美国人亚洲择邻居只为孩子学中文_BEC初级作文

美国人亚洲择邻居只为孩子学中文

But this time, after-school classes aren't enough for some people. Families are enrolling their children in Mandarin-immersion programs that are springing up from California to Maine. They are hiring tutors, Skyping with teachers in Beijing and recruiting Chinese-speaking nannies. Some are stocking their playrooms with Disney videos in Mandarin岸not to mention the iPhone apps aimed at making kids into Mandarin speakers.

不过这次，上补习班对一些人来说已经不够了。家长们把孩子送进了从加州到缅因州不断冒出的纯普通话课堂。他们聘请家庭教师，通过Skype与北京的老师交谈，还雇用讲中文的保姆。一些人在娱乐室里放满了普通话版的迪士尼影碟──更不用提那些旨在教孩子学普通话的iPhone应用程序。

Of learning Mandarin, Mr. Roemer says,"mastering that challenge gives [the kids] a great deal of confidence." Learning Chinese, he adds, is "good for the brain." Still, he says it was stressful watching his children struggle in a place where at first they didn't understand much of what was happening at school.

罗默说，克服学说普通话的挑战会让孩子变得非常自信。他还说，学习中文对大脑有好处。不过他也说，孩子们一开始上学时对所处环境一片茫然，自己看着也很有压力。

Now back in the U.S., the Roemer kids say they value that year in China learning Mandarin, even if they can't quite keep it up now. "It was cool living in a foreign country" for a year, though achieving command of Mandarin's tones remains difficult, says Erin, age 9. Her 11-year-old brother Conor says he likes being able to switch into a different language when he doesn't want other people岸like his father岸to understand. "Sometimes my dad doesn't know as much as we do, so if we're talking about his birthday present we can keep it from him," Conor says.