Bao & Bun's Bilingual Journey

When I picked up “Owl at Home” one day and read through it myself, I realized that Little Bao could probably handle this bridge book just fine. The words are repetitive, and the sentences are short. With a little bit of TV bribery, I convinced him to give it a try.

Even though the font in this book is smaller than in 亮亮, Little Bao wasn’t bothered. He accepted the challenge and decided to read one chapter. Overall, he did great. He struggled with some zhuyin blending, but with a bit of help from me, he made it through smoothly.

What’s different this time is that I also asked him to read the original English version. The text is almost identical to the Chinese version. He needed some assistance with certain words and read a bit slowly.

When I later asked him which language was easier for him, he said both were hard.

On the other hand, my daughter read “Frog and Toad Together.” The Chinese text seemed easy for her, and the English version was also a breeze, which she confirmed.

I once had a conversation with Science of Writing, and they mentioned that kids who struggle with learning English may also have difficulty with their second (or first) language. I definitely see this in my kids. Little Bun seems to have mastered both languages well, while Little Bao is still working on both. But given their current level, it’s just a matter of time before they become fluent in English. Chinese will take more time to keep up, and I hope we can get there.