Teaching Children Chinese

[muyongshi]

Okay, I have seen a few random posts here and there and a few random books here in there that deal with teaching children Chinese but I think the topic and situation warrants it's own post for collective information on the subject.

I have a friend of a friend (I hate how that works) that is moving to the states to be a Chinese teacher in a household there (don't ask details, like I said a friend of a friend).

They are looking both for advice in methods of how to teach these children (all under 10 I believe) and is looking for books/resources to help get it accomplished.

Any one have any experience with this, any materials they found to be good, etc?? Thanks in advance!

[monto]

For children under 10, I think, some 看图识字 cards may be helpful. Of course not intended to learn the characters, just to learn how to say (pronuciation) them.

[PangPang]

Two thoughts:

1) Presumably the objective is to teach the children to be bilingual or multilingual. This is a common objective, of course, and not just for Mandarin speakers. Your friend of a friend, or the parents of the children should consider reading a book such as "Raising a Bilingual Child" by Barbara Pearson. It goes over common techniques such as "One Parent One Language", whereby one parent always speaks in the minority language (and may only respond if the child speaks in that language). It has other techniques and many tips too. They could also look at some of the forums and websites out there about multiligualism too.

2) Depending on the age and ability of the children to understand/speak Mandarin, your friend's friend might consider using cartoons such as Doraemon or 我们这一家, which can be found on the Internet in the usual places. Pop songs and music videos might work too. The idea is to make things fun. It's easy to alienate the kids if you try too hard.