Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

[I’m looking for a few more to add to the list for my book. If you’ve got one, please email me or add it to comments. And I’d love some from Mandarin speaking parents as well. — Beth]

You know you’re a Mandarin immersion parent* when….

 

Your third grader is starting to lose it over homework so you offer to race him looking up the characters in a story he doesn’t know in the dictionary by stroke order. You beat him.

 

You know what Yellowbridge.com is and how to use it.

 

You have strong preferences in moon cakes types, and know how to answer the question “One egg yolk, two or none?”

 

Your kid says “I have to fuxi for my kaoshi, but after that I’m done with my gongke” and you understand her.

 

When you reach into your purse for Kleenex you come out with a handful of flashcards.

 

All the CDs in your car are in Chinese.

 

You know who the biggest K-pop stars are and have their songs, with Chinese subtitles, bookmarked on your computer.

 

You own more Chinese dictionaries than English dictionaries.

 

You can explain to a Kindergarten parent what a measure word is, and get it right.

 

You can pick out your child’s handwriting on the bulletin board outside his classroom, even though the papers are all in Chinese.

 

You forget that in most schools teachers will speak to you in English when there are kids around.

 

 

*A non-Chinese speaking MI parent, that is.