[How to choose an online course to learn Chinese?]

On 7/27/2022 at 7:01 AM, Renai said:

There are a few sources. Our family has been using Lingobus (off and on) for the past 3 years, and they have a systematic curriculum and well-trained teachers. I saw your post on the bilingual board and see your daughter is 5. Lingobus is excellent for that age (it goes through age 15, my daughter is now 11). Here is a referral link if you are interested. You can get a free demo class, and free classes if you sign up.  https://www.lingobus.com/?referralCode=8ZMEL6&channel=referral_copy 

I agree with the poster on the other board that mentioned participating with her. As an example, our family participates in Mandarin Morning, which is during breakfast time. During that time, we use the Chinese we know (we started when she had learned "I like, I don't like," and a couple of foods in Lingobus) and watch Chinese tv. We do focused listening while watching tv, meaning we are listening for words we know. I started with watching things like Little Fox Chinese on YouTube, as they have recognizable translated songs, as well as other songs and short stories. The website has the videos too, along with vocabulary, printable books, and games for each story episode. It is pretty comprehensive for being free.

For other classes, if you are on FaceBook, I suggest the group "Classes for kids in Chinese and Spanish." Although you aren't learning Spanish, I have found this group lists so many resources for Chinese classes, including reviews of different sites. We have found a Chinese art teacher and a woman who teaches Chinese with a Christian perspective in this group. There are a lot more - science, history, reading, or just conversation. There is a lot out there. But my favorite hands-down is still Lingobus, as they are just equipped for what they do and for the ages they do it. I used to work for the sister company, teaching English to Chinese students, and know how the teachers are trained. They are top-notch, and the curriculum is well put together.

Another site to try is Outschool. I am a teacher on there, and my daughter takes classes on there. There are many Chinese teachers there as well, with a variety of price points. She has taken an immersion math class, and has another favorite teacher that isn't immersion-based. The FB group I posted above sometimes will post about different classes on Outschool they are enjoying as well.

I hope this information is helpful.

lingobus is a very good choice, my child had a trial lesson with them, and she is still highly fond of her teacher. Also, I have tried several different schools, and I have to say that finding a suitable teacher is a rather time-consuming process.

In the end, my child chose echineselearning and arranged a trial lesson. Hopefully she can persevere…
eChineseLearning was recommended by one of the neighbours in the local community
echineselearning was recommended by a neighbor in my community. Her children have studied with echineselearning for 4 years, and their Chinese levels are rather good now.

My child tried lingobus first, and after setting the time for her class, she could already create an account on their website, allowing her to access the lesson material in advance, which I think was great. My child said she liked the class because the teacher was very lively. A few days later, she took another class, and what impressed me was that after she finished the first class, she asked me: Mom, when will the second class be? I was a little surprised. Beforehand, I thought she was not a child who liked studying very much. I asked her why she still wanted to go to class, and she said because it was fun.

Later I learned that my daughter likes the courseware of echineselearning. They introduced it as the latest generation of courseware. The name is quite long and I can't  quite remember it. But in essence, children learn Chinese in a way which resembles playing games. I tried it and it was very interesting, no wonder she liked it!
I hope I don't have to select another school for my daughter again, as she loves eChineseLearning.com

 

[How to choose an online course to learn Chinese?]

My daughter has been learning Chinese for a while, she takes some Chinese classes at school, but the teacher is not Chinese, so her Chinese is not very good yet. We also want him to learn Chinese well so that he will have more options in the future. My friend recommended me to find an online Chinese teacher for my daughter. I have searched for a few online online lesson sites, and I have taken some free lessons so far, but the teacher could not systematically make a learning plan for my daughter before I booked the lessons, and I would like to know if there is a better site for non-Chinese children to learn Chinese.

[Requiring children to respond in second language?]

My daughter is 5 years old and she is learning Chinese. Sometimes when she is enjoying her time, she will hum a Chinese children's song or two that we learned together. One time she said a Chinese phrase that I didn't understand and she seemed to think that was funny, so she started to answer my questions in the Chinese she had learned a lot. I think this is a good thing because her goal in learning Chinese is to be able to converse with others in Chinese.
I think if your child is very young, you don't have to force him to answer you in a second language, you can let him talk to you in a second language as if you were playing with him, so he will be less offended.

[French or Chinese??]

I think with the way things are going, there is no harm in letting your child master one more language, be it French or Chinese, the main thing is that your child is interested, you can try to tell your child about the history of France and China and see which culture he is more interested in. My child likes The Journey to the West and I am also interested in Chinese culture, so we are learning Chinese together, because we didn't know anything about Chinese before, so we found a one-on-one Chinese teacher on eChineseLearning to give her a Chinese lesson every week. If your child is interested in Chinese, you can book a free trial lesson to try it out.

[How to kindle my daughter's interest in learning Mandarin?]

23 hours ago, Clarita said:

So, gently it's hard to learn a foreign language. There is no better way for your daughter to learn a foreign language than to see you put in the effort to learn it as well. Yes there are some kids who decide on their own they want to put forth effort to learn a foreign language on their own and do it without anyone around them also doing it. Aside from that I think the best way is for a child to have a real life reason to learn a language and to have someone they can regularly have conversation in that foreign language, not a class but real conversation.

That said I bought this book and it's really help me. It has everyday phrases for parents and kids so you can slowly incorporate more Chinese into your everyday. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1838209506?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Speaking from experience my 5 year old does so much better when I participate in Chinese class with him. Whether the class is in-person or online. I'll review what the teacher did in class with him throughout the week. I've seen that when I put forth the effort to learn it resonates with him and he is more motivated to learn as well.

Thanks for sharing, you are indeed a great example for me to learn from! I'd like to try this for sure.

[How to kindle my daughter's interest in learning Mandarin?]

My daughter just started learning Chinese, she is only 5 years old and sometimes she can't settle down and concentrate on her studies.

I found her a one-on-one online teacher, but she had a hard time sticking to a whole lesson, which is 25 minutes. On the advice of her Chinese teacher, I found some simple Chinese children's songs for her to listen to and sometimes sing along with her. I think this is a very good way for her to learn Chinese.

But I don't know Chinese, and some of the songs are a little difficult for me to learn. Is there a better way to get her interest on learning Chinese?