David Wong Posted February 10, 2011 at 03:27 PM Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 at 03:27 PM I have been looking for some toys to help my 5 year old daughter to learn Chinese characters and their pinyin without the need for close supervision. I have seen games and toys that involve characters written on blocks or dominoes, but those look like they would require a teacher to teach the pinyin and meaning of each character. My daughter's first language is English but she started learning to speak Mandarin about a year ago. Her vocabulary might be roughly equivalent to 3-year-old native Mandarin speaker. She speaks Mandarin exclusively with her sitter. I would like her to start recognizing characters, expand her vocab and practice some writing. I'm thinking an electronic toy that can show characters as well as play the sound in pinyin would be ideal, but have so far been unable to find anything like that. An iPod touch with the right software might work, but she'll probably end up using it to watch cartoons on youtube instead. We got her children's books in Chinese, but she's much more interested in her English language books. So I'm looking for ideas to make learning Chinese fun for her. Thanks in advance for any suggestion you might have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaotao Posted February 10, 2011 at 05:02 PM Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 at 05:02 PM There is a DS game to learn Chinese. You can check it out at Amazon. I have seen a Chinese learning video program called "After School Chinese." You can see the promo clip on youtube. They have it for sale at AFK.com. There are 4 levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted February 10, 2011 at 05:05 PM Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 at 05:05 PM How about audio stories? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feihong Posted February 10, 2011 at 06:12 PM Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 at 06:12 PM The poster above is referring to the My Chinese Coach game for the Nintendo DS. I too have heard of this game, but apparently it is saddled with obvious errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleaves Posted February 10, 2011 at 06:48 PM Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 at 06:48 PM I don't have ideas on toys, but - Maybe Disney/Pixar movies in Chinese? Or maybe some Chinese cartoons like 喜羊羊? I've heard people mention Chinasprout.com for ordering kids stuff. Something like this looks fun. I've also seen betterchinese.com mentioned. See this thread, especially the link from creamyhorror. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cababunga Posted February 10, 2011 at 10:30 PM Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 at 10:30 PM An iPod touch with the right software might work, but she'll probably end up using it to watch cartoons on youtube instead. Hmm... What if you don't tell her password on your WiFi router? Do you think she'd still be able to crack it to watch youtube? You can also look for some cheaper with bigger screen Android tablets. Something like this http://www.dealextreme.com/p/7-touch-screen-lcd-google-android-2-1-tablet-pc-w-wifi-camera-hdmi-tf-2-mini-usb-arm11-800mhz-54065. Seems like there are some application for Android that you may find suitable http://www.appbrain.com/app/chinese-characters-quiz/nba.ChineseQuiz http://www.androidzoom.com/android_games/brain_puzzle/learning-chinese_cipo.html http://www.androidzoom.com/uk/android_applications/chinese%20characters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Wong Posted February 11, 2011 at 03:04 PM Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 at 03:04 PM Thanks for all the useful suggestions! Hmm... What if you don't tell her password on your WiFi router? Do you think she'd still be able to crack it to watch youtube? Good point! It did not occur to me to disable the wifi. Now that makes it a viable option - sifting through and downloading apps onto my phone as I type. Will test-drive with the kid before I take the plunge on a new device. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisha2766 Posted April 25, 2011 at 05:48 AM Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 at 05:48 AM If you do find some other toys - please post what you find. I have a 2.5 yr., still a little early for her to start learning characters, but I'm still looking around a bit to see what is available. You might want to consider these too: http://chinasprout.com/shop/VVL071 I have one of the Sing to Learn Chinese dvd's, I wasn't that impressed, at least at first, but my daughter loves it. They are made in Singapore though, I'm not too sure how different their pronunciation is, some words sound a little different to me but I don't think enough to be a problem. This looks like it might be good too, but I don't have it yet either: http://chinasprout.com/shop/BLF070 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and select your username and password later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.