Bao & Bun's Bilingual Journey

While celebrating Little Bun’s success, this year has been both rewarding and challenging for Little Bao. As much as I’ve celebrated his progress in Chinese reading in previous posts, his English reading and spelling continue to be a struggle. But it’s not the kind of challenge that leaves us feeling lost. After multiple conversations with his teachers and a thorough assessment, the conclusion was that he simply needs more time to develop his language skills — which I’ve also noticed at home, especially when comparing his Chinese progress to his sibling’s.

We’ve started reading more English books at home since we have fewer English books and less exposure to English entertainment. There’s progress, but it’s slow.

While we’re working on his English, it’s clear that he’s naturally talented in math. I’ve never had to worry about his math skills, and his love for math has helped him develop more interest in that area. I’ve even started exploring ways to integrate Chinese into math to keep up his Chinese learning. And maybe it’s that same math strength — he recently competed in a state chess tournament as a newbie and won three rounds! As a parent, I want to highlight and celebrate his strengths, and I’m so happy to see him thrive in areas where he feels confident.

I often think about Oliver’s daughters’ journey — how he pulled them out of school and homeschooled for 1.5 years to strengthen their Chinese/English skills. I wonder what he was thinking when he made that decision. We’re in a similar situation now, having created a gap between Chinese and English that we’re trying to close, but we’re not quite there yet. Since homeschooling isn’t an option for us, we’re doing our best to support Little Bao at home.

At the same time, I’m not giving up on his Chinese. His working memory has matured, and he can now memorize more Chinese characters. It would feel like a loss to give up on his Chinese now.

Balancing two languages is delicate — for Little Bun, it feels effortless, but Little Bao’s learning path is completely different.

To any parents out there navigating this bilingual journey — it’s tough, but I hope you keep going, just like we are. I trust that one day, we’ll all see the rewards of this journey.