Posted on 04/02/2005 3:29:18 PM PST by MadIvan
AMBITIOUS New Yorkers are rearing a generation of “little emperors” fluent in Mandarin so they will be equipped for a global economy that may come to be dominated by China.
Chinese nannies who can bring up bilingual babies are sought after in Manhattan, and nursery schools are adding the language to their curriculums.
Jim Rogers and Paige Parker are the parents of Hilton Augusta, a 22-month-old blonde, blue-eyed girl. She already understands as much Mandarin as English after her parents hired a Chinese nanny. Their apartment is decorated with words for objects such as table and chair in English and Chinese script.
“China is going to be the next great country in the world,” said Rogers, a writer and banker. “We thought we should start to prepare her at birth for what will be the most important language in her lifetime.”
Finding the right nanny took weeks. She had to speak the kind of Mandarin heard in government circles in Beijing. Clifford Greenhouse runs the Pavillion nanny agency in New York. “There’s been a tremendous surge in demand. We get dozens of requests a year. It is extremely hard to find the right, well-educated, cultured Mandarin speaker,” he said.
Many of the requests come from families of mixed Chinese and American parentage or from parents who have adopted girls from China.
But a good third are from parents who hope to give their children a leg-up in the globalised world. Rogers and Parker plan to enrol Hilton Augusta in St Hilda’s and St Hugh’s, a private nursery and elementary school in Manhattan, which is adding Mandarin to its curriculum in September.
Virginia Connor, the headmistress, said the classes would begin with toddlers. “We’ve been asking ourselves what will children need, not just five or 10 years ahead, but a long way into the future.”
Hilton Augusta will be more prepared than most. Her parents have booked a holiday in Shanghai this summer to reinforce what she has learnt and to familiarise herself with the culture.
Rogers said: “I’m pleased and proud that one day my daughter will be talking about us with her friends and we won’t know what she is saying.”
Parker admits to misgivings about being excluded from what will be an important part of Hilton Augusta’s life. “I do worry about it a little but the benefits outweigh any uncomfortableness I feel.”
That's what they do -- it's the financial centre of Canada.
I think Wu is the overall major name for this branch and very often people from the mainland and Taiwan simply call Shanghaiese Wu. But in reality you are correct - Wu includes Shanghai and a host of other related varieties like Shaoxingese, Hangzhouese, Suzhouese. It is different for Cantonese (my first language) - everyone assumes Cantonese (Yue) is the one originated in Guangzhou and popularized by Hong Kong - See yap variety is rarely considered. My apologies for the possible confusion.
My personal experience with Shanghaiese is that it sounds very weird - nothing like Mandarin or even Minnan/Hokkien/Taiwanese. It seems to sound multi-syllabled and I can't help but think I must be listening to Japanese! ;-)
BTW, a personal Qquestion: since you were born in Shanghai and speak Shanghaiese, are you Chinese by birth?
Yes, I am Chinese by ancestry and birth. Came to the US at age 4. Because I spoke Shanghainese in the family my Mandarin is heavily American accented but my Shanghainese is good. As for the other branches of Wu, I am able to understand them well. To me, they sound like heavily accented versions of Shanghainese. My father's family is from Suzhou and my mother's family is from Ningpo. It is very interesting that the Shanghai regional dialect is called Wu because I know so many individuals with families from the area with the last name of Wu, my mother's side of the family included, I believe the Mandarin spelling of Wu is Hu.
There are many Mandarin names with the same sound Wu as well. My sister-in-law's maiden last name was Wu in Mandarin but in Cantonese it would be spelled Ng (in Chinese it is the one you add a "man" on the left hand side to character "five"). The one with Mandarin Hu (Hu Jiantao's last name) would be pronounced Woo in Cantonese (film director John Woo is one).
I work with many people who speak English and Mandarin. I'm not sure it gives them any advantage whatsoever, except that they speak English with a funny accent. I can think of many other languages I'd rather my kids learn than Mandarin, which is a shrill and grating sounding langauge.
Way back when in high school French class, my instructor, a French woman who became a US citizen relayed a similar story. They spoke English at home, but they hired a French nanny who spoke French to my teacher's son. He wasn't speaking for a long time. My teacher ordered the nanny to stop talking French to him and the son began speaking English very soon afterward. How confusing it would be as an infant to hear two languages spoken to you.
I think Spanish is more useful as a 2nd language in the USA. We don't get too many immigrants from China and Chinese are proficience in English.
Does anyone know how to translate "uncomfortableness" into Mandarin?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.