The 2026 World Cup football carnival kicked off in the bustling Manhattan Chinatown on the 27th, attracting a large number of residents and visitors to participate in football experiences, parent-child games, and cultural activities. One particular highlight at the New York Chinese School enrollment booth was a pair of American sisters fluently introducing the courses in Chinese to the people.
The older sister, Bai Lu, 21, explained that despite their mother being American, she has always believed in the importance of Chinese. Therefore, starting from the age of four, both sisters were sent to the New York Chinese School to learn Chinese. “My mother has always believed that Chinese is a very important language, so she sent us to Chinese school at a young age, hoping it would be helpful for our future.”
Bai Lu recalled that during their time at the Chinese school, in addition to Chinese lessons, they also learned piano, erhu, calligraphy, and fine arts. They spent almost every summer on exchanges in China, visiting cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou. Years of language learning and cultural exposure have gradually sparked her strong interest in Chinese culture.
This interest ultimately led her to pursue a degree in Global China Studies at NYU Shanghai and recently completed her studies two weeks ago. Next, she plans to attend graduate school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She mentioned that choosing this field of study is to understand the history, culture, and development of China and Chinese communities around the world from a global perspective.
Several months ago, the two sisters went to Taiwan to participate in cultural programs. Bai Lu mentioned that this exchange brought her a different cultural experience. “I feel that the feeling Taiwan gives me is completely different from mainland China. You can clearly feel the culture there and the connection between communities, a feeling that I had not experienced in China before.” She observed that people in mainland China are mostly busy with work and family responsibilities, while in Taiwan, she felt more interactions between families, cultures, and communities. She believed that Taiwan has preserved many traditional cultures.
In terms of language learning, Bai Lu mentioned that she later reconnected with Traditional Chinese characters and began learning the characters and pronunciation to delve deeper into understanding traditional Chinese culture. She expressed that through exposure to different Chinese education systems, she gained a different understanding of the cultural implications behind the written characters. “Without exposure to different cultural educations, perhaps I would only recognize one version. Now, through learning from various places, I have gained a better understanding of Chinese culture and hope to share these experiences with more people.”
The younger sister, Bai Lang, 19, is currently studying at George Washington University, having also started learning Chinese at the age of four, now for 15 years. She admitted that learning Chinese is not easy. She also mentioned watching the Shen Yun performance with her mother five years ago, “I really enjoyed it.” She hopes to continue learning Chinese in the future and also contribute to promoting Chinese education.