For the past few weeks, my Monday articles came with publications in Chinese.
Here is my daughter's feedback: "Mom you gotta translate the articles, otherwise we can't read them". She spoke on behalf of her brother as well.
She was only five when she came to Canada and her brother was born in Edmonton. They could both understand spoken Chinese but reading Chinese? It is another story.
In the attached same title article, I told some fun stories illustrating my daughter's language ability when she was little. I translated a few here:
My sister used to tease her with "Are you a thing or not?" (你是不是东西) and she made peace with this: "I am a person. How can I be a thing? So I am NOT a thing." What she didn't know was: when you say that you are NOT a thing, you basically admit that you are NOT a good person.
One time I was cooking and she came to me: "Mom, I want to look for some fun." I asked: "What kind, honey?" She replied: "Square. Do you have any?"
When asked about my cooking skills, her face got serious "Since you are my mom, I won't be that strict with you, otherwise, you should be as good as dad or grandma."
Daddy in English sounds like "taxi" in Chinese, that is why to her: Daddy is Taxi.
My fondest memory is what she said at the airport: "When I come back a few years later, you will not recognize me because I will have blond hair and blue eyes". (金发碧眼)
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