This weekend, I continued with my best practice of pausing before Chinese words and getting the son to read them aloud. No need to spend money on tuition when the shopping mall is a vibrant classroom. I think it would take a while for my efforts to bear fruit, but through this process, I discovered something unexpected. I was teaching the boy to read 海鲜 (seafood) when the younger sister pointed out 海 and uttered 海豚 (dolphin). Her Chinese teacher at PCF Sparkletots must be as goated as me if she has managed to guide young minds to internalise various characters that contain a mind-bogglingly large amount of strokes. Or the stereotype that girls naturally have a flair for languages is true after all. Either way, I feel glad to have reproduced twice because my valiant efforts at inculcating a love of Chinese could benefit more than one child.