A GoEast Kids family story — Daria and Cameron, from the United States
Cameron was 11 when he started weekly one-on-one Mandarin lessons with a GoEast Kids teacher. Two years later, at 13, he spent two weeks at our Shanghai summer camp and ended up ordering his mother’s drinks in Chinese. His mom Daria’s advice to families weighing lessons against camp: start online, then travel.
“While learning a language is great, you really don’t get to use it even at home as much as you think, because most people will speak your native language.”
— Daria, Cameron’s mom
Where does a family with no Chinese at home start?
Daria had always carried a quiet connection to Chinese culture. She studied Mandarin briefly in 7th grade, and over the years built friendships across several Asian communities. When she started thinking about Cameron’s future, she decided to provide the same opportunity for him to learn it.
“With Mandarin as a growing second language, and it taking a while to learn, I thought it was the best opportunity for him to learn it.”, she said.
Starting young was the point. A language like Mandarin rewards years of exposure, and the earlier Cameron started, the further along he would be by the time the language came to strongly matter in his own life.
There was something almost poetic about the generational handover. When asked whether she was learning alongside him, she laughed:
“The next generation is going to be the stronger ones — they have to be able to take care of us!”
Cameron, now 13, has been learning online with GoEast Kids for two years, and had just finished his second year when we filmed with the family in Shanghai.
What does a normal week of online lessons look like?
The weekly one-on-one lessons settled into a rhythm the family could keep: a standing slot they rebuild each month, and a teacher who has worked with Cameron long enough to know how he works.
“We’ve been doing remote classes, and our class schedule is based upon what’s available.”, Daria said. The 1-on-1 format here has been important. Cameron’s teacher knows him and the family — understands how he learns, what captures his attention, and when to push versus when to ease off at times of the family’s schedule being tight. The schedule flexes; the sequence doesn’t. Cameron moves through the same levels every student does, at the pace his week allows.
Asked what two years of lessons have been like, Cameron said:
“It’s very fun, I mean, the teachers are very supportive. They help you, like, with almost anything you need help with. If it’s the pinyin, the characters or just the pronunciation. They help you get better, and it’s not always very hard learning learning learning, ‘cause they incorporate fun little games.”
How do you fit Chinese into a busy schedule?
Cameron is not a child with much empty time. Basketball, school, and a full social life mean that fitting language learning into the week requires real flexibility on the teacher’s end.
“GoEast is very flexible, and the teachers have been great to be able to provide a schedule that’s convenient for both of us,” Daria said. “We are able to create a schedule month to month based upon what’s happening. Sometimes those schedules will last longer, but we’ve been able to work it throughout the week, as well as sometimes on weekends.”
How do you keep track of Cameron’s progress?
One of the challenges for parents of language learners — especially when their own level in the language is limited — is knowing how their child is doing. Daria has found GoEast’s systems very useful for staying close to Cameron’s progress without needing to be fluent herself. “GoEast has an online portal. I’m able to see what he’s learning, and I’m able to have him review some of the items from the portal.”, she explained. Regular communication with both Cameron’s teacher and their consultant Maria has kept the family on track.
“Maria has been very helpful understanding what the next steps are and how is the best way to go.”
Beyond the portal, Cameron also uses supplementary tools — online activities and basic Chinese television to maintain his listening skills between lessons.
The Trip to China — GoEast Summer Camp 2026
Cameron went to GoEast Kids’ camp in Shanghai. It’s a day camp, not a residential one — campers are back with their families every evening, which is why Daria was in the city too. The camp is held at our Zhongshan Park campus, is open to ages 8–17, and runs in both summer and winter. Session dates and prices are on the camp page.
Why Daria decided to let Cameron attend summer camp in Shanghai
Two years of online classes had built a solid foundation. But Daria also believes that language learning, at its best, is inseparable from cultural immersion.
“While learning a language is great, you really don’t get to use it even at home as much as you think, because most people will speak your native language.”, she said. “So the best way to do it is to take the leap of faith and come all the way over to Asia for our first time, and try to be immersed in the culture as well as the conversation and just the everyday of life.”
For both Daria and Cameron, this was their first time in Asia!
What do camp days actually look like?
Asked what the trip had been like so far for them, Daria replied:
“It’s actually been so fun. We’ve been able to explore the city a lot. GoEast has had a program for their camp, which is a two-week program for his (Cameron’s) level. He’s been able to study during the day, and then during the afternoon they go out on excursions. After that, we have time in the evening to explore, continue to go out to find food, go shopping — and he has to become my translator!”
Mornings were class. Afternoons were excursions: making bean buns, Kung fu sessions, visits to Yu Garden and Water Town — and much more. For Cameron, Kung Fu was his favorite activity. Throughout the camp, Cameron was navigating the world in Mandarin alongside children from different backgrounds, some native speakers, some fellow learners. And also was able to meet his year-long teachers in person.
Evenings belonged to the two of them, and that is where the roles reversed. The ordering had become Cameron’s job. Daria would point, Cameron would say it, and between them they worked out the rest.
“Yes, I help her where I can,” he said. “I will say 雪碧 (xuěbì, Sprite) or 水 (shuǐ, water). Wherever I can, I will use my Chinese.”
The parent who had signed her son up for Chinese two years earlier was now the one waiting for him to order.
Cameron With Friends and Teachers at Camp
Groups at the two-week Shanghai camp Cameron joined are formed on two axes: age band and language level. Every camper takes a short language assessment before camp starts, and each group is capped at 8 — small enough that a teacher hears every child speak in every session.
At camp he was around both kinds of kids — native speakers, and learners at roughly his own level. He could hear Chinese running ahead of him, and he still had nowhere to hide.
“Cameron’s very sociable, so he loves to work with others,” Daria said. “I think it’s a good way to build confidence, as well as he gets to watch what other children are doing to understand how they are able to comprehend or process.”
Cameron even learnt a new ‘slang’ expression at the camp from one of his fellow students: “六六六！” (liù liù liù – 666), used in Chinese to express “cool”. That’s his favorite word he learned from Joe, one of his best friends at the camp.
The family also visited a local international school while they were in Shanghai. “We were pretty impressed with the interior because it was very futuristic, as well as it was built a lot on AI. We were very happy and amazed to see all the differences between a school here in China versus in America,” Daria said.
Advice for Other Parents: Lessons, Camp, or Both?
As for the question of how Cameron’s lessons and the camp go together, Daria said:
“Online classes work at his pace, which can sometimes be slower, as well as sometimes move a little bit quicker, so he can pick up the language. I think having that one-to-one with the teacher helps to build up confidence — but then once he was here in person, he was able to practice with kids who were in just the same type of spaces, whether they were native speakers or learning at his level as well.”
The two halves were doing different jobs. Online, Cameron had one teacher who knew him — which is what let him produce language on cue, at whatever pace that week allowed. What a lesson can’t do, however good it is, is put a child in a room where Chinese is simply what everyone is speaking. Camp did that. A group of up to eight placed by level, and a city outside the door where nobody slows down for you. What camp can’t do is happen every week; it runs once, and then the family flies home. That asymmetry is the reason Daria’s advice runs in the order it does — the lessons are the half that keeps going.
Asked what she would say to a friend deciding between online classes, camp, or a combination of both, Daria’s answered:
“I would definitely say to start with online — make sure that it’s something that you want to commit to. See if there’s one-to-one, or maybe there’s a small group. If your financial abilities, as well as your own personal interests, take you outside of your comfort zone to explore a new city, a new culture — I would definitely say go and travel the world and see as much as you can see, because that’s the only way you’re really going to understand exactly what you have learned.”
“This trip really has been eye-opening, and I’m very thankful for the opportunity that GoEast has provided us. Thank you. 多谢 (duō xiè – many thanks)!”
Frequently asked questions
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