Children all throughout the country speak many different dialects of Chinese at home. Actually, someone from the north of China probably cannot understand someone from the south! Every different part of China has a hard time understanding people from other parts of China. To make this situation easier, the government requires all Chinese students to use Mandarin (the standard dialect in Beijing) in schools. That way, when they grow up, people can still communicate across China.
Kids' names are often only two or three syllables. Some names sound like "shan shan" or "Wang Jieshun". The most interesting thing about Chinese names is that the last name always comes first because family is so important.
I started learning English in first grade. We can also study other languages sometimes. Other than English, we learn things like history, math, and science.
Chinese kids have a lot of homework and they are taught mathematics from a very young age.
After school, parents often pressure their kids to participate in as many sports, musical lessons, and other kinds of activities as possible. Some people say that Chinese kids experience a lot more pressure than the average American kid.
