Ni Hao.
This week, Liam started Mandarin classes! Its a cool little private language program called Sponge. Our nanny took him earlier this week and said he had a lot of fun, Jen took him today and verified that. They use songs, play-acting, activities, etc. to teach Mandarin to 3 year olds: supposedly, the perfect age for them to absorb language. Liam was the only child in the class not of Chinese persuasion. And, he's very, very white. It just makes me chuckle but then again, that's no different than his Gymboree class: Chinese , Indian and Liam - about as British as the day is long.
The Chinese instructor went right over to Jen and asked if Liam had done language instruction before as he seemed to absorb it and participate really well and right off the bat...more than the Chinese kids, actually.
This told me my hopes for a superstar athlete may not be as realistic as my hopes for a scholar. Liam seems very adept at learning and really seems to enjoy interacting with Teachers and learning. His mom does bring brains to the party, after all, so this should not be that surprising. His soccer is still struggling a little bit but his little Sports Sampler class is finally getting him interested in playing with balls instead of action figurines.
A lot of people are surprised we have him in private language school to learn Mandarin and I guess I can understand why. But we figure in 20 years, Chinese will be taught in West Coast public schools and will be the second most effective language in business. If we can stick with it for the long term, Liam will have quite an advantage in era where getting a good job in a big company will require some degree of globalization in their employees. The Chinese have been doing this for 20 years sending their children overseas to learn English, so we figure its about time we got it going the other way. We'll even plan some family vacations to China, maybe some overseas studies when he's older and if he's still interested. Lets face it: even now, let alone 20 years from now, there's no real play for Romance languages and Japanese is on its way to become the next "French" in terms of usefulness. China will be setting the next global market dinner table and Liam needs to be at it. But for now, it's just fun for him and luckily for us, he enjoys learning.
What's Your Deal Man?
Also, one thing l really like to do on a Saturday is to park myself at a bar, catch up on email and get a good burger and beer. I can't seem to find a place in Issaquah that doesn't give me the stink eye for working on my laptop at a bar - even a not very crowded bar. In fact, my current favorite joint, the Issaquah Brew House, won't even allow mobile phones to be on at the bar. The bartenders totally look at me sideways when I crack open my laptop. Another place, The Rolling Log Tavern actually heckled me for working on my laptop at the bar. I used to like to go there for the dark, biker ambiance and to hear Neal Young and Pink Floyd at very loud levels. All I want is to work, hear music, drink good beer and be in a bar and I can't get any love from the Loggers, Truck Drivers and ski bums from the local Issaquah population.
Recent Comments