Rocket Science, Nobel Prizes, and a Little Mouse

      You'd think that my kid had just won a Nobel Prize.  Any time one of them recites a poem, sings a song, says a new phrase, or answers a question in class (especially if it was one that I couldn't answer myself), I just beam with pride.  In a way, I suppose it seems quite simple.  I mean, we're ALL programmed to learn a language when we're small, so it's not like it's rocket science or anything (at least not for a child).  But to me, for some reason, knowing a second language is the ultimate achievement.  

       When you put together my pride in their accomplishments and my husband's new iPhone, look out!  He has been driving me crazy with it for the last couple of weeks.  "Look, honey!  I can take a picture of myself and then make it burp!"  "Oh, yeah, great honey,"  I say while thinking, "Somebody actually sat down and wrote a program for that?"  But my ears did perk up when I heard the words "voice recorder."  Then he emailed me  THE  MOST ADORABLE audio file and I was hooked!  And what's the first thing I did with it?   I recorded my son reciting a poem in Mandarin, of course!   My daughter first learned this poem at the non-profit school she attends.  He heard her working on it several months ago, but he couldn't recite it.  Then, he just joined the 3 to 5 class at Language Stars*and they have been working on it.   I thought it was so cute that I just HAD to share it!

     I hope I get the translation of this right, but it's something like this:  A little mouse goes up a lamp post and eats some oil.  The cat comes and the little mouse falls down.  The "gi li gu lu" is the sound of the mouse falling down.  How cute is that?!  What I really love is that my little one does the motions with it, so you know that he understands what the poem is about.  You can even hear him pretending to chew at the part where the mouse eats the oil!  

The title of the poem, "Little Mouse"

     When your kid comes home from class reciting new poems like this, you just KNOW that a Nobel Prize can't be far behind!   Whether there is also a degree in rocket science or not remains to be seen.  I'm just happy that my kids are coming home from Language Stars*  with so much knowledge.  It also doesn't hurt to have a few cute poems to recite at family gatherings, getting the same applause as any Nobel laureate.  Well, if you count grandma, it would be more!  

Thanks for reading,
Tammy


*We receive 50% off our tuition for sharing our Language Stars experiences with the world!