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.”
"I imagine most people count their first memory as being at LEAST age three or four.. if they're lucky."
I have some memories from when I was 2. And although some will say it's impossible, I've always had a brief memory from a surgical procedure I had as a baby.
It was a snarky comment about his bestest buddy and business partner George Soros. Sheesh have you actually read all the comments, or not?
Nah, we just jump to conclusions, make false assumptions and speculate so we'll fit in.
That 4x4 SLK was built by Mercedes specially for them...and I believe they put money into that book too, since it is on the cover.
Another Soros idiot.
Okay, great!
Rushmore is a very well made and funny film, too!
"Much to the dismay of some freepers on this thread you are reminding them of how provincial their thinking has become."
Since you still and Hildy haven't even figured out what "some freepers" are actually objecting to here, what would that make your "thinking"?
Are you guys actually reacting to what people are people are saying, or is this stemming from some backlash against FR?
Thought that would please you.
It *is* all about me.
"Won dum yan keh"
The China-will-take-over-the-world stuff is disturbing. It's one thing to say it, to people that want to hear it, in order to make a living. It's another to work at making it so.
Wow, mindreading now too!
I have $5 that says that those peabrain elites voted for Kerry. Any takers?
Not as long as the ChiComs are still in power.
They will cave from a civil war or we will nuke 'em until they glow. ChiComs will not hold into their power forever.
In most societies, the women outnumber the men. Millions are missing in China and in India...
Where are the potential mates for these valued men? Growing up in the US, in the culture that Bush is building. I find that somewhat comforting...
Try: 'hwai la'
Jiang Hanyu ma? Ni you yi ge wenti ma?
Wen hou,
Chu kou 148
(LOL)
Interesting --- it's the main concept of Buddhism (well, except for the God part - Buddha didn't talk about God because he rightly claimed ignorance on the subject. But that's how a theistic Buddhist feels.)
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