Helping ABCs/ABTs Navigate Bilingual Parenting ft. Sunny Horstmann | Raising Bilingual Kids Mandarin

Sunny Horstmann was born in Taiwan and moved to the U.S. at age 8, which puts her in that stuck-between-two-worlds space of being a little too ABC/ABT for recent immigrants, and a little too "FOB-y" for actual American-born Mandarin speakers. Even though Sunny grew up confident in her own Mandarin, becoming a mom and wanting to raise her kids bilingual left her feeling daunted and alone. That's what pushed her to start her popular Instagram account @spotofsunshinechinese, where she shares advice and builds community for parents trying to pass Mandarin on to their kids. She recently took it a step further and built her own 31-week, day-by-day Mandarin curriculum for kids ages 3-6, after she couldn't find a comprehensive one that already existed. Angela felt so much resonance with Sunny, because that same spirit is exactly what motivated her to create Real You Mandarin in the first place: to help ABCs, ABTs, and advanced learners express their true selves in Mandarin. In this episode you'll learn vocab like: 不知所措 / bù zhī suǒ cuò / at a loss, 孤單 / gū dān / lonely, and 鳥不生蛋 / niǎo bù shēng dàn / the middle of nowhere. You can find Sunny on Instagram at @spotofsunshinechinese and learn more about her Joyful Beginnings bilingual course materials for kids ages 3-6 here, plus get 20% off by using code REALYOU (valid thru 7/31): https://spotofsunshinechinese.newzenl... If you want the tools to tackle the emotional and gentle-parenting scenarios that come up when teaching your kids Mandarin, check out Real You Mandarin: Self-Expression, which teaches you how to discuss the full range of emotions and features a whole module on Fertility & Parenting: https://www.realyoumandarin.com/real-... 📝 Want the full transcript in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Pinyin, and English with vocab highlighted? Join the Podcast Transcript Membership to unlock all past and future transcripts. Download a free transcript from episode 1 to check out the format before joining. Learn more at https://www.realyoumandarin.com/podcast 🎓 Real You Mandarin: Self-Expression — the course built for American-born Chinese (ABCs), American-born Taiwanese (ABTs), and advanced Mandarin learners who want to express their real selves in Mandarin: https://realyoumandarin.com/real-you-... 📱 Follow on IG/TikTok: @realyoumandarin 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/283IY5I... 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...