Amy Stewart Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 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. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Stewart Posted July 20, 2022 Author Share Posted July 20, 2022 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer&Mom Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 There are some great channels on YouTube with cartoons of Chinese kids songs. These are aimed at native kids and have pretty sleek production values. My kids enjoyed them a lot. I would also recommend just watching cartoons in Chinese. I thought my kids wouldn’t watch a cartoon they didn’t understand. I was very, very wrong. Peppa Pig for example is easy to find in Chinese on YouTube for example. 25 minutes is a long lesson for a five year old. I do daily ten minute French lessons with my 9 year old. Perhaps a shorter lesson would work better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 Also don't beat yourself up over your 5 year old struggling during the 25 minute session. It's not easy for every 5 year old to sit through 25 minute online lessons (mine really struggled, I had to attend with him otherwise he wouldn't even be in front of the screen after 10 minutes). That's when I really found review some of the stuff from class during our regular day together really helped. Then I could do just 2-5 minute spurts with him really helped. We may sing 5 - 6 songs/stories in class and I would go over 1 of them during the 4-6 days that week. I'd pick one he seemed to like and just get excited singing it together (sometimes just me). I also got a C-Pen, it's a reader pen that you can record to. You can poke stickers with it and it will play back your recording.https://glorias-bookstore.com/collections/c-pen/products/32g-c-pen-c-pen-2-0-us-exclusive-32g. Teacher would give me mp3 of the songs we sing and the lyrics. I put the lyrics in the binder and the mp3 in the pen. My child randomly started recognizing characters from that (not a lot and not consistent but every little bit is a bonus). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
middlelandia Posted August 19, 2022 Share Posted August 19, 2022 We have them watch TV in Chinese from M-F. It's a good motivation to learn Chinese. To find shows, you can just change the language in Netflix and many kids shows are dubbed in Chinese. This website also has a ton of good advice and is written from the perspective of 2 parents who can't speak Chinese teaching their kids chinese:https://lahlahbanana.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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