Mine the only ones not learning Mandarin?

emeraldkity4
Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:02:06 +0000

Well living on the Pacific Rim, I think any of the Asian languages would be useful- if difficult for schmucks like me to learn.
My oldest took Mandarin in elementary school- mostly early elementary, spurred by parents interest and the Chongquing sister city relationship with Seattle. They even took a “field trip” to Chongquing- D didn’t , we just couldn’t see how we could come up with money for tuition * and* a trip to China.

I helped with an after school Mandarin singing class, and I think that was a great idea, because not only is it much more useful to be exposed early to a different language ( especially one as different from English as an Asian language) , but because it was music class, it was easier to learn & fun.

However- they both took Spanish in high school and I still think that is a very useful language- even if you never cross our border.