宁暄学华语

Beth finally "condescended" to greet her PRC friend and his mum 你好！

I marvel at how kids pick up a language (or any new thing for that matter) so quickly.

A new girl (Grace, an Ozzie) joined Beth's Chinese class yesterday. She's from an English/Italian speaking family, has never been exposed to Mandarin, yet by the end of class, she was raising her hand and answering correctly when the teacher asked "What is Elder Brother in Chinese?", "How do you say Grandpa in Chinese?" etc. I told Grace's mum Elizabeth (who'd slipped out during the break because one of her other kids was hungry), of her daughter's retention skills, and she said she's been like this since she was a baby; she just loves to learn. Isn't that what every parent desires - a self-motivated child?

As for Beth, she's been diligently going through her books everyday, except she prefers the English translation and the 汉语拼音version instead of the 汉词！It's wonderful to see her regain some of the ground she lost after coming here. Even her accent is starting to sound a bit more Chinese, and she's now confident enough to raise her hand when 王老师 asks for volunteers. She went up to the front yesterday to sing 祝你生日快乐, a feat considering how shy she is!

As Elizabeth observed, the world is getting smaller and it's good that people should learn more than 1 language. In fact, nearly 1/2 of Beth's class comprises Ozzie kids. Some of their parents even sit in with them during the 2 1/2-hour class.