't really socialized to be in a classroom environment, you're dealing with two things -- you're trying to teach them a foreign language but at the same time you're trying to teach them how to behave in a classroom setting, just sort of how to sit down, listen to the teacher and go about the whole learning process," said Chang.

ITN Source | October 27, 2006

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