About Us
We are a locally born Los Angeles Chinese family with 3 young children. We are both young working professionals. I am a Vice-President at a large bank, and my husband works in Corporate Finance. Though Chinese, my husband and I unfortunately did not grow up speaking Mandarin. My husband was sent to a Palos Verdes Chinese school for 5 years, but didn't learn much. In hindsight, he felt that it would have been much easier if his parents were to have begun his Mandarin education in an immersion environment and at an earlier age. So, when our children were born, we wanted them to learn Mandarin for two reasons: our culture and the strong emerging Chinese economy. We felt that it was very important for our children to learn Mandarin during their early childhood. We were fortunate to have found a wonderful home preschool provider in Monterey Park that immersed our children in Mandarin 9 hours a day/5 days a week. Our children easily became fluent Mandarin speakers as they learned to speak. To push it a step further, we spoke Cantonese to our children at home (for those of you who do not know, though both are Chinese dialects, they are about as similar as Spanish and Italian). Quite frankly, we were a little concerned when our eldest son was entering kindergarten, as we felt his English speaking skills were a bit sub-par (though his math and reading were 2 years ahead of his peers). However, he adapted very easily and quickly, is top of his class, an All-Star athlete, and has many great friends. He now fluently speaks 3 languages (Mandarin, Cantonese & English). I must say, the grandparents are very happy!
We strongly believe that all young children are highly intelligent, and it is up to the parents and educators to help them fulfill their maximum potential. Unfortunately, the teacher in Monterey Park retired. We have decided to develop Mandarin Tree to provide our youngest son and local parents with an opportunity to give their children the gift and advantages of effortlessly learning a second language. A gift that will last forever!
If you are still interested in learning more about the benefits of being bilingual, please see the "Additional Research" tab for more interesting articles on language immersion and learning a second language.
We strongly believe that all young children are highly intelligent, and it is up to the parents and educators to help them fulfill their maximum potential. Unfortunately, the teacher in Monterey Park retired. We have decided to develop Mandarin Tree to provide our youngest son and local parents with an opportunity to give their children the gift and advantages of effortlessly learning a second language. A gift that will last forever!
If you are still interested in learning more about the benefits of being bilingual, please see the "Additional Research" tab for more interesting articles on language immersion and learning a second language.
