5
2011
Bao Bei Reading Wonderland : Updates
I’ve been busy hence no time to update Ethan’s progress in Bao Bei the past few days. I won’t be updating so frequent-lah, but I think the first week is very important so I took notes of whatever improvement I see in him.
Read about Day 1’s update here.
Day 2
Ethan still refuse to read nor speak to the teachers unless it is in English. He does not participate in group activities and still prefers to sit aside and observe. This got me worried a little bit as I am afraid history might repeat itself. When I sent Ethan to Vital Years several years ago, he did the same thing. He was quiet for several days until one fine day the teacher finally managed to ‘break’ his silence. In Bao Bei though, he was not silent, he just refused to speak or read Mandarin. He has no qualms in conversing with the teacher in English though…
Dà xiàng bǎobǎo? :P
Ethan told me after class that he listened to a 大象宝宝 Dà xiàng bǎobǎo story. Darling told me that means ‘baby elephant’. Hah! At least Ethan said “大象宝宝” to me. That counts as Mandarin right? :D
Day 3
The teacher told me he finally read the word 妈妈 (Māmā), 妹妹 (Mèimei) and 弟弟 (Dìdì)! She said Ethan refused to read initially but as she kept flashing the word cards, he finally read those three words. No爸爸 (Bà ba) though! I verified this with Ethan by asking him what he did today and he told me he read those words, and said, “Ethan didn’t read 爸爸 (Bà ba)”. I asked him why he just answered, “I didn’t read” @_@
Ethan also told me he went to urinate 3 times! I asked him why so many times he said he drank a lot of water. He told me he finished his water in the tumbler and the teacher had to refill his water tumbler. I asked him again why must he drink so much within that 1 1/2 hours? He said the teacher said, “Hē shuǐ” (drink water) so he drank. I told him when the teacher says that, he just needs to take sips of water and not finish the entire water in the tumbler! So genius my son! >_<
Day 4
Today is the cutest day ever. I sent him to Bao Bei and left immediately without lingering around. I did not even go to fetch him after class, his Dad went and took him straight to my working place. Ethan has lots to say the moment he saw me.
Ethan: Mummy, today I read 妈妈 (Māmā), 妹妹 (Mèimei), 弟弟 (dìdì) and 爸爸 (Bà ba)! I got read 爸爸 (Bà ba) this time!
And then came the cutest part, smiling sheepishly he said in a whispering voice, “and the teacher got hug me, got hi-five somemore”
I saw he was so happy but I still need to ask, “Why the teacher hug you?”
Ethan : Because the teacher said I’m clever, read so many! I read so many, then the teacher hug, then hi-five somemore!
Me : *smiling* You happy or not when the teacher hug you?
Ethan : *shy* happy..
Me : What else you did today?
Ethan : I got learn 头 Tóu also.
Mummy : What is 头 Tóu?
Ethan : Head-lah!
Me : Oooookay.. @_@
Then we proceed to paint some art when I heard Ethan saying to himself, “我爱你, 你爱我, 我们是一家人” Wǒ ài nǐ, Nǐ ài wǒ, Wǒmen shì yījiā Rén. I was like, “Ethan.. say what?!” Then he repeated and that is when I caught the“Wǒ ài nǐ, Nǐ ài wǒ” part which I believe means “I love you, you love me” right? The ending part I just don’t get it until Darling later translated it to me as “we are family”.
Ethan also told me this…
Ethan : Mummy, today I ‘siao pien‘ two times. I go ‘siao pien’ myself then the pink (shirt) teacher come and see (jaga) me. She scare me know!
Me : *laughing* You got tell teacher or not don’t sneak in on you like that? Next time you tell teacher, don’t sneak in like that, I scared (terkejut) you know.
Overall, Ethan enjoyed himself very much there. As a mother, I’m very happy to see him happy and even happier to see that he has picked up so much in just 4 days! He now calls me 妈妈 (Māmā)! Though I prefer for him to call me ‘Mummy’, I let him be as I know he is eager to speak what he has just learn so… till next time, that is all for now :D
You can learn from Ethan at the same time…and then you'll be able to speak Mandarin also. You can't, right?
wow..not bad.. can write mandarin here too! syabas! dont worry, i have confidence in ethan that he can catch up super fast!!
In very short time, he will speak all in Mandarin with you….
When I send ziyi to school earlier this year, she started talking only in English with her teacher and her friends, her teacher was very pleased. But half year down the lane, she is talking all in Mandarin with her friends. Her teacher is scratching head now.
That is a good progress, Merryn. You can breathe a sigh of relief now. Ethan will do well. Hey, you also not bad know how to write correctly in hanyupinyin and your chinese characters also correct. Clap clap.
Bravo, Ethan. He's a very fast learner! You too, Merryn… you don't sound like a "banana" anymore :)
Great Job Ethan….as a mummy we are worried and hopefully he can cope the language and mix around well. Only the 4th day, I can he is progressing quite good! * Thumsb Up* and *High5* to Ethan….
Angeline.
Well done!~ At least, he's catching up with some mandarin words now…