Navigating American Culture: A Guide for Chinese Exchange Students

Hello! I'm an American high school student from California who is very lucky to have studied Mandarin Chinese since I was 4 years old. I don't have parents, grandparents, or any ancestors who are from China; instead, I was lucky to live in a neighborhood that had a "Mandarin Immersion" program for Elementary School. This meant that I spent half the day learning in English, and the other half of the day learning in Chinese!

It was very hard for me at first since nobody in my family could help me with my homework or with practicing or studying. Also, during Chinese holidays like the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival I was one of the only kids who didn't know at first what those things were.

So I felt a little bit like an outsider because I looked different from most of the other kids in the school, and also I didn't know a lot about the culture.

Now that I'm in high school I want to try to help students who might be in the opposite situation as me -- students who are from Mandarin-speaking countries and who might feel a little bit like outsiders when studying in the US.

Please reach out and let me know your questions, and I will try to answer them!

你好！我是一名来自加利福尼亚州的美国高中生，我很幸运从四岁起就开始学习普通话。 我没有来自中国的父母、祖父母或任何祖先；相反，我很幸运住在一个有小学“普通话浸入式”项目的社区。 这意味着我花了一半时间学习英语，另一半天学习中文！

起初这对我来说非常困难，因为我家里没有人可以帮助我做作业、练习或学习。此外，在中秋节等中国节日期间，我是唯一一个一开始不知道这些东西是什么的孩子。

所以我觉得自己有点像个局外人，因为我看起来与学校里的大多数其他孩子不同，而且我对这种文化了解不多。

现在我已经上高中了，我想尝试帮助那些可能与我情况相反的学生，来自普通话国家的学生以及在美国学习时可能感觉有点像外人的学生。 请联系我，让我知道您的问题，我会尽力回答！