The other day I spent a few hours at Chinese American International School in San Francisco for the Wall Street Journal . The story was to illustrate how non-Asian parents are seeking Mandarin skills for their children during a time of rapid economic growth in China. The interest has caused an increase in enrollment at this private school, which maintains a competitive wait list making it one of the most difficult schools to get into. The student perspective was particulary interesting. One eighth grader said she didn't noticed she was any different until she began growing taller then her classmates. But other then that, its middle school life as usual.
At the school, I saw incredible Chinese paintings by students on the walls, I heard Mandarin and French (the school is shared with the French American students) in the hallways, and many half-Asian students that resembled myself. I grew up speaking Cantonese Chinese, which didn't last long once I entered grade school. My parents put my brother and I through Saturday School, which is like a Chinese cultural day program. We hated it. We missed our Saturday cartoons for a cold classroom. We also weren't completely fluent in Chinese, in addition to being painfully shy. But it was my mother's way of trying to integrate her culture into our American lives.
To read the story: Growing Diversity Fuels Chinese School
For outtakes:
Growing Diversity in Chinese School for WSJ - Images by Lianne Milton
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