Immersion school in K: Would you pick Spanish or (Mandarin) Chinese for your DC?

[mnj77]

My DD's immersion school had Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. We have no connection to any of those languages and we chose Chinese. As PP have said, it's a language that's much harder to learn later, and there are a lot of people that speak Chinese! We also really loved all of her Chinese teachers and their approach. The Chinese classes definitely had the highest level math out of the three language tracks (using Singapore method). So I would go with Mandarin.

[squimp]

We have several Spanish immersion public schools here and people love it. I think Spanish is a great language to learn in most of the US and North America in general. DD was not part of the immersion schools but sort of wishes she was - she uses her Spanish a lot with her volunteer work and now jobs with kids and families in our area. She puts her Spanish level on her resume and it can be really a leg up because some organizations want this skill.

[StantonHyde]

DH and I both work in health care and speaking Spanish is very important. There are several industries where speaking Spanish gives you an advantage in the US. I don’t encounter people who speak Chinese in my daily life while hearing Spanish is an every day occurrence

[westwoodmom04]

I'm ethnically Chinese, speak Mandarin (it was actually my first language since my parents never spoke English at home until I was placed into an ESL class), and my priority for my kids is Spanish first. They may never learn Chinese, or they may decide to take some classes in college. DH is a 5th generation Chinese American and doesn't speak any Chinese. His grandparents on both sides didn't teach any of their kids Chinese because of the backlash in the 40s and 50s against anyone speaking anything other than English (plus Japanese Americans had all been dragged to camps so the Chinese Americans were under pressure to prove they were loyal Americans and even wore buttons saying I am Chinese so they wouldn't be violently attacked because someone wrongly assumed they were Japanese American!).

Anyhow, the point is that we made a pragmatic decision. Yes, I agree, Mandarin is difficult for native English speakers to learn because it's a tonal language (meaning the way you say "ma" could mean mother, horse, angry, or numb depending on whether it's a rising tone, falling tone, neutral tone, etc.). But we don't plan to ever move to China and we live in a state which is significantly Latinx. DH regularly uses Spanish with patients and parents. I don't use it as often, since I'm in a university environment, but my high school Spanish has come in handy far more often than my Chinese. The one time I remember using Chinese to help strangers is when an elderly couple asked for directions!

I also want to add that I remember there was a HUGE focus on learning Japanese in the 90s when they were a superpower. Tons of students took Japanese but then Japan lost its economic power and the language fell out of favor. I'm not saying China is going to suddenly lose its economic power, but I just don't know that I'd focus on potential long-term value if the language isn't commonly used where you live. If you think your child might move to China, then yes, learning Chinese makes sense. I have a bunch of former students (all of European descent, not Chinese descent) who majored in Chinese, are fluent in the language, and moved to China for several years before starting law school. But after three years here, not speaking Chinese daily, I'm sure they lost some of their fluency. It's a difficult language.

Russian was also popular back in the 80's, and pretty useless now. We don't have immersion options in our area, but if we did, I would push my kids towards Spanish based on how many people speak it in US.

[TwinFoxes]

We chose Spanish immersion. Our neighborhood school happens to be the Spanish Immersion school. Having grown up in SoCal it was an easy choice for me. I've taken quite a bit of Spanish, and I really like the language. I do understand why people would choose Mandarin, because it is harder to learn later. But, one of my good friends from college started Mandarin in HS, not immersion, and he eventually became fluent.

I'm one of the people who took Japanese when it seemed really important. It's really not important now. I do like knowing some Japanese, but I use Spanish a lot more.

[ourbabygirl]

Thanks, Everyone!

I speak Spanish, but chose Mandarin for DD, for many of the reasons you mentioned (harder to learn later, etc.). I also thought it would be nice for her to learn something totally new from a young age, since I can teach her Spanish. However, DH thinks it's a dumb idea since we don't have any Chinese background and don't have any plan to travel or move there. I thought it would be good if she eventually has a job in the business world, as I know some people who work for big retailers, and they travel to China.
The lottery was yesterday, and she did get a spot in one of the two Mandarin classes, but we may give it up anyhow, since this would be a different school, in a different direction from where her older siblings would be going. I'm going back to work next year and thought it would be good to try in the lottery in case I end up teaching there or at a school near there.
We have about a month to decide whether to enroll or not...

Thanks for all of your input!

[arivecchi]

Our immersion program rotates in our school district so my kids ended up going to different schools. It hasn’t been an issue since we get transportation anyway. My kids are now in their 6th and 7th year of mandarin (ds1 started in 1st and ds2 in kindy) which is so crazy! No regrets!

Good luck with your decision!

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/t...s-in-the-world


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[TwinFoxes]

My kids are now in their 6th and 7th year of mandarin (ds1 started in 1st and ds2 in kindy) which is so crazy! No regrets!

Good luck with your decision!

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/t...s-in-the-world


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That's amazing! I remember when they first started.