Hong se, huang se, lu se... (red, yellow, green)," two-and-a-half-year old Sriana rattles off the colours of the rainbow in Mandarin when her mother points to a picture at their Powai residence in Mumbai. Another Mumbai toddler, three-year-old Rishaan, can sing Zhuni shengri kuai le (Happy birthday to you) in Mandarin with ease. Kolkata boy Ved, 6, insists that his parents call him 'Da Ji'—a Chinese name he fancies.
Around the time they are learning to prattle in their mother tongue, quite a few urban tots are being enrolled in Mandarin classes. "These lessons are a gift to my daughter for her future," says Sriana's mother Chetna Kumar. The international business lawyer hired a tutor to teach Sriana the "language of the world's fastest growing economy" when she was just 19 months old.
When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wooed China with a 30-minute interview in Mandarin last week, Kumar felt vindicated. Apart from spending Rs 700 per session on the tutor, she has also filled their home with books and puzzles with Chinese characters. She even wishes she had Chinese children in the neighbourhood for Sriana to play with.
In Mumbai, around 200 kids under 16—90 of them between 3 and 6 years old—are attending after-school Mandarin classes conducted by 'Yeh China' institute at eight schools. Founded by Usha Sahoo in 2010, Yeh China offers a special 'Fun and Learn Chinese for Preschoolers' programme that introduces tots to Mandarin through singing, stories and craft. Full story...
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Around the time they are learning to prattle in their mother tongue, quite a few urban tots are being enrolled in Mandarin classes. "These lessons are a gift to my daughter for her future," says Sriana's mother Chetna Kumar. The international business lawyer hired a tutor to teach Sriana the "language of the world's fastest growing economy" when she was just 19 months old.
When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wooed China with a 30-minute interview in Mandarin last week, Kumar felt vindicated. Apart from spending Rs 700 per session on the tutor, she has also filled their home with books and puzzles with Chinese characters. She even wishes she had Chinese children in the neighbourhood for Sriana to play with.
In Mumbai, around 200 kids under 16—90 of them between 3 and 6 years old—are attending after-school Mandarin classes conducted by 'Yeh China' institute at eight schools. Founded by Usha Sahoo in 2010, Yeh China offers a special 'Fun and Learn Chinese for Preschoolers' programme that introduces tots to Mandarin through singing, stories and craft. Full story...
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