Chinese school

Yesterday was Z’s first day of Chinese School with the Panda Institute.  The other children have been attending for a while so they are quite a bit further in their Mandarin, but we’re not worried about Z’s ability to catch up.  We are, however, worried about his ability to sit down and pay attention.  He’s a very busy boy and it’s a lot to ask him to sit down when he’s in a new place full of bright objects and books (the class is held in a small K-2 school).  Luckily, Ying Lǎoshī (teacher) is very patient and didn’t mind letting Z run around the room while she taught her lesson.  Both she and the Mike Laoshi said that it’s normal for the children to have trouble focusing at first.  They also said that Z is very sharp, which is something we’ve been hearing from a lot of people lately.  I’m starting to think that’s what people say as a euphemism for “difficult” or “incorrigible”.  It’s nicer to say, “Your son is very quick/sharp/smart,” rather than “Your son is out of control.”

Z was a little confused about Ying Laoshi at first, because I think he associates Mandarin with his A-mah.  When he first heard Ying Laoshi speaking in Mandarin, he stopped in his tracks, stared at her, and asked, “A-mah?”  He called her A-mah a few times during the class, but adjusted quickly (after all, he had much running about to do…no time to worry about why other people speak his A-mah’s secret language).  He was especially fascinated when Ying Laoshi sang “Liang Zhi Lao Hu”, which happens to be the one and only Chinese song I know and which I’ve been singing to him since he was a baby.

In a clear display of his sharpnitude, Z picked up new words and applied them even as he ran around the room.  As he climbed up and down on a stool, Mike Laoshi said, “zhàn qǐ lái” (stand up) and “zuò xià” (sit down -- although the only only audio clip I could find says "please sit down").  Z appeared to be ignoring him, but then ran to another chair and said, “Zuo xia!” as he sat down, followed by “Zhan qi lai!” as he stood up.  He was also very consistent about saying “xiè xiè” (thank you) whenever he received (or acquired) something from Ying Laoshi or one of the other students.

At the end of class, one of the other moms came to me and told me not to worry -- that this was the first time her son actually paid attention and participated in the class.  Her son is nearly 4 years old and they’ve been attending for a year and a half.  I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse.