Fluent Mandarin
June 06, 2013

Can you be fluent in Mandarin in 3 months? Can you learn to speak Mandarin fluently in 6 months? How long does it take for a native English speaker to become fluent in Chinese?
"When
I started learning Chinese, I was horrified to hear that it would take
me 10 years to become fluent. 27 years later I'm still working at it.
Due to my work on television, some Chinese language learners may
consider me a role model of sorts, but every day I'm reminded of what I
don't know and how much more there is to learn....One lifetime is not enough to attain the level of a native speaker, unless you start before the age of 10." - Mark Rowswell, AKA Dashan
I love my polyglot friend Benny Lewis for his enthusiam, talent and love of languages, but his fluent Mandarin in 3 months, is a very different goal than ours for Chinese fluency and literacy for our trilingual kid.

Learning ANY language is a lifelong pursuit, (probably even more so for Mandarin since it is one of the world's hardest languages),so the definition of ‘fluency’ depends on each individual’s goals. Reading and writing well in Chinese was part of our goal as well as speaking Mandarin fluently.
"Getting
fluent in Mandarin is extremely difficult, and very few non-Chinese
people are able to become functional speakers and writers of Mandarin"
Truett Black
Our goal has been to get Mozart as close to native level fluency and literacy in Mandarin and Spanish that we could during childhood and we started in the womb. She was somewhat fluent in Mandarin as a toddler, but we had to drop it for a while because as monolingual and non-musical parents, raising her in three languages with two instruments, just became too much. We found ways to raise a multilingual child at home as well as abroad using worldschooling ( our own unique blend of homeshooling with dips into local foreign schools for immersion).
"Becoming fluent in any language is a dream many people have, but few achieve." Olle Linge
The U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute says
Mandarin is one of the five most difficult languages in the world for
native English speakers to learn. The British Foreign Service believes that less than 3% of the population is
actually able to learn languages of a completely different concept and
alphabet, such as Mandarin.

There is a myth that says a child who is proficient in speaking a
language is fluent, but this is just not so as there are different
levels to being "fluent" in a language. Proficiency in face-to-face
communication doesn't imply proficiency in more complex academic
language needed in a classroom or in life. Mozart has been fluent in
Spanish from birth, but having gone to a local school in Spain for 4 winters where she was totally immersed with teachers who
spoke no English, learning written Spanish and reading Spanish in the same way as locals, her "fluency" level is much greater than any other way
we, as monolinguals could have given her.

The same is true about learning Mandarin in Penang at a Chinese school where our child, at just 10 years old, was the youngest, smallest, only Caucasian to go to this large campus, 1000-kid Chinese High School ( with a majority of male pupils) where caning, after school tutoring, long hours,6 days a week and a "Dicipline Master" are all part of the traditonal curriculum.
"Unfortunately, it is unlikely that you will turn the corner to full
spoken fluency until you have lived among Mandarin speakers in a
primarily Chinese environment for at least six months." truettblack
Trust me, we DID worry on that first day of school in Spain at barely 6 and then in Penang at 10, when we sent our most beloved baby off to these schools and environments.She did thrive in the sink or swim method because she is a brave kid who is very supported, but there can be no gain without taking some calculated risks, and we have always had great confidence in her abilities.
Gaining this "American fluent trilingual" status has been a HUGE, long term family goal that has taken a lot of sacrifice and work (similar to raising an Olympic champion). It's not the kind of thing that happens by accident or you'd see a lot of fluent triliingual Amercian kids with monolingual parents.

Many Chinese parents in America and even in Malaysia, do not raise kids who are fluent in Mandarin Chinese, just as many Hispanic native Spanish speaking parents in America ( and other nationalities) fail to raise their kids as fluent biliguals ( even when they try). Many travelers and expats in Spain, China and everywhere can be there for years or decades and never learn the language. Why? It takes a huge and long commitment with LOTS of hard work to become fully fluent and literate in a second language.
That is why we are extremely proud that Mozart won the trophy for the Mandarin Elocution contest at her Chinese school...the first time in it's 63 year history that a Caucasian won it! What can say FLUENT IN MANDARIN better than that? Perhaps all the native Chinese Mandarin speakers who said if one could just hear it without seeing her, they would think she was Chinese!
As much as anything this is a post to acknowledge the VERY hard work Mozart has put in and sacrifices she has made to get this fluency in Mandarin and Spanish while keeping up with other passions like singing, writing, reading, advanced maths, violin, piano, art, environmental issues etc. We were open to her quitting and even suggested it a few times as the "finish" point is really up to her, but she wanted to continue.

We are back to homeschooling now, but she works with an excellent Chinese tutor one-on-one in person four times a week ( plus lots of homework) and talks to friends in China almost every night for a few hours on Skype. She is almost midway through the fourth grade Primary school curriculum ( having completed the first 3 years) and we will complete through the 6th grade level before leaving ( by early next spring). At this point she can actually go faster outside of the school as she doesn't have to wait for the other students, but can go at her own pace.
She will likely also take the Mandarin AP course or exam( for high school and college credit) and HSK test before we leave ( which I am told she should be able to pass at the highest level 6). Pretty amazing for a 12 year old American kid and allows her eligibilty for University classes in China if she should want that. Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins etc already are in China and many say China's Universities are headed for the global clout of Oxford or Harvard.

We have all sacrificed some freedom and travel to help her get this Mandarin. Because of her age ( language learning is easier before puberty) we wanted to get as much deep Mandarin in her as possible, so added it strongly again when she was 9 while in Spain before basing in Penang with travel to China.
But as you can see by all these photos from around the world, whenever we traveled she kept up with her Mandarin practice and homework and skype lessons. She almost never had to be reminded and would do it on her own ( she was also motivated because she wanted to stay with her classmates and not get behind).

For us, the risk and hard work has paid off and we can almost see the finish line for this commitment and goal and she is excited to start on French next spring in France ( after time in Spain with beloved friends) which should be MUCH easier than Chinese ( because she is fluent in Spanish).
According to this site:
Average years of school for people 25 years and older in China is 3.6 years for
females; 6 years for males (Compared to 1.2 years for females and 3.5
years for males in India; and 12.4 years for females and 12.2 years for
males in the United States. According to the World Bank 93 percent of
Chinese males complete the 5th grade.
So if it is correct, that makes Mozart's Mandarin education better than your average female in China ( although obviously not as good as a wealthy city dweller Uni grad).
Interestingly, she has just got her first job at 12...teaching a Danish child Spanish in Asia! I think she will be using these skills for many years to come, what do you think?

We don't get many comments on this blog. I am not sure why. BUT we sometimes do get lots of comments on Facebook. The trouble with that is they soon disappear and out of site, out of mind.
I want Mozart to always have these wonderful comments, so I am adding them to this post as a way of keeping it for her as a permanent record. Some may see this as a braggy post, but I see this as an acknowledgement post to a kid who has worked very hard to earn this Mandarin fluency and I probably don't tell her enough in person, just how proud I am of her and honored to be her mom.
She is such a happy and great kid, and I am not sure what I ever did right to deserve her. I am so proud of what a good team we can be together...all three of us, in reaching hard goals. Thank you all too for being such a supportive audience!
COMMENTS FROM FACEBOOK ABOUT MANDARIN FLUENCY AND BIG WIN
MUST see! Mozart's Mandarin Speech is a FIRST in 63 year history of her famous Chinese High School!
Woot!!http://www.soultravelers3.com/2013/03/mandarin-ted-talk-american-kids-inspiring-chinese-speech-.html
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Mary Ann Downs Thrilled to see her confidence and excellence.
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Kandi Lee YAY!! Congrats Mozart!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks so much Mary Ann Downs!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks Kandi Lee Mozart is in bed now here in Asia, but I will pass it on to her.
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Theresa Lode How wonderful! Way to go, Mozart!
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Heather Dunsheath Wow,
that was awesome! Her Mandarin is so impressive, and I love all the
hand gestures (*puts hand on heart*). Thanks for including the
translation after the video - I really enjoyed her speech and found it
very interesting, and now I actually want to find more quotes by Lao
Tzu. Thanks for sharing and congrats to Mozart!
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Crystal Silver Hate
to admit it, but the wide-eyed little girl in me is sooo jealous of her
right now. She definitely hit the jackpot when she picked her parents.
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Rachelle A. Zazzu Ladies and Gentlemen...meet humanities future. Aren't you proud....
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Natasha Kewene-Hite So fabulous!! Congratulations to your very talented giril!!! Wow!!
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Judith Rich Amazing! Congratulations to Mozart and to you for being such a powerful stand for her. A great future ahead for this one.
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Jeanne Dee So sweet Crystal Silver! Fun to show that to Mozart!!
One of the amazing things about being a parent is one gets to give your
child things you wanted or dreamed about and thus give it to yourself
in that way.
By
making me wait for a decade to meet her, Mozart insured a special
childhood as I had MANY years to contemplate parenting and ultra
gratitude for the opportunity almost missed.
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Crystal SilverJeanne
- Which is precisely why I always planned to wait... With any luck, I
will not miss the opportunity to do the same, should such an experience
be in the cards for me.
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Jeanne Dee Well that was my plan too Crystal Silver and it worked for me and us!
I advise my child to wait as long as possible as well. Birth control
and baby planning is one of the truly liberating blessings of the 21st
century.
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Jeanne Dee I loved your comment Heather Dunsheath!
Hand gestures are very big here in Asia..they even use them with songs
in choir which drives kiddo a bit batty, but she enjoys the Chinese
style for the elocution.
Happy
to hear you liked the translation...that was hubs idea..and we all
thought a good one. Happy it encouraged you to read more Lao Tzu
quotes!! Our time in China made us even bigger fans!
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Cherry Law Congrats
Mozart!!!! Her fabulous and powerful essence of Mandarin speech is so
impressive, enjoying and admiring her wonderful reactions, once again
Congratulations to your very talented girl, and many thanks of sharing
this awesome video...without viewing it just listening to her speech, no
one will distinguish she is an American...well done..cheers
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Jeanne Dee Wow, so happy to hear that feedback about her Mandarin from a Mandarin speaker Cherry Law!!
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Wave Journey Brilliant!!!
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Sheriden DeWees AMAZING, MOZART!!!!!! WooHoo!!!!!!!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks heaps Theresa Lode!
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Jeanne Dee Too sweet Ms Rachelle A. Zazzu..we can learn so much from kids!
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Tosha Tobias Mozart,
you are so sweet and talented!! Congratulations! Although we don't know
each other, I feel that you are as part of my family. Maybe that's
because I've followed you and your parents on your trips and have "seen"
you grow. I'm sooooo proud of you and all your accomplishments! Your
mom and dad are awesome too . Sending you all lots of love, from Chile.
Sigue adelante, eres una niña hermosa y muy talentosa.
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Jeanne DeeNatasha Kewene-Hite - Thanks! So worth the effort on getting other languages into our kids, eh? We're onto French next!!
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Cherry Law You
are most welcome Jeanne , she speaks so well perfect Mandarin with
accuracy and her talents on the expression tones, sound so sweet and
lovely ..she deserved all her hard work...felt proud of her on behalf of
we Chinese here.....cheers
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Winser Zhao wow!i am so happy to hear that. it is really a good news.
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Natasha Kewene-Hite So
true! Just today we had our first school visit and it was so gratifying
to hear our oldest say that he was looking forward to starting Chinese!
And re your next language, I look forward to hearing those plans,
Jeanne whenever you're ready to share! Yea!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks so very much dear Tosha Tobias..looking forward to meeting you some day in person when we make it to Chile! I am going to take up Margaret Scheirman's idea and see if she will do a good Spanish speech for youtube too!
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Tosha Tobias Good idea!!! haha. I'm also looking forward to meeting you!
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Jeanne Dee So appreciate your kindness and support Judith Rich!!
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Jeanne Dee That is music to my ears coming from a Mandarin speaker Cherry Law!
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Dana Bana She
is so amazing! Thank u for the translation. It was a wonderful speech
and she presented it so well in Mandarin! She has the whole world in her
hands! She has a very successful future ahead of her no matter what she
chooses to do! Way to go, Mozart!
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Cherry Law Hi Jeanne Dee, can I share this with all my friends...
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Jeanne Dee Oh please do Cherry Law! We really appreciate people sharing this with everyone!
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Cherry Law Thank you so much....
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Heather Hill wow!!! what a great speaker, and in Mandarin! This is so cool. You must be so proud of her.
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Jeanne Dee Thanks a bunch Wave Journey!
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Jeanne Dee Sweet! Thanks for the enthusiastic support Sheriden DeWees
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Winser Zhao my family watched the video last night, and we courage our son, hope he can be as good as your lovely daughter.
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Marlys Alfiler-Schuermann Didn't understand a word , but BRAVO! She really did well.
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Jeanne Dee So happy to hear that dear Winser Zhao and we so appreciate your help! Love those beautiful bright sons of yours, happy they saw it too. Give them a hug for us!
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Mandy Love Keep up the great work! Did they have the finals?
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Angela Albrecht Amazing! What an inspiration she is!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks
Mandy...YES! That is how she got that big fat trophy..a 63 year FIRST
for her large, prominent Chinese high school...to be won by a
Caucasian!
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Jeanne Dee Aw, thanks so much Dana Bana and I so appreciate you sharing it on your timeline as I hope it inspires others!
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Rowan Campbell Millar astounding! a credit to humanity!
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Jeanne DeeHeather Hill Thanks, we really are! I never would have guessed that I would raise such a great Mandarin speaker and trilingual!
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Jeanne Dee Too sweet Rowan Campbell Millar and thanks so much for sharing it on your timeline!!
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Jeanne Dee Ha! Marlys Alfiler-Schuermann I don't understand much of Mandarin either, but it is funny you can still tell she did well. That is why we translated at the end ..hubs idea...so we can all understand.
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Rowan Campbell Millar you're very welcome, it's an honor! a friend of mine from china was very impressed! love & light!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks so much Angela Albrecht!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks again Rowan Campbell Millar...that is great to hear!
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Ambar Spitz Can't wait to see what this kiddo grows up to be! Indeed a lot of amazing experiences still ahead for her. You rock girl!!!!
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Angeliqua Rahhali Congrats to Mozart that was beautiful.
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Jeanne Dee Aw, thanks so much Ambar Spitz and all!
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Jeanne Dee So happy to hear that Angeliqua Rahhali! Mozart is enjoying all the positive feedback!
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Nina Surya Judin Congratulations! She's getting a fantastic education, travelling the world!
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Jeanne Dee I so appreciate that Nina Surya Judin...travel really is the best education, isn't it?
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Jeanne Dee Ambar Spitz So appreciate that...I can't wait to see as well!
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Karen Dutton Congratulations Mozart! That is truly amazing work & accomplishment!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks so much Karen Dutton!! She is our star and has worked hard!
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Soultravelers3.com- Around the World Family Travel Education Adventure! I so appreciate all the shares and passing this on and sweet comments!!
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Woot!! My 12 year old just won FINALS ( one of
just 5 picked in her 1000 kid Chinese high school in Asia) in the
MANDARIN elocution contest!! This week she competes in front of the
whole school and hopes to win first prize!
She won the English
elocution contest at 10 here, but wanted to push herself to something
more demanding this year! She is the only one who wrote her own
speech...a great one about Lao Tzu.
The current youtube video
coming soon ...which will also give you an idea how great her Mandarin
is these days! ;) She loves public speaking and seems to have a knack
for it. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW-C2PGehYc
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Brigitte Williams Oh My Oh My....... what ever next ??? All good wishes for the Big Day !
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Jeanne Dee Thanks dear Brigitte Williams!! We're proud of our little angel as she has worked hard to meet this goal!
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Margaret Scheirman I have never met her or you but I am also proud of her! This is just stellar! No doubt about it!
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Jeanne Dee Aw, thanks Margaret Scheirman! You are always so sweet...feels like we DO know one another after all these years.
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Violeta Balan Congratulations! No snappy comments on your blog after she wins this contest .
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Jeanne Dee LOL Violeta Balan
There will ALWAYS be snappy and snarky comments in the blogosphere
about something. I've tried not to have thin skin as an accidental
public person and remind kiddo regularly to remember that what other
people think about us is none of our business.
She
is definitely at a disadvantage for not being a native speaker of
Chinese, but that was part of the fun of the challenge for her.
The
principal actually reprimanded her for not doing BOTH the English and
Chinese ones, as she knows she is good at such, but she didn't want to
split her energy too much right at finals time too. I think she made the
right choice.
Just
making it to the finals is a big win, but the first place is what she
is hoping for. Fingers crossed for her...she has done her work and is
ready.
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Rachelle A. Zazzu I hope she goes into International Detente when she is old enough
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Kandi Lee Yay!! Congrats to your lil tween!!
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Michelle Hulley Awesome!
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Barbara Pinard Very Special little girl, great speech!!!
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Mandy Love That is so amazing and wonderful, I look forward to seeing it!
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Jeanne Dee You never know Rachelle A. Zazzu, but I am sure her languages will help her no matter what she does with her life.
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Jeanne Dee Thanks Mandy Love I will keep you posted when she does it later this week!!
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Rachelle A. Zazzu Not
just her languages. Her understanding of different cultures and
respect they deserve. She understands how to be kind in many different
parts of the world. I'm so happy she's on the planet
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Jeanne Dee That's sweet Rachelle A. Zazzu
and I agree that her extensive experience with so many cultures (
deeper in some ways not only from the travel, but time she spent in
local schools) will impact her life forever in one way or another.
I
was some what afraid of doing it before leaving, but now seeing the
impact, I am so grateful that we have followed our hearts and inner
directive on this unusual parenting style.
She actually gets to be a bit of a diplomat all through her life as she meets many people who never met an American except her.
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Sheriden DeWees WOW!!!! Yay, Kidlet!!!! You go girl!!!!
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Peace Lily Beautiful. She is a torch bearer :0)x
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Winser Zhao great. She is really smart.
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Angela Albrecht Congrats!! That's awesome!
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Brigitte Williams Great video, Great Kid, Great content ! Bravo.......xx
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Sue Kevin McCarthy Fantastic.
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Laura Summer LOVE!!!!!! XXOO
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Jeanne Dee Thanks sweet Laura Summer!
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Laura Summer She really is something!!!!!
We have a soultravelers fan page, soultravelers group on facebook as well as my Jeanne Dee personal page ( so we get comments on all three )
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The post was shared over 20 times and got even more comments like this from people who do not know anything about us from around the world:
Huge
benefit of making money abroad. Bilingual children. Very inspiring for
children around the world. Huge congrats to this young woman from
California! 祝贺您! @Elliott Ng. Thanks for posting
Unlike · · March 14 at 5:05pm ·
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You and 4 others like this.
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Erik Gain Wow - that's an amazing speech! Check out this article on bilinguals (from FT yesterday) http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3fd31c1a-85b6-11e2-bed4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2NTX24KYX
www.ft.com
A few years ago, when Antonella Sorace visited the European Central Bank in Fra...See More
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Paul Salo So true. That girl is going somewhere ! Combination of where she was raised and natural talent
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Melissa Lynn Mangan i wanna be this girl when i grow up....thanks for sharing!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks
for sharing! As monolingual parents raising a trilingual kid from birth
( partially thanks to slow travel for 7 years) I can say now it has
been more than worth the effort!
*****
She
is so amazing! It was a wonderful speech, well done and she presented
it so well in her Mandarin between a couple of years in Penang Chinese
High School...
Unlike · · March 15 at 8:32pm ·
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You, Cherry Law and 7 others like this.
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Cherry Law Hi Chea, hopefuly one day your girl will be like her....cheers
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福林 Hi sister, 午安吉祥。平安如意。健康自在。周末快乐。阿弥陀佛。 Love n hugs always...See Translation
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This post is part of the Multilingual Blog Carnival too.
"Getting
fluent in Mandarin is extremely difficult, and very few non-Chinese
people are able to become functional speakers and writers of Mandarin"
Truett Black
Can you be fluent in Mandarin in 3 months? Can you learn to speak Mandarin fluently in 6 months? How long does it take for a native English speaker to become fluent in Chinese?
"When I started learning Chinese, I was horrified to hear that it would take me 10 years to become fluent. 27 years later I'm still working at it. Due to my work on television, some Chinese language learners may consider me a role model of sorts, but every day I'm reminded of what I don't know and how much more there is to learn....One lifetime is not enough to attain the level of a native speaker, unless you start before the age of 10." - Mark Rowswell, AKA Dashan
I love my polyglot friend Benny Lewis for his enthusiam, talent and love of languages, but his fluent Mandarin in 3 months, is a very different goal than ours for Chinese fluency and literacy for our trilingual kid.
Learning ANY language is a lifelong pursuit, (probably even more so for Mandarin since it is one of the world's hardest languages),so the definition of ‘fluency’ depends on each individual’s goals. Reading and writing well in Chinese was part of our goal as well as speaking Mandarin fluently.
"Getting fluent in Mandarin is extremely difficult, and very few non-Chinese people are able to become functional speakers and writers of Mandarin" Truett Black
Our goal has been to get Mozart as close to native level fluency and literacy in Mandarin and Spanish that we could during childhood and we started in the womb. She was somewhat fluent in Mandarin as a toddler, but we had to drop it for a while because as monolingual and non-musical parents, raising her in three languages with two instruments, just became too much. We found ways to raise a multilingual child at home as well as abroad using worldschooling ( our own unique blend of homeshooling with dips into local foreign schools for immersion).
"Becoming fluent in any language is a dream many people have, but few achieve." Olle Linge
The U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute says Mandarin is one of the five most difficult languages in the world for native English speakers to learn. The British Foreign Service believes that less than 3% of the population is actually able to learn languages of a completely different concept and alphabet, such as Mandarin.
There is a myth that says a child who is proficient in speaking a language is fluent, but this is just not so as there are different levels to being "fluent" in a language. Proficiency in face-to-face communication doesn't imply proficiency in more complex academic language needed in a classroom or in life. Mozart has been fluent in Spanish from birth, but having gone to a local school in Spain for 4 winters where she was totally immersed with teachers who spoke no English, learning written Spanish and reading Spanish in the same way as locals, her "fluency" level is much greater than any other way we, as monolinguals could have given her.
The same is true about learning Mandarin in Penang at a Chinese school where our child, at just 10 years old, was the youngest, smallest, only Caucasian to go to this large campus, 1000-kid Chinese High School ( with a majority of male pupils) where caning, after school tutoring, long hours,6 days a week and a "Dicipline Master" are all part of the traditonal curriculum.
"Unfortunately, it is unlikely that you will turn the corner to full spoken fluency until you have lived among Mandarin speakers in a primarily Chinese environment for at least six months." truettblack
Trust me, we DID worry on that first day of school in Spain at barely 6 and then in Penang at 10, when we sent our most beloved baby off to these schools and environments.She did thrive in the sink or swim method because she is a brave kid who is very supported, but there can be no gain without taking some calculated risks, and we have always had great confidence in her abilities.
Gaining this "American fluent trilingual" status has been a HUGE, long term family goal that has taken a lot of sacrifice and work (similar to raising an Olympic champion). It's not the kind of thing that happens by accident or you'd see a lot of fluent triliingual Amercian kids with monolingual parents.
Many Chinese parents in America and even in Malaysia, do not raise kids who are fluent in Mandarin Chinese, just as many Hispanic native Spanish speaking parents in America ( and other nationalities) fail to raise their kids as fluent biliguals ( even when they try). Many travelers and expats in Spain, China and everywhere can be there for years or decades and never learn the language. Why? It takes a huge and long commitment with LOTS of hard work to become fully fluent and literate in a second language.
That is why we are extremely proud that Mozart won the trophy for the Mandarin Elocution contest at her Chinese school...the first time in it's 63 year history that a Caucasian won it! What can say FLUENT IN MANDARIN better than that? Perhaps all the native Chinese Mandarin speakers who said if one could just hear it without seeing her, they would think she was Chinese!
As much as anything this is a post to acknowledge the VERY hard work Mozart has put in and sacrifices she has made to get this fluency in Mandarin and Spanish while keeping up with other passions like singing, writing, reading, advanced maths, violin, piano, art, environmental issues etc. We were open to her quitting and even suggested it a few times as the "finish" point is really up to her, but she wanted to continue.
We are back to homeschooling now, but she works with an excellent Chinese tutor one-on-one in person four times a week ( plus lots of homework) and talks to friends in China almost every night for a few hours on Skype. She is almost midway through the fourth grade Primary school curriculum ( having completed the first 3 years) and we will complete through the 6th grade level before leaving ( by early next spring). At this point she can actually go faster outside of the school as she doesn't have to wait for the other students, but can go at her own pace.
She will likely also take the Mandarin AP course or exam( for high school and college credit) and HSK test before we leave ( which I am told she should be able to pass at the highest level 6). Pretty amazing for a 12 year old American kid and allows her eligibilty for University classes in China if she should want that. Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins etc already are in China and many say China's Universities are headed for the global clout of Oxford or Harvard.
We have all sacrificed some freedom and travel to help her get this Mandarin. Because of her age ( language learning is easier before puberty) we wanted to get as much deep Mandarin in her as possible, so added it strongly again when she was 9 while in Spain before basing in Penang with travel to China.
But as you can see by all these photos from around the world, whenever we traveled she kept up with her Mandarin practice and homework and skype lessons. She almost never had to be reminded and would do it on her own ( she was also motivated because she wanted to stay with her classmates and not get behind).
For us, the risk and hard work has paid off and we can almost see the finish line for this commitment and goal and she is excited to start on French next spring in France ( after time in Spain with beloved friends) which should be MUCH easier than Chinese ( because she is fluent in Spanish).
According to this site:
Average years of school for people 25 years and older in China is 3.6 years for females; 6 years for males (Compared to 1.2 years for females and 3.5 years for males in India; and 12.4 years for females and 12.2 years for males in the United States. According to the World Bank 93 percent of Chinese males complete the 5th grade.
So if it is correct, that makes Mozart's Mandarin education better than your average female in China ( although obviously not as good as a wealthy city dweller Uni grad).
Interestingly, she has just got her first job at 12...teaching a Danish child Spanish in Asia! I think she will be using these skills for many years to come, what do you think?
We don't get many comments on this blog. I am not sure why. BUT we sometimes do get lots of comments on Facebook. The trouble with that is they soon disappear and out of site, out of mind.
I want Mozart to always have these wonderful comments, so I am adding them to this post as a way of keeping it for her as a permanent record. Some may see this as a braggy post, but I see this as an acknowledgement post to a kid who has worked very hard to earn this Mandarin fluency and I probably don't tell her enough in person, just how proud I am of her and honored to be her mom.
She is such a happy and great kid, and I am not sure what I ever did right to deserve her. I am so proud of what a good team we can be together...all three of us, in reaching hard goals. Thank you all too for being such a supportive audience!
COMMENTS FROM FACEBOOK ABOUT MANDARIN FLUENCY AND BIG WIN
MUST see! Mozart's Mandarin Speech is a FIRST in 63 year history of her famous Chinese High School! Woot!!http://www.soultravelers3.com/2013/03/mandarin-ted-talk-american-kids-inspiring-chinese-speech-.html
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Mary Ann Downs Thrilled to see her confidence and excellence.
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Kandi Lee YAY!! Congrats Mozart!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks so much Mary Ann Downs!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks Kandi Lee Mozart is in bed now here in Asia, but I will pass it on to her.
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Theresa Lode How wonderful! Way to go, Mozart!
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Heather Dunsheath Wow, that was awesome! Her Mandarin is so impressive, and I love all the hand gestures (*puts hand on heart*). Thanks for including the translation after the video - I really enjoyed her speech and found it very interesting, and now I actually want to find more quotes by Lao Tzu. Thanks for sharing and congrats to Mozart!
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Crystal Silver Hate to admit it, but the wide-eyed little girl in me is sooo jealous of her right now. She definitely hit the jackpot when she picked her parents.
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Rachelle A. Zazzu Ladies and Gentlemen...meet humanities future. Aren't you proud....
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Natasha Kewene-Hite So fabulous!! Congratulations to your very talented giril!!! Wow!!
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Judith Rich Amazing! Congratulations to Mozart and to you for being such a powerful stand for her. A great future ahead for this one.
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Jeanne Dee So sweet Crystal Silver! Fun to show that to Mozart!! One of the amazing things about being a parent is one gets to give your child things you wanted or dreamed about and thus give it to yourself in that way.
By making me wait for a decade to meet her, Mozart insured a special childhood as I had MANY years to contemplate parenting and ultra gratitude for the opportunity almost missed. -
Crystal SilverJeanne - Which is precisely why I always planned to wait... With any luck, I will not miss the opportunity to do the same, should such an experience be in the cards for me.
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Jeanne Dee Well that was my plan too Crystal Silver and it worked for me and us! I advise my child to wait as long as possible as well. Birth control and baby planning is one of the truly liberating blessings of the 21st century.
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Jeanne Dee I loved your comment Heather Dunsheath! Hand gestures are very big here in Asia..they even use them with songs in choir which drives kiddo a bit batty, but she enjoys the Chinese style for the elocution.
Happy to hear you liked the translation...that was hubs idea..and we all thought a good one. Happy it encouraged you to read more Lao Tzu quotes!! Our time in China made us even bigger fans! -
Cherry Law Congrats Mozart!!!! Her fabulous and powerful essence of Mandarin speech is so impressive, enjoying and admiring her wonderful reactions, once again Congratulations to your very talented girl, and many thanks of sharing this awesome video...without viewing it just listening to her speech, no one will distinguish she is an American...well done..cheers
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Jeanne Dee Wow, so happy to hear that feedback about her Mandarin from a Mandarin speaker Cherry Law!!
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Wave Journey Brilliant!!!
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Sheriden DeWees AMAZING, MOZART!!!!!! WooHoo!!!!!!!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks heaps Theresa Lode!
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Jeanne Dee Too sweet Ms Rachelle A. Zazzu..we can learn so much from kids!
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Tosha Tobias Mozart, you are so sweet and talented!! Congratulations! Although we don't know each other, I feel that you are as part of my family. Maybe that's because I've followed you and your parents on your trips and have "seen" you grow. I'm sooooo proud of you and all your accomplishments! Your mom and dad are awesome too . Sending you all lots of love, from Chile. Sigue adelante, eres una niña hermosa y muy talentosa.
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Jeanne DeeNatasha Kewene-Hite - Thanks! So worth the effort on getting other languages into our kids, eh? We're onto French next!!
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Cherry Law You are most welcome Jeanne , she speaks so well perfect Mandarin with accuracy and her talents on the expression tones, sound so sweet and lovely ..she deserved all her hard work...felt proud of her on behalf of we Chinese here.....cheers
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Winser Zhao wow!i am so happy to hear that. it is really a good news.
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Natasha Kewene-Hite So true! Just today we had our first school visit and it was so gratifying to hear our oldest say that he was looking forward to starting Chinese! And re your next language, I look forward to hearing those plans, Jeanne whenever you're ready to share! Yea!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks so very much dear Tosha Tobias..looking forward to meeting you some day in person when we make it to Chile! I am going to take up Margaret Scheirman's idea and see if she will do a good Spanish speech for youtube too!
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Tosha Tobias Good idea!!! haha. I'm also looking forward to meeting you!
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Jeanne Dee So appreciate your kindness and support Judith Rich!!
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Jeanne Dee That is music to my ears coming from a Mandarin speaker Cherry Law!
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Dana Bana She is so amazing! Thank u for the translation. It was a wonderful speech and she presented it so well in Mandarin! She has the whole world in her hands! She has a very successful future ahead of her no matter what she chooses to do! Way to go, Mozart!
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Cherry Law Hi Jeanne Dee, can I share this with all my friends...
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Jeanne Dee Oh please do Cherry Law! We really appreciate people sharing this with everyone!
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Cherry Law Thank you so much....
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Heather Hill wow!!! what a great speaker, and in Mandarin! This is so cool. You must be so proud of her.
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Jeanne Dee Thanks a bunch Wave Journey!
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Jeanne Dee Sweet! Thanks for the enthusiastic support Sheriden DeWees
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Winser Zhao my family watched the video last night, and we courage our son, hope he can be as good as your lovely daughter.
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Marlys Alfiler-Schuermann Didn't understand a word , but BRAVO! She really did well.
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Jeanne Dee So happy to hear that dear Winser Zhao and we so appreciate your help! Love those beautiful bright sons of yours, happy they saw it too. Give them a hug for us!
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Mandy Love Keep up the great work! Did they have the finals?
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Angela Albrecht Amazing! What an inspiration she is!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks Mandy...YES! That is how she got that big fat trophy..a 63 year FIRST for her large, prominent Chinese high school...to be won by a Caucasian!
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Jeanne Dee Aw, thanks so much Dana Bana and I so appreciate you sharing it on your timeline as I hope it inspires others!
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Rowan Campbell Millar astounding! a credit to humanity!
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Jeanne DeeHeather Hill Thanks, we really are! I never would have guessed that I would raise such a great Mandarin speaker and trilingual!
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Jeanne Dee Too sweet Rowan Campbell Millar and thanks so much for sharing it on your timeline!!
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Jeanne Dee Ha! Marlys Alfiler-Schuermann I don't understand much of Mandarin either, but it is funny you can still tell she did well. That is why we translated at the end ..hubs idea...so we can all understand.
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Rowan Campbell Millar you're very welcome, it's an honor! a friend of mine from china was very impressed! love & light!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks so much Angela Albrecht!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks again Rowan Campbell Millar...that is great to hear!
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Ambar Spitz Can't wait to see what this kiddo grows up to be! Indeed a lot of amazing experiences still ahead for her. You rock girl!!!!
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Angeliqua Rahhali Congrats to Mozart that was beautiful.
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Jeanne Dee Aw, thanks so much Ambar Spitz and all!
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Jeanne Dee So happy to hear that Angeliqua Rahhali! Mozart is enjoying all the positive feedback!
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Nina Surya Judin Congratulations! She's getting a fantastic education, travelling the world!
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Jeanne Dee I so appreciate that Nina Surya Judin...travel really is the best education, isn't it?
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Jeanne Dee Ambar Spitz So appreciate that...I can't wait to see as well!
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Karen Dutton Congratulations Mozart! That is truly amazing work & accomplishment!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks so much Karen Dutton!! She is our star and has worked hard!
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Soultravelers3.com- Around the World Family Travel Education Adventure! I so appreciate all the shares and passing this on and sweet comments!!
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Woot!! My 12 year old just won FINALS ( one of just 5 picked in her 1000 kid Chinese high school in Asia) in the MANDARIN elocution contest!! This week she competes in front of the whole school and hopes to win first prize!
She won the English elocution contest at 10 here, but wanted to push herself to something more demanding this year! She is the only one who wrote her own speech...a great one about Lao Tzu.
The current youtube video coming soon ...which will also give you an idea how great her Mandarin is these days! ;) She loves public speaking and seems to have a knack for it. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW-C2PGehYc
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Brigitte Williams Oh My Oh My....... what ever next ??? All good wishes for the Big Day !
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Jeanne Dee Thanks dear Brigitte Williams!! We're proud of our little angel as she has worked hard to meet this goal!
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Margaret Scheirman I have never met her or you but I am also proud of her! This is just stellar! No doubt about it!
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Jeanne Dee Aw, thanks Margaret Scheirman! You are always so sweet...feels like we DO know one another after all these years.
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Violeta Balan Congratulations! No snappy comments on your blog after she wins this contest .
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Jeanne Dee LOL Violeta Balan There will ALWAYS be snappy and snarky comments in the blogosphere about something. I've tried not to have thin skin as an accidental public person and remind kiddo regularly to remember that what other people think about us is none of our business.
She is definitely at a disadvantage for not being a native speaker of Chinese, but that was part of the fun of the challenge for her.
The principal actually reprimanded her for not doing BOTH the English and Chinese ones, as she knows she is good at such, but she didn't want to split her energy too much right at finals time too. I think she made the right choice.
Just making it to the finals is a big win, but the first place is what she is hoping for. Fingers crossed for her...she has done her work and is ready. -
Rachelle A. Zazzu I hope she goes into International Detente when she is old enough
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Kandi Lee Yay!! Congrats to your lil tween!!
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Michelle Hulley Awesome!
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Barbara Pinard Very Special little girl, great speech!!!
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Mandy Love That is so amazing and wonderful, I look forward to seeing it!
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Jeanne Dee You never know Rachelle A. Zazzu, but I am sure her languages will help her no matter what she does with her life.
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Jeanne Dee Thanks Mandy Love I will keep you posted when she does it later this week!!
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Rachelle A. Zazzu Not just her languages. Her understanding of different cultures and respect they deserve. She understands how to be kind in many different parts of the world. I'm so happy she's on the planet
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Jeanne Dee That's sweet Rachelle A. Zazzu and I agree that her extensive experience with so many cultures ( deeper in some ways not only from the travel, but time she spent in local schools) will impact her life forever in one way or another.
I was some what afraid of doing it before leaving, but now seeing the impact, I am so grateful that we have followed our hearts and inner directive on this unusual parenting style.
She actually gets to be a bit of a diplomat all through her life as she meets many people who never met an American except her. -
Sheriden DeWees WOW!!!! Yay, Kidlet!!!! You go girl!!!!
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Peace Lily Beautiful. She is a torch bearer :0)x
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Winser Zhao great. She is really smart.
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Angela Albrecht Congrats!! That's awesome!
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Brigitte Williams Great video, Great Kid, Great content ! Bravo.......xx
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Sue Kevin McCarthy Fantastic.
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Laura Summer LOVE!!!!!! XXOO
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Jeanne Dee Thanks sweet Laura Summer!
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Laura Summer She really is something!!!!!
We have a soultravelers fan page, soultravelers group on facebook as well as my Jeanne Dee personal page ( so we get comments on all three )
The post was shared over 20 times and got even more comments like this from people who do not know anything about us from around the world:
Huge benefit of making money abroad. Bilingual children. Very inspiring for children around the world. Huge congrats to this young woman from California! 祝贺您! @Elliott Ng. Thanks for posting
Unlike · · March 14 at 5:05pm ·-
You and 4 others like this.
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Erik Gain Wow - that's an amazing speech! Check out this article on bilinguals (from FT yesterday) http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3fd31c1a-85b6-11e2-bed4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2NTX24KYXwww.ft.comA few years ago, when Antonella Sorace visited the European Central Bank in Fra...See More
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Paul Salo So true. That girl is going somewhere ! Combination of where she was raised and natural talent
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Melissa Lynn Mangan i wanna be this girl when i grow up....thanks for sharing!
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Jeanne Dee Thanks for sharing! As monolingual parents raising a trilingual kid from birth ( partially thanks to slow travel for 7 years) I can say now it has been more than worth the effort!
She is so amazing! It was a wonderful speech, well done and she presented it so well in her Mandarin between a couple of years in Penang Chinese High School...
Unlike · · March 15 at 8:32pm ·-
You, Cherry Law and 7 others like this.
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Cherry Law Hi Chea, hopefuly one day your girl will be like her....cheers
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福林 Hi sister, 午安吉祥。平安如意。健康自在。周末快乐。阿弥陀佛。 Love n hugs always...See Translation
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"Getting
fluent in Mandarin is extremely difficult, and very few non-Chinese
people are able to become functional speakers and writers of Mandarin"
Truett Black
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Thanks for this information. I have the same goals for my kids and I think it is super important for kids to learn Chinese and other languages because of the global setting for future careers. Plus you never fully understand cultures unless you learn their languages.
I will be following your guidance very closely in the future as we travel. Thank you .
Posted by: Tenzing Thinley | June 06, 2013 at 01:55 PM
Many congrats, Miss Mozart. I have been following your story since you were studying in Spain, and its been incredibly inspiring to see a young person put so much courage and work into this.
I also have a goal to learn four languages (I am at a sixth grade reading and writing level with my second language, which is also an Asian language); unfortunately I did not start until I was an adult. But I get the hard work involved. *high five*
Posted by: M-a-r-l-a-n-a | June 06, 2013 at 04:41 PM
Thanks and good for you Tenzing! I so agree that it is important to give our kids languages when young, but it is definitely a long commitment for the whole family to make that happen.
We had to slow our travel down for the Mandarin, but it was worth it.
Happy travel planning...after almost 8 years of it, we feel that it has been more than worth it and the best decision of our lives!
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | June 07, 2013 at 05:49 AM
Thanks so much Marlana! We've really enjoyed having you along on our journey through the blog and facebook! ;) One of these days soon hopefully we will meet when we head up that way to northern Thailand to meet those tribes you have told us about.
Good for you and your language learning goals and hard work! Keep it up!!
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | June 07, 2013 at 05:53 AM
Bravo Mozart !
Je suis sûre que tu feras aussi bien en Français et que tu aimera notre belle langue.
(Congratulations Mozart ! I'm sure you'll do just as good in French and that you will love our beautiful language.)
Maybe we'll get a chance to meet you all IRL. Have you already decided where you will be staying?
Great accomplishment guys!
Gabrielle
Posted by: Gabrielle | June 08, 2013 at 03:43 AM
Oups... That´s "tu aimeras", must not get you confused!
Posted by: Gabrielle | June 08, 2013 at 03:45 AM
Aw, thanks or Merci Gabrielle!
Mozart already loves French and has been wanting to learn it for a long time, but we wanted to get the Chinese in first as it is a harder language...especially writing.
Not that French is so easy, but should be easier for her than Chinese. ;)
I hope we do get to meet. We don't really have it planned out yet, but will likely spend more of our time in southern France as we love it there. ...and the sun. ;)
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | June 08, 2013 at 10:13 PM
What great parents! What a hard-working and talented child! She certainly did a great job! And this is her third language! How impressive is that!! My 11 year old daughter speaks with no accent because I speak Mandarin with her, but her vocabulary is not as advanced as Mozart's. I wish she would work as hard as Mozart does, or as motivated... Well, as a parent, I haven't tried hard either. Way to go, Mozart and family! You have my deep respect and admiration!
We are going to Spain for a few weeks this fall. Hope it will be a good experience for us too.
Posted by: River | June 09, 2013 at 12:44 AM
Wow- this post was so inspiring and you guys must be so proud! I am so impressed by how self-motivated she is to study Chinese so hard in so many places around the world. We are on a similar trilingual journey with our kids with Spanish and Arabic. You are a very inspiring family- keep up the great work! (And if you are ever interested in submitting a post to us, I would love it!)
Posted by: Stephanie @InCultureParent | June 11, 2013 at 09:32 PM
Thanks so much River for your kind words! I know many Chinese parents that don't raise their kids in Mandarin...so you certainly have worked hard to give it to your daughter. Congrats!
Mandarin writing is hard, so I can't say Mozart is always super motivated and she does sometimes just write fast like she is doing above just to get it done..although she can do better if she wants. ;)
She doesn't really bulk at the work, thankfully, but that is her weakness...just wanting to get it done when there is a lot of writing to be done. Although she is also pretty good at Chinese Calligraphy as she loves doing it with a paint brush.
I wish she had the gift of a Mom speaking it to her, but the writing is a challenge even for Mandarin speaking kids in China...so practice makes perfect and comes with the territory. ;)
Vocab also takes time with reading and talking..but worth the effort, but like I said above, learning languages is a life long challenge that never ends.
Have fun in Spain!!
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | June 12, 2013 at 09:42 AM
I so appreciate that Stephanie. especially from a parent who understands the challenges.
I'd love to submit a post some day as I certainly have deep passion about raising a multilingual and multicultural kid. ;)
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | June 12, 2013 at 09:46 AM
Great. I'll email you all soon.
Posted by: M-a-r-l-a-n-a | June 13, 2013 at 03:21 PM
First of all, if I were you I'd definitely be bragging about it too! Adding the FB comments to this blog post was a wonderful idea. Congrats on her winning the Mandarin Elocution contest! I saw the video, and though I didn't understand a word she said, I truly enjoyed just listening to her. Wonderful blog post! By the way, passing through from the Multilingual Carnival. :)
Posted by: Frances | June 26, 2013 at 10:35 AM