Communication problems can lead to misunderstanding

Today my girl told me that three of her friends called her "Mrs Selfish". She said they had wanted to borrow her pencil but she didn't lend it to them because she was afraid that teacher would scold her.

She said that she heard teacher saying something that sounds like "jian" but she wasn't sure whether teacher meant "Cannot lend things" or "Cannot bring scissors" in class.

The other day she had also mentioned to me that "teacher said cannot lend and borrow things." The teacher had asked them to bring 5 pencils in their pencil box to school each day. I think this is to discourage borrowing in case the children lose their pencils which is an all common thing. During her kindy days, they were also told to bring 3 pencils each everyday. They are also to sharpen all their pencils and color pencils at home each day to discourage borrowing and going out frequently to sharpen their pencils, I think.

She said that she was a good girl and did not talk much or make noise in class.

Looks like my girl is trying her very best to be a good girl in class but what a pity she was misunderstood. Though this is just a small thing between little ones and it will sort itself out in no time at all, its still a small dent to her already wavering confidence in struggling to get along in a Mandarin speaking world.