Bao & Bun's Bilingual Journey

Lately, I’ve noticed that some parents from our bilingual school, whose kids have graduated and moved on to competitive high schools, are advertising that their children can tutor. Two high schoolers mentioned that they are fluent in Mandarin, know Zhuyin well, and are happy to be conversation partners or Chinese tutors.

As my kids approach the middle grades of elementary school, I’ve been researching ways they can continue developing their Chinese into middle and high school. One well-known example is Oliver Tu’s younger daughter, who participated in Chinese debate—something I wrote about in a Chinese article. Recently, the idea of tutoring as a way to reinforce language skills has been gaining more attention. Little Bun had a high schooler tutor her in math in Chinese, and now, seeing more opportunities from our school, I feel optimistic about my twins’ Chinese progress. This feels like another way to push their Chinese to a higher level, so that one day, if they choose, they can also become tutors and use their Chinese in a meaningful way.