I Love Chinese

CREATE THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT Every child needs exposure to a language in order to learn it. Listening to nursery rhymes, watching cartoons, and speaking to family members or friends in Chinese, will help build up his vocabulary.

GET PROFESSIONAL HELP A young child’s mind is susceptible to all influences, whether good or bad. So if you can’t coach him directly, seek professional support. It is crucial that the school curriculum takes care of his emotional readiness besides training him with new knowledge.

OFFER ENCOURAGEMENT Even if as parents, you do not have a strong foundation in Chinese, learning the language together with your child helps to ease him into it. Do praise him in clear ways such as, “You can sing 10 more nursery rhymes”. This will enable him to concretely understand his own growth and improvement.

MONITOR HIS PROGRESS To keep your child on the right track, checks that he is speaking the language regularly and continues reading Chinese books. Continue to compliment him when he makes an effort to improve. Should he falter, do find out the underlying reasons calmly. Sometimes, young children might not be able to express their thoughts, so it is important for parents not to lose their temper.

BE CREATIVE All paths lead to Rome. A parent I know term every Wednesday the family’s “Chinese Day”. Everyone, including their helper, has to speak Chinese that day. With strong parental love, even shopping for groceries can be a fun session in learning Chinese. The point is to help your child enjoy the process of learning the language and not to fear it.

Wang Qun
Curriculum Manager
Berries World of Learning School