Mandarin is the official language of China and Taiwan. It’s the dialect of the majority in Mainland China and the Chinese overseas. Cantonese isn’t as commonly used since Britain’s turnover of Hong Kong to China. It could become a dialect that’s used among friends and family.or business purposes, Mandarin is more practical to learn.
Learning Chinese at Home
The best way to start your children in learning the Chinese Language is through Learn Chinese DVDs and videos and audio CDs. These DVDs are specially made to optimally expose your son or daughter to the tones of Chinese with fun things to watch. The learning pace in DVDs are carefully programmed to help your child remember the words and phrases. Chinese songs on CDs however, are great to use while travelling or during your child’s relaxation time. For bigger children, Chinese stories on CDs can be played to expose them further to more Chinese vocabulary and sentence construction.
If one parent speaks Chinese, arrangements could be made that 1 parent will talk with the children in Chinese and another will speak to them in English. Kids have an amazing ability to match each parent’s language.
Exposing Children to Native Chinese Speakers
o Chinese tutors are available to teach children and even the complete family to speak Chinese. Check online or newspaper ads for available tutors.
o Play dates with children who are learning or already know Chinese is a fantastic way to expose your kids.
o Another option would be to hire Chinese-speaking baby sitters. learn Chinese in 5 minutes have students that are half-Chinese or spouses of Chinese. This can be an option you can try.
o Other families get au pairs from China.
o Some families hire Chinese nannies to guarantee the children grow up hearing the native Chinese tones. Be cautious in the hiring though. Truth to be told, there is a large number of people in the US from China who don’t possess the necessary papers but will work as nannies. Nannies also look after your children, so picking the right person is extremely important, particularly if they live with you. Friends of ours have been through multiple nannies and it had not been a good experience.
Learning Chinese Online
There are online Chinese programs designed for adult English speakers. So far, I am unaware if you can find any online programs available for English speaking children.
Chinese Private Schools
Traditionally, non-public Chinese schools teach a kid the Chinese language when the child is old enough to sit still and copy characters. Most schools still use the method of rote teaching used in China and Taiwan. Children in the US are very independent, which means rote method might not be the best way for children to learn the words and characters. Instead, the Montessori or ESL method may be used to interest the kids to learn Chinese. These methods place emphasis on using Chinese in conversation . Other programs that teach using a lot of singing and other fun activities will certainly make children learn Chinese easier.
Summer Camps
Chinese summer camps expose the kid to full immersion of the Chinese language. Summer camps may be a weekend trip in america, a complete boarding school stay, or traveling to live for several weeks to China or Taiwan. There are few sites that produce the biggest set of Chinese summer camps available so stay tuned for updates.
Learn Chinese Materials
There are a lot of products available for sale to greatly help children learn Chinese. Books, videos, audio CDs/ cassettes and software can be used at home to understand Chinese. These materials not only expose the kid to vocabulary or tones, but additionally show the beauty of Chinese culture. These materials could also be used for parents and children to spend time together.
Books
A big challenge to teaching Chinese from books is that one parent/ adult should know how exactly to read it. For families that are starting to study from scratch together, bi-lingual books certainly are a big help. Story books that may be read alongside audio CDs are useful to understand the proper pronunciation. An excellent introductory book to reading and writing Chinese characters is Long may be the Dragon. For smaller children, I Won’t Bite is a very interesting material. Kids can touch and feel the several types of animal skin textures.
Videos
Videos teach through engaging visuals, songs, and repetitive vocabulary. Viewers will also be subjected to how different places and persons look like. In 1 DVD of the Follow Jade series, Teacher Jade would go to a Chinese Kindergarten. Children will be able to compare how their own school and classmates look like. The Bao Bei series has 5 enjoyable videos that teach Chinese vocabulary of plenty of common words. Bao Bei is a panda puppet that children should to study Chinese words.
Audio CDs
Chinese CDs could be grouped into 2:
o 100% Chinese songs and stories. Some do not have printed guides, others include a book/ booklet
o Learn-Chinese CDs specifically designed for all those learning Chinese as a second language. These CDs usually include books, booklets with Chinese, English and Pinyin. Songs are sung in both Chinese and English, or booklets show the English translations. For instance, the songs in Teach Me Chinese Book and CD are popular and sung in both English and Chinese. Parents may also learn songs to sing for their children, such as for example Happy Birthday. This series also has a Teacher Guide. Other Learn Chinese Book and CD series such as for example Sing and Learn Chinese Series and Let’s Sing Chinese also engages its listeners with interesting songs.