A word about flash cards...

After a certain age, you need to ditch those flash cards. This has been a big peeve of mine - so I'm bringing it up right after I put the lists together for the "Best Online/Mobile Chinese Learning Resources" and "Where to Buy Books."

For my child, flash cards became pretty useless by the end of First Grade. Yes, you heard that right - we ditched the flash cards. Why? Because language in a vacuum is not engaging or interesting to a 6-year-old.

Whole language is the key, here. If you don't have someone to read Chinese to your child on a regular basis (i.e., every evening before bed, just like you would with English), then use Child Road. They are awesome. The app reads the book to your child.

A few years ago, when we first started with Child Road, they did not have as many shorter stories as they do now. They keep growing and growing. I hope they continue.

This is a great resource for ALL parents, regardless of Chinese language ability. Even native speaking Chinese parents are very busy and don't always have time to read with their children. (why so many ABC's don't know how to read/write Chinese) So it is a great way to "outsource" a task. Cheap, too. It's only $5.99 per month.

Welcome...

...to the new iteration of Mandarin Immersion Support. These resources and perspectives began as a private listserv for parents whose kids were enrolled in a Mandarin Immersion program. In that short time, we learned just how much true support parents living in America needed in order to 1) support their kids through the program and 2) understand the real road to bilingualism.

Learning Mandarin is all the rage these days. While it seems like a good thing - what a huge change since the days I was a kid growing up in the suburbs of America - the entire enterprise has come with many pitfalls, socially, culturally, and for the prospects of a sound education for the kids who are trying to walk this path.

This blog is here to work towards solutions. To outline the wonderful and tremendous opportunities at hand, while also explaining the trade-offs, the risks, and all the things that have not been explained well enough.

This blog is for parents from English-Only or English-proficient households, Chinese-and-English-proficient households (i.e., native speakers who are also professionally proficient in English), and ABC or "halfsie" households where parents are Heritage-proficient in Chinese.