How “English” help My Daughter Get Into Medical School

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It has been another year since my last post, and I have some good news to share.

My older daughter got into medical school!

She is now in her second gap year after college. During her first gap year, she worked at a small family medical practice.

You may be wondering what this has to do with growing up bilingual in Chinese and English—and especially what it has to do with her knowing “English.”

Well, quite a bit, as it turns out.

The physician she worked for immigrated from China and serves mostly Chinese immigrant and diaspora patients, many of whom have limited English proficiency. Without Chinese-speaking physicians and staff, many of these patients would have a much harder time navigating the American medical system.

In this particular office, most of the staff were much more comfortable speaking Chinese than English.

My daughter, being fluent in both, ended up filling a rather unusual role. She worked as a medical assistant and spoke Chinese with patients throughout the day. But because she was also a native English speaker, she gradually took on many of the tasks that would normally be handled by an office manager—communicating with hospitals and other medical offices, dealing with administrative and regulatory issues, talking with pharmaceutical representatives, and handling many of the English-language interactions needed to keep a medical practice running.

So in a way, her Chinese allowed her to take care of the patients, while her English allowed her to connect the practice to the larger American healthcare system.

For her medical school application, she wrote about this experience and about serving a population that can easily become underserved because of language and cultural barriers. Of course, we can never know exactly why an admissions committee accepts one applicant over another, but we do think this experience helped make her application more distinctive.

And she was accepted.

Needless to say, we were very happy and proud of her.

There is one more twist to the story, though.

She has decided NOT to go to medical school.

After thinking through the different options carefully, she has decided to enroll in a two-year Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant (CAA) program instead. She will finish school and clinical training at age 26 and then start working in a career she already finds very appealing.

It also happens to be a career with a lot of flexibility and strong compensation. Compared with medical specialties that require four years of medical school followed by three years of residency—such as general internal medicine, pediatrics, or family medicine—the CAA route allows her to begin working, saving, and investing about five years earlier. Over a lifetime, especially if she eventually decides to work part-time while raising a family, the financial advantage may actually favor the CAA pathway.

But that is a topic for another day.

For this blog, the more interesting part is how she got here.

For many years, the benefits of bilingualism felt mostly cultural and personal to us. When we decided to raise our daughters to be truly fluent in both Chinese and English, we hoped they would be able to talk with their grandparents, understand their heritage, travel comfortably in Taiwan, and move easily between two cultures.

When they were toddlers, I often told myself that, if I had to choose, I would rather see them fluent in Chinese in their 20s and 30s than still playing an instrument well. Of course, if they could do both, even better! And perhaps someday their Chinese will help another generation of our family remain bilingual as well.

We certainly did not imagine that one day our daughter would work in a Chinese-speaking medical office in America, serve as a bridge between immigrant patients and the healthcare system, and then use that experience as part of a successful medical school application.

This may be the most concrete example we have experienced of what can come from raising a child to be fluent in more than English.

This time, the benefits became very practical.

Sometimes the value of bilingualism shows up in places you never expected.

Some Thoughts on Raising Bilingual and Bicultural Kids (and young adults….)

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Many parents wonder how fluent their children can realistically become in Chinese while growing up overseas. The reality is that even with steady exposure and strong home support, reaching the equivalent of a native elementary school graduate by age 18—or achieving ILR Level 3 (professional working proficiency) to Level 4 (full professional proficiency)—is quite difficult ( ~2/3 CLE Exposure Time for ILR Level 3 or Above).   For my daughters, age 22 and 19 now, I would say that their overall Chinese are ILR Level 4. For us, the particular curriculum and instruction were the easy part.  The difficult part was providing the CLE all the way into their teens, which creates the psychological construct required to sustain such learning. 

What matters most is aligning expectations with your family’s priorities, resources, and your child’s interests. Some children may take to it naturally, while others may reach a solid low-to-intermediate level and still feel connected to their heritage. If they become more interested later, they can always pursue higher-level study in college or beyond (Advice & Thoughts).

From my own experience—having emigrated from Taiwan at age 11—I realized in college during the early 1990s that many of my peers from Chinese-speaking homes, even those whose parents founded Chinese schools, had very limited proficiency despite years of study.  Later, after going through the American education system ourselves, my wife and I decided not to focus on having our children learn things just for college applications.  We realized that many activities have long-term value that only becomes clear in college or well into adulthood (Reflections on Two Decades of Bilingual Parenting).

One area we did prioritize was Chinese proficiency, despite the enormous time and effort it demanded—and its limited utility, by itself, for college applications – Chinese AP, in particular (非常低 C/P 值). On the other hand, we only know one adult in the U.S. who regrets not learning a classical musical instrument better in childhood—and that person happens to be fluent in Chinese. So, we decided to let go of classical instruments, a stereotypically “college-application-worthy” pursuit. After all, their instrumental skill (or the lack thereof) wouldn’t typically affect their future children’s musical ability—most parents just hire a teacher. I only wish learning Chinese were that simple.

For my daughters, not speaking, reading, or enjoying Chinese was nearly impossible in their childhood. It was woven into almost every aspect of our home life through the CLE framework we built. The foundation of their entertainment, joy, laughter, and family connection was built through the language. 

My original goal was to bring their practical Chinese close to a native grade-school level, and we were on track by their early teens.  After moving from rural North Carolina to suburban Atlanta, when my daughters were 11 and 14, I discovered the value of Chinese debate. They were the first two students in a new program and Chinese debate and tournaments were the missing pieces for them, combining advanced practical Chinese across listening, speaking, reading, and composition, while also being “college application” worthy.  It raised their practical Chinese to near high school level – and best of all, the coach did most of the heavy lifting!  This experience inspired me to launch in my spare time an online Chinese debate program with coaches in Taiwan five years ago for the benefit of qualified students and parents, even well after my daughters graduated from high school (ichinesedebate.com).

The discipline and exposure they gained from Chinese debate carried over into their academic and professional lives.  Recently, my older daughter, who is taking a gap year or two before applying to graduate medical programs, began working at a medical practice run by a Chinese physician.  Her bilingual skill and conscientiousness quickly made her invaluable to many patients and the practice.  My younger daughter, now a college sophomore, recently shifted her research direction and landed a fantastic oncology research position through her Taiwanese American network. She is extremely busy this year in her studies, also serving as a recruiter for the student venture capital firm and treasurer for her college’s TASA (Taiwanese American Student Association). I’m glad she has a steady Taiwanese American boyfriend there!  (He seems like a nice guy – we all met up briefly outside Taipei 101’s 鼎泰豐 before the two of them had lunch there over the summer. 🤣 )

One other aspect that I would emphasize is that I raised my daughters in broadly western tradition while helping them stay aware of basic Chinese and Taiwanese history, philosophy, and tradition.  Some of the American films we enjoyed together included The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Sense and Sensibility, the Pride and Prejudice miniseries, North and South, Gone with the Wind, Star Trek (I’m a Trekkie), Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Forrest Gump, Star Wars, and plenty of rom-coms (Notting Hill, Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, and others).   We also watched our share of Chinese and Taiwanese dramas and movies, both period and modern.  It might have been too much screen time for some families – but we loved it!  Those shared experiences provide them the cultural background and emotional context for me to explain and for them to understand both worlds – their similarities and differences.  This may be an often-overlooked part of upbringing.

In many ways, my daughters have grown to resemble me – bilingual and bicultural, like many youth immigrants.  Raising bilingual children (and young adults😅) is a long, evolving journey.  From our experience, emphasizing engagement over perfection and blending culture naturally into language, has made it both effective and joyful.  Every family’s path will be different, but thoughtful planning, realistic goals, and creativity can help children develop strong language skills while enjoying the process.

A few posts you may find useful:

My Top Lessons for Raising Strong Bilingual Skills in Chinese and English

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Different families follow different paths—but here’s what worked successfully for ours.

My Philosophy: Two First Languages (L1–L1), with Shifting Emphasis

Not “L1 English and L2 Chinese.”
What we optimized for: native-like speaking, strong reading (including novels), and comfortable typing composition.
What we didn’t chase: handwriting proficiency or written tests in Chinese.

In the early years, Chinese got many more hours (home time with parents). Later, English caught up through targeted effort and school.

Orthography & tools: We used Traditional characters with zhuyin early; pinyin as needed for typing (which the girls picked up on their own later on); code-switching is allowed but I gently redirect to Chinese during family hours.  Traditional vs. simplified matters less than consistent practice; fluency comes from conscientious repetition.

1) Prioritize Colloquial Fluency First

Principle: Strong spoken skills form the backbone of literacy and long-term fluency.

What I Did:
I made daily Chinese conversation the norm at home. We held read-aloud sessions about five times a week (around 45 minutes each), starting with storybooks and later transitioning to textbooks—helping my children speak naturally and effortlessly. As they grew, I constantly shared life lessons, historical accounts, and world news with them in Chinese.

2) Use Native-Speaker Textbooks for Structure

Principle: Curriculum designed for native speakers ensures authentic learning and appropriate progression.

What I Did:
We used Taiwanese elementary school textbooks, generally reading aloud one chapter per week to fluency.  In general, by third grade, we had completed second-grade material; by sixth grade, we had gone through most of fifth-grade material. We pretty much skipped the written exercises in 參考書 entirely.  Afterwards, during their teen years, DD#1 read Chinese novels extensively while DD#2 benefitted the most from 5 years of rigorous Chinese debate training and tournaments.

3) De-Emphasize Handwriting

Principle: Focus first on comprehension and oral fluency; composition by typing can follow later.

What I Did:
We did brief, targeted character handwriting—basic stroke order plus 10–20 reps per new character during the week we learned it—and then moved on. I didn’t give written tests. As a native speaker, I relied on continuous, low-stress assessment: daily conversation, read-alouds (with real-time tone/pronunciation correction), quick oral Q&A, and extra read-aloud practice when needed.

Why (our trade-off):
Time is limited. I’d rather they—by young adulthood—read fluently at ~7th-grade level (which naturally supports typed composition at ~4th–5th-grade level) than have 2nd- or 3rd-grade reading proficiency with beautiful 2nd-grade handwriting/composition. Prioritizing reading + oral fluency gave us the biggest payoff with the least stress.

How We Assessed—Without Written Tests

  • Daily conversation in Chinese
  • Regular read-alouds with real-time tone/pronunciation correction
  • Quick oral Q&A checks to assess comprehension

This kept the atmosphere calm while still keeping standards high.

4) Build a Strong Chinese Language Ecosystem (CLE)

Principle: Immersion makes the language a natural and constant part of life. 

What I Did:
Our home was stocked with Chinese books, comics, bridge readers, and novels, and my daughters gravitated to Chinese-language pleasure reading first. We used Chinese TV, YouTube, and music extensively. Before middle school, they spent roughly two-thirds of their waking hours in this CLE. English-based schooling made up about 25% of their time on average (roughly 180 school days per year; ~50% of waking hours on school days spent at school).  The point is that regular English schooling doesn’t prevent creating a ~66% Chinese environment overall.

5) Make Chinese Practical, Meaningful, and Fun

Principle: Children learn best when the language serves a real and enjoyable purpose.

What I Did:
In primary school, we created videos, skits, karaoke, and presentations in Chinese. In secondary school, these evolved into a family Chinese pop band, Chinese debate, and FASCA volunteer work—activities that made Chinese lively, meaningful, and rewarding.

IMPORTANT: Creating CLE and making Chinese meaningful are the most difficult part of raising such children.  The instruction method is straight forward, but sustaining their motivation (the psychological aspect) from the tween years on requires additional supports.

Trade-off: Less time for traditional extracurricular activities that colleges may find easier to assess. Outcomes can depend on how one’s college application and essays are framed. Anecdotally, this didn’t limit the overall rigor/ranking of admitting colleges for us, but your mileage may vary. The key is to tell the story—link bilingual activities to leadership, initiative, community impact, and persistence.

My view: I’d rather my children reach near-native Chinese fluency as adults than be similarly proficient in a traditional extracurricular (violin, tennis, etc.) at that age. Of course, very talented kids can do them all and excel!

6) Use the “Open the Gap / Close the Gap” Strategy

Principle: Establish strong Chinese proficiency first, then let English catch up.

What I Did:
We prioritized Chinese in the early years, even if that meant slower English development. From around third grade, we began balancing the two languages, allowing English to catch up over the next 4–5 years through targeted effort while keeping Chinese strong.

7) Use Short Sojourns to Taiwan as “Jump-Start” Opportunities

Principle: Immersion in the culture and among peers accelerates learning.

What I Did:
We traveled to Taiwan about once or twice a year in early childhood. My daughters stayed with grandparents, attended preschool for 1–2 months, and later attended public school for about one month. These trips provided concentrated, authentic exposure to native speakers. (Other families do succeed without this opportunity.)

8) Connect Bilingual Skills to Future Opportunities

Principle: Bilingualism stays motivating when it has visible benefits.

What I Did:
We encouraged our children to highlight Chinese-based experiences—such as band performances, debate, and leadership roles—in their college applications. This reinforced bilingualism as both a personal point of pride and a tangible advantage.

9) Factor in Gender, Disposition, and Intellect

Principle: Individual traits can ease or complicate bilingual acquisition.

What I Did / Found:
In our family, general cognitive and language aptitude played a role, and girls may have a small early advantage before age 10—a critical period for acquiring Chinese—though input quality and quantity mattered most. Sibling dynamics matter: an older sibling fluent in Chinese makes it easier for the younger child. I placed strong emphasis on my older daughter’s Chinese early on, knowing it would benefit her sister later.

Reflections on two decades of bilingual parenting

人生 Daily thoughts, 中文進度 Chinese proficiency progress ,

It has been almost five years since my last post. My older daughter is now 22, a recent graduate of UNC–Chapel Hill, while my younger one is 19 and a rising sophomore at Johns Hopkins University.

Over the next few posts, I hope to share with fellow parents some “updated” lessons I’ve learned over the past two decades of raising my bilingual children—what has worked, what has changed, and why the effort continues to be worth it.


Current Chinese proficiency and usage
Both daughters still converse with me primarily in Chinese—about 80–90% of the time for my older daughter, and 90–100% for my younger one. Our text messages are about 90% in Chinese. They visit their grandparents in Taiwan every 12–18 months, keeping their language and cultural connections alive.

Toward the end of her freshman year, I noticed that my younger daughter’s Chinese was a bit rusty. Her solution? She rewatched some of her favorite Chinese TV dramas from earlier years. Afterwards, her fluency bounced back—a reminder that consistent exposure, even through media, can make a difference.

Here’s a video my daughters made in the summer of 2024, right after my younger daughter graduated from high school:



How being fluent in Chinese can shape one’s lives
Being bilingual in English and Chinese can lead to opportunities—academic, professional, and personal. To keep this post focused, I’ll share one recent example from my younger daughter’s encounters this past summer.

1. Professional Opportunities in Taiwan
This summer, my younger daughter participated in an intensive five-day medical device innovation program at an advanced laparoscopic (including Da Vinci robotics) training center in Taiwan. It was almost like a crash MBA course, with about 15 hours of work a day. She also had the chance to learn and practice basic laparoscopic skills.

The program brought together physicians, engineers, and business professionals from Taiwan and across Asia. While the instruction was in English, she had countless informal conversations in Chinese—building rapport with staff, exchanging ideas with Taiwanese participants, and expanding her professional network.

As a result, she was able to network with venture capital professionals in Taiwan—an opportunity directly connected to her bilingual skills and healthcare VC involvement in college.

2. Cultural Bonding with Peers
While in Taiwan, she met up with a few Taiwanese international students from her college for a KTV night. They were pleasantly surprised that she knew most of their chosen songs and had watched many of the same Chinese TV shows they grew up with. That shared cultural knowledge instantly deepened their connection.

3. Medical Shadowing Invitations
A friend of mine, a plastic surgeon in Taiwan, treated my daughter (and me!) with some laser work—removing a few spots for her and plenty of sun spots for me. He also offered her the chance to shadow him in the operating room if she’s interested in the future. This, too, was made possible because she could communicate effortlessly and build trust in Chinese.

4. Teaching Chinese Online
Finally, my younger daughter has been teaching Chinese to a few grade school students online this summer, earning some extra spending money. I overheard a couple of her lessons—she’s engaging, patient, and effective. Seeing her pass on the language to the next generation is deeply rewarding.

Takeaway

If one is proficient in Chinese and willing to use it, it’s not just a language skill—it’s a bridge. It opens professional doors, enriches friendships, deepens cultural understanding, and even creates income opportunities.

March updates with impending COVID-19 outbreak

人生 中文進度 Chinese proficiency progress

I hope all of you (US) are getting prepared (or are prepared) for and educated on COVID-19.

For one thing, it has been good for the girls to be fluent in Chinese during China’s early battle against COVID-19, when much of the primary source of information were in Chinese.  Our whole family have been keeping tab on COVID-19 development on news commentary shows from Taiwan, like 關鍵時刻 and 年代向錢看, that provide daily analysis on weekdays, with the “real story” from China, Korea, Japan, and the rest of the world.  Armed with such information, we were able to start preparing early on (before price gouging on some items) and even saved some money by getting out of stock mutual fund before the stock market started crashing for our retirement account.  The girls also read a couple of Chinese newspaper clips on COVID-19.

CHINESE POP BAND: COVID-19 did force the cancellation of one of our band performances in February, which was just fine, since we already performed three times over the winter.  Our band’s next performance will be in May, for Mother’s Day, but that will likely be canceled with how things are going now.  So, the girls are primarily working on our own band songs now.

CHINESE DEBATE:  As a result of COVID-19, Debate Asia (亞洲盃中文辯論錦標賽) has not make announcement on its 6th annual competition, 六國封相. It was going to be held in China in late July but, obviously, this is now extremely unlikely to take place.  The coach is looking into an alternative competition in Taiwan in July, 蘇州盃高中職辯論錦標賽.  This competition was previously limited to high school teams in Taiwan, but is now open to international teams for the first time.  Though Taiwan has done an exceptional job so far in her battle against COVID-19, anything can happen between now and July.  By then, air travel and large gathering may still be risky and there may be travel restrictions to Taiwan from the US, at the rate this is going.  So, I am not optimistic that the girls will be able to compete this summer.  But, regardless, the team is still training and that’s what counts.  At this point, the team is working on “Should UBI (universal basic income) replace means-tested welfare programs?”

CHINESE READING: DD#2 is pretty done with 7th grade first semester CLA textbook from Taiwan.  The last lesson she practiced reading aloud was a 1925 essay “背影“ by 朱自親.  It was the second to the last chapter but I have her skip the last chapter since it was just a simple short story.

朱自清

我與父親不相見已二年餘了，我最不能忘記的是他的背影。那年冬天，祖母死了，父親的差使也交卸了，正是禍不單行的日子！我從北京到徐州，打算跟著父親奔喪回家。到徐州見著父親，看見滿院狼藉的東西，又想起祖母，不禁簌簌地流下眼淚。父親說：「事已如此，不必難過，好在天無絕人之路！」
回家變賣典質，父親還了虧空，又借錢辦了喪事。這些日子，家中光景很是慘澹，一半為了喪事，一半為了父親賦閒○8。喪事完畢，父親要到南京謀事，我也要回北京念書，我們便同行。
到南京時，有朋友約去遊逛，勾留了一日；第二日上午便須渡江到浦口，下午上車北去。父親因為事忙，本已說定不送我，叫旅館裡一個熟識的茶房陪我同去。他再三囑咐茶房，甚是仔細。但他終於不放心，怕茶房不妥帖，頗躊躇了一會。其實我那年已二十歲，北京已來往過兩三次，是沒有什麼要緊的了。他躊躇了一會，終於決定還是自己送我去。我兩三回勸他不必去，他只說：「不要緊，他們去不好！」
我們過了江，進了車站。我買票，他忙著照看行李。行李太多了，得向腳夫行些小費才可過去。他便又忙著和他們講價錢。我那時真是聰明過分，總覺他說話不大漂亮，非自己插嘴不可。但他終於講定了價錢，就送我上車。他給我揀定了靠車門的一張椅子，我將他給我做的紫毛大衣鋪好座位。他囑我路上小心，夜裡要警醒些，不要受涼；又囑託茶房好好照應我。我心裡暗笑他的迂，他們只認得錢，託他們直是白託！而且我這樣大年紀的人，難道還不能料理自己麼？唉！我現在想想，那時真是太聰明了！
我說道：「爸爸，您走吧！」他望車外看了看，說：「我買幾個橘子去，你就在此地不要走動。」我看那邊月臺的柵欄外，有幾個賣東西的等著顧客。走到那邊月臺，須穿過鐵道，須跳下去又爬上去。父親是一個胖子，走過去自然要費事些。我本來要去的，他不肯，只好讓他去。我看見他戴著黑布小帽，穿著黑布大馬褂，深青布棉袍，蹣跚地走到鐵道邊，慢慢探身下去，尚不大難。可是他穿過鐵道，要爬上那邊月臺，就不容易了。他用兩手攀著上面，兩腳再向上縮，他肥胖的身子向左微傾，顯出努力的樣子。這時我看見他的背影，我的淚很快地流下來了。我趕緊拭乾了淚，怕他看見，也怕別人看見。我再向外看時，他已抱了朱紅的橘子望回走了。過鐵道時，他先將橘子散放在地上，自己慢慢爬下，再抱起橘子走。到這邊時，我趕緊去攙他。他和我走到車上，將橘子一股腦兒放在我的皮大衣上。於是撲撲衣上的泥土，心裡很輕鬆似的。過一會說：「我走了，到那邊來信！」我望著他走出去。他走了幾步，回過頭看見我，說：「進去吧，裡邊沒人！」等他的背影混入來來往往的人裡，再找不著了，我便進來坐下，我的眼淚又來了。
近幾年來，父親和我都是東奔西走，家中光景是一日不如一日。我北來後，他寫了一封信給我，信中說道：「我身體平安，惟膀子疼痛得厲害，舉箸提筆，諸多不便，大約大去之期不遠矣！」我讀到此處，在晶瑩的淚光中，又看見那肥胖的青布棉袍、黑布馬褂的背影。唉！我不知何時再能與他相見！

 

Instead of having DD#2 move unto 7th grade second semester textbook, I now just ask her to do readings on the AP Chinese study guide (and typing).  I figure she might as well get it started and take the AP exam either in 9th grade or 10th grade.  DD#1 ended up not being able to take the AP Chinese exam this year (11th grade) since the schools that offer it locally (not available at her own school) ran out of spots early.  It might as well be that way since she would have to take her AP Bio exam in the morning and then get to another school for afternoon’s AP Chinese exam.  That may end up to be too much of a rush.  Oh well….

 

CHINESE TV SERIES:

DD#2 finished watching 皓蘭傳, a 2019’s historical fictional TV series, which was loosely based on the life story of the 趙姬, the mother of 秦始王 (Qin Shi-Huang), who was the “first” emperor of China at around 200 BC.  So, DD#2 learned about 呂不韋 of 呂氏春秋, 長平之戰 in which Qin buried 200,000 surrendered soldiers alive, and how 秦始王 came about.

 

 

Now, we shifted back to 金庸’s work, 鹿鼎記, which will provide DD#2 with the historical background surrounding the first phase of the Qing dynasty in the 17th century.  For those of you who know this novel, you won’t find it surprising that my DD#2 is having a blast watching 偉小寶!  We are watching the 2014 TV series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

「兒時記趣」朗讀 (Childhood Story)

人生 Uncategorized

兒時記趣 (Childhood story) is a famous piece of writing by an author (沈復) of the Ching Dynasty and is often taught in the Chinese Language Art textbook in junior high school.  It is an example of classical Chinese.  I had never heard of it before, as I left Taiwan after fifth grade.  Nevertheless, since it is on the 7th grade first semester CLA textbook we received as a hand-me-down from a relative in Taiwan, I thought it would be good for DD#2 to study a couple of short passages such as this.

「兒時記趣」

作者：沈復 (1763-1825)

余憶童稚時，能張目對日，明察秋毫。見藐小微物，必細察其紋理，故時有物外之趣。

夏蚊成雷，私擬作群鶴舞空，心之所向，則或千或百，果然鶴也；昂首觀之，項為之強。又留蚊於素帳中，徐噴以煙，使之沖煙飛鳴，作青雲白鶴觀；果如鶴唳雲端，為之怡然稱快。

又常於土牆凹凸處、花臺小草叢雜處，蹲其身，使與臺齊；定神細視，以叢草為林，蟲蟻為獸；以土礫凸者為丘，凹者為壑，神遊其中，怡然自得。

一日，見二蟲鬥草間，觀之，興正濃，忽有龐然大物，拔山倒樹而來，蓋一癩蝦蟆也。舌一吐而二蟲盡為所吞。余年幼，方出神，不覺呀然驚恐。神定，捉蝦蟆，鞭數十，驅之別院。

 

Here is DD’s read-aloud:

 

Here is an educational video on it:

 

Supposedly the following last paragraph is omitted and not taught since it is not rated G, more like PG, 🤣.

年長思之，二蟲之鬥，蓋圖奸不從也，古語云：「奸近殺。」 蟲亦然耶？貪此生涯，卵為蚯蚓所哈，腫不能便，捉鴨開口哈之，婢嫗偶釋手，鴨顛其頸作吞噬狀，驚而大哭，傳為語柄。此皆幼時閑情也。

Christmas band performance 12-2019

人生 中文進度 Chinese proficiency progress

Our “Tu & Only” band was invited to perform again at Atlanta Chinese Medical Society’s Christmas/New Year celebration this year.  My DDs spent hours honing down their performances and did a fantastic job last night!  They each received an outstanding volunteering award for all the hard work they put into supporting the nonprofit organization.

我們的「杜ㄧ無二」樂團再次受邀在亞特蘭大華人醫師協會今年的聖誕新年晚會表演。兩位女兒練習良久，昨晚表現很好，對她們的中文也都有幫助，以她們為榮！我們表演了周杰倫2007年的「不能說的秘密」和李克勤1992年的廣東話經典歌曲「紅日」（小女兒不會說廣東話，發音不標準，請見諒～）

Easy instant annotation tool from Mandarinspot.com

人生 Uncategorized

It has been a while since I used Mandarinspot.com, a clever site someone coded a few years back.  Mandarinspot.com provides an easy to use tool to annotate online Chinese text with 注音 or 拼音 and English definition. Pop-up annotation tooltips open when you move mouse over the word.

For example, my DDs are working on a Chinese debate on the topic of mandatory vaccination.  There is a Chinese Wikipedia page on vaccine hesitancy.  So, I copy and paste the link under “Web site annotation” as below.

 

Enlarged:

After clicking “Annotate”, it leads me to a Mandarin Spot version of this webpage.  If I don’t know the pronunciation or meaning of certain Chinese characters or words, hovering the mouse over the word will bring up a box with the Chinese pronunciation (注音 in this case) and English meaning.  Pretty nifty, no?

You can do the same with pinyin.  Just change the phonetic system above to pinyin.