Struggling to support your child when it comes to speaking Chinese in Singapore? Here's how to help little bilinguists improve their Mandarin at home
Trying to teach your child how to speak Mandarin in Singapore and finding it a little tough? We get it – at two years old, our little ones are flat out developing their English vocab and making it to the potty on time. It’s hard to pin them down for more than a nano-second, let alone hold their attention span long enough to say Gong Xi Fa Cai. But, Faith Leng, Mandarin Nursery teacher at the Australian International School, believes little sponges can start picking up Mandarin right from the early years. Here, she gives us some tips and tricks for supporting your budding bilinguist to learn Chinese here in Singapore.
Faith, we know you have been improving young minds through language for years. How do you do it?
I use purposeful play throughout my lessons, getting the children to take part in fun and engaging activities such as interactive games, song and dance and role-playing. It’s all about having fun in an enriching environment. Not all the students can read and write Chinese characters at the end of the year, but that’s not the goal. My aim is to build a strong foundation for the language by capturing the children’s interest.
Once the school bell goes, what can we do from home to boost language acquisition?
The importance of the role of parents in reinforcing the lessons learnt at school should not be underestimated. Here are three key areas to focus on:
- Immerse your child in the sounds of Mandarin – Check out YouTube to find Mandarin nursery songs and cartoons to watch or sing along to with your child. Basho & Friends have posted some great videos. Repetition is crucial. Familiarity with the way Mandarin sounds is one of the first steps in the learning process.
- Work with your child’s teacher – Your child’s Mandarin teacher is the best person to talk to about your child’s skill level and preferred learning method. All kids are different, with some learning through singing, and others engaging best with play-acting.
- Make your child the star of the show – Most kids love the limelight! In the AIS Early Years Centre we regularly use the kids’ pictures and record their voices singing a Chinese nursery song. They get very excited and want to learn and practice singing again and again. All you need at home is a song, a phone to record, and a little imagination.
Millennial kids are wired to learn through technology. Are there any Mandarin-learning apps that you would recommend?
At AIS we harness the power of computers as an educational tool. Here are a few of the apps that our kids find useful:
- Disney’s Learn Chinese: Toy Story 3: Learn Chinese with Woody and Buzz and the beloved characters of Toy Story 3 using Disney’s Chinese App. The app features an e-book with five different language levels, ranging from all English to all Chinese, and you can swipe a word to reveal its foreign language counterpart.
- Fun Chinese by Study Cat: These learning games for ages 3 – 10 include memory matching games, colour recognition puzzles and other fun activities.
- Youku HD: Youku is the Chinese version of YouTube. Immerse your child in Chinese media and watch Chinese cartoons and music videos. They may not understand much initially, but will become accustomed to the sound of Mandarin.
- Kids way to Chinese: This series of four iPad Apps includes familiar short fairy tale stories, songs and fun games designed to engage and entertain children.
It’s all about Chinese New Year right now, with preparations in full swing around the island. Do you have any CNY specific teaching aids?
As 2015 is the Year of the Goat, why not learn a little about the 12 Chinese zodiac animals?
- Can your little one roar as loud as a dragon or bleat as softly as a goat? Print out these flashcards of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals and see if you can make the best imitation noises for each animal.
- Print out another copy of the animal flashcards and play a game of memory. Test your child’s recall to see if they can match two of the same animal pictures.
And just for a bit of fun for the whole family, here are some common Chinese New Year phrases (and their translations) to use over the festive period:
- Gong xi fa cai – Congratulations and Prosperity
- Xin nian kuai le – Happy New Year
- Sui sui ping an – Said if something breaks during New Year to ward off bad luck
- Chu jiu bu xin – Replace the old with the new (proverb)
- Gong xi fa cai, hong bao na lai – Happy New Year, now give me a red envelope!
Thanks Faith, your fun ideas are bound to get the kids excited to do their homework for a change. And if not, we plan to use red packets as a bribe!
This post is sponsored by Australian International School
Australian International School Pte Ltd is registered by the Council for Private Education. CPE Registration Number 199204405H. Period of Registration 6 July 2011 to 5 July 2015