We are in Singapore for last 2 years. I put my 4yr old son for Spanish as Mandarin in school academically gets tougher and tougher. I feel academic Mandarin may be too much for him. I mean comparatively to academic Spanish. Have I taken correct decision?

I too have heard tht Mandarin is a difficult language. And pls keep in mind tht u have to think abt ur child's pace of learning too. Learning languages will always help but not at the cost of your child's current happiness and the way he adapts to change. I lived in Dubai where Arabic was a must. My son couldn't cope with the pressure so much tht he hates learning any language. When we moved back to India, I had to search for a school tht doesn't force kids to learn secondary language. He's able to speak Hindi but if I try to help him learn Marathi and Gujarati he just retreats into his shell. So I feel u have taken a good decision.

Yes, Mandarin is pretty difficult as we hear it often, but I think we should not judge our children's grasping power to what we hear. Children have high grasping ability and aren't there kids who learn Madarin! But now that you have already making him learn Spanish, I think you should not repent your decision. Spanish is widely spoken language across the world and you can work him have perfection over the language. But I suggest do not underestimate or go on what people say about any craft, language or skill. Let your child try it and see how he is excelling in it and then decide what to do in tandem with your child.

It's actually difficult yet easy. Difficult because he has no one at home go practise the language with... easy because it is easy to pick up a language when u are young ... let him try. If he is still struggling at 6+ yrs old before he goes to Pri school, you can consider dropping the subject then .. not too late

learning a new language is fine but you have to understand your child's interest as well as the pace at which he is able to pick it up.