NY 'tiger mom' hothouses nine daughters with Mandarin lessons

Lifelong commitment

"I thought I was a tiger mom," Berat chuckled when asked how she managed to have all of her girls keep on learning Chinese. "It's not negotiable. They don't complain because they know there's no hope. But then they do it. That's it."

"It's not just textbook learning. You know, this has been their life. Their friends are Chinese. They've been in the Chinese cultural knowledge competitions... it's really been, for them, a lifelong commitment," said Berat, who herself is a strong lover of Chinese culture and history.

"You know, it really even for me is an astonishing way. But I feel all this effort has been worth it because they do get it. I think what's exceptional about them is because they've been deeply immersed in Chinese culture," she said.

"I think they are also beginning to understand that they have a very unique set of life skills," she said. "I think that's a great gift. I don't know how much they realize it's the gift that they have. But I think as they get older, increasingly they will appreciate it."

Her oldest daughter Lindsay is studying international politics in Chinese as a sophomore at the Shanghai campus of New York University. She aspires to find a job in the United Nations after graduation.

"I am very thankful to my mom. Learning Mandarin has opened new windows for my life, and I got many more opportunities than my peers to experience the world," Lindsay said in fluent Mandarin.