兩件事讓亮亮感到中文和有關中國的知識有用

亮亮6歲來美，在中國的中文是從幼兒園裏和家裏學的。從小學1年級到現在11年級都一直在美國。中間也沒有回國。中文學校上了幾天。他的中文是通過和我們講話，看中文電視劇，偶爾讀讀人民日報海外版上學中文欄目的文章維持。他在二年級時有一段時間總想和我用英文對話，但我仍堅持用中文回答他。後來就形成了習慣。到現在他和我們，我們的朋友，或GRANDPARENTS講中文，和他同齡的小朋友講英文。即使他外出在車上打電話告訴他在哪裏也用中文。我想和他用英文講他都不和我講。即使是這樣，他讀寫的能力差的比較遠。就是講也是加著英文。偶爾用錯，能讓我笑出淚來。 言歸正傳，講講他中文派上用場的兩件事： 去年9月，馬友友到我們剛剛離開的那個小城演奏，亮亮原來的大提琴老師是樂團的首席，也是邀請YO YO MA的聯係人。他安排在音樂會後讓他的幾個學生和YO YO MA見麵。亮亮也就有了這個機會。當我們在外麵等亮亮出來後，他一臉興奮的樣子。不光SHOW給我們YO YO MA 簽名的CD和照片，還說當輪到他和YO YO MA 見麵的時候，他問YO YO MA：“CAN YOU SPEAK CHINESE”，他說，YO YO MA 就開始用中文和他講話。告訴他小時候也學中文。亮亮覺得能在他的同學麵前和提琴大師用中文對話是一件很SPECIAL的事。也挺得意的：) 另一件是最近的SCHOLAR BOWL的比賽。有點類似智力競賽，他們隊和另一所高中比賽時有錄像並在當地電台播出。比賽結果他們隊以500多對200多的大比分勝出。在看他比賽的錄像之前，亮亮告訴我說，賽題中有兩道是和中國有關的。他都答對了。一道題問2008奧運會的舉辦地，那不是撞在槍口上。另一道題是問“THE MEANING OF GREAT PEACE“中文怎麽說。我看他稍沉了一下，然後按鍵，答：“太平”。他是那場比賽的唯一的中國人。他說這樣的題如果他答不上來就有點丟麵子了。 再把TIME雜誌上的一些信息與大家分享：這是亮亮昨晚吃飯時看完後用中文為主，英文為輔告訴我的。我覺得有些信息還是滿對的。就讀了這兩篇文章。第一篇文章的TITLE IS Why some people are most likely to succeed: Ambition. There are no hard rules for the kinds of families that turn out the highest achievers. Most psychologists agree that parents who set tough but realistic challenges, applaud successes and go easy on failures produce kids with the greatest self-confidence. (pp. 53). When measuring ambition, anthropologist divide families into four categories: poor, struggling but getting by, upper middle class, and rich. For members of the first two groups, who are fighting just to keep the electricity on and the phone bill paid, ambition is often a luxury. For the rich, it's often unnecessary. It's members of the upper middle class, reasonably safe economically but not so safe that so bad break couldn't spell catastrophe, who are most driven to improve their lot. "It's called status anxiety," says anthroplogist Lowe, "and whether you're born to be concerned about it or not, you do develop it. (pp.53-54). As a group, immigrant children in his study are outperforming their U.S-born peers. What's more, the adults are dramatically outperforming the immigrant families that came before them. "one hundred years ago, it took people two to three generations to achieve a middle-class standard of living," says Suarez Orozco. "Today they're getting there within a generation." (pp. 57). Another article: Ambition and kids: How to help them succeed? "Kids can given the opportunities (to become passionate about a subject or activity), but they can't be forced," says Jacquelynne Eccles, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, who led a landmark, 25-year study examining what motivated first and seventh-graders in three school districts. By instilling confidence, encouraging some risk taking, being accepting of failure and expanding the areas in which children may be successful, both parents and teachers can reignite that innate desire to achieve. Many educators attribute a sudden lack of motivation to a fear of failure or peer pressure that conveys the message that doing well academically somehow isn't cool. "Kids get so caught up in the moment-to-moment issue of will they look smart or dumb, and it blocks them from thinking about the long term," says Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford."YOU HAVE TO TEACH TEHM THAT THEY ARE IN CHARGE OF THEIR INTELLECTURAL GROWTH." 如果大家能有耐心看到這裏，真是難為我們每一個做家長的一份苦心。CHEERS！！

[亮亮媽媽]

剛剛看到你的留言。謝謝你。兩個兒子好啊，小哥倆兒可以一起長大，羨慕。

[感冒休息]

您的兒子真得非常優秀。我能感覺到他又多麽值得他的媽媽為他驕傲。我也有兩個兒子，希望我能做到像您一樣好。