Obama Hires Chinese Tutor for Youngest Daughter

Chinese President Hu Jinato agrees on hourly rate

Washington DC, Jan 21, 2011. President Barack Hussein Obama, D-Kenya, took advantage of the State Visit from China to help his daughter learn to speak Chinese.

His nine year old daughter Sasha wanted to test her developing Chinese skills this week while Hu Jintao was in town.

"The president pointed out last night at the state dinner that his daughter, Sasha, is a very young girl but her class is studying Chinese," Ben Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser, told a video conference with Chinese bloggers.

"She's under 10 years old and they're studying Chinese, and she wanted to have the chance to practice her Chinese with President Hu."

Sasha can order at Chinese restaurants now

Sasha attended Hu's welcoming ceremony on the White House lawn on Wednesday morning with friends and could be seen waving a Chinese flag excitedly as her father and Hu walked around the grounds.

The two presidents paused to visit when they reached the nine-year-old and her friends behind the rope line.

"Not every (child) has the opportunity to try out their first phrases of Chinese with the president of China, but she had that chance," Rhodes said.

Later, President Obama worked out an arrangement with President Hu to tutor his daughter, so she can become more proficient in speaking Mandarin Chinese.

The President agreed to pay Hu $16 per hour, and says he will use stimulus money to have him flown from Beijing to Washington once each week until the school year ends.