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.