Mandarin for children

[mimi2930]

My son (10 yrs old) has expressed an interest in learning to speak Mandarin, does anyone know of any programs that are more for children that are worth the money?

I've looked at a few of the dvd programs, one was After School Chinese for $200.00

[kudra]

try this thread

http://www.chinese-forums.com/showpost.php?p=53618

I've had trouble finding stuff for kids too since I am not crazy about kids watching video.

google for muzzy and see if the age is ok. i think they have trial offers, so if it's not right, you should be able to return it.

[MerryHearted]

I've not heard good things about Muzzy -- video quality bad, not worth the money, that sort of thing.

At age 10, he could probably do just fine with something like Rosetta Stone.

Also, check out ChinaSprout.com. If you go to their Learning Chinese section, they've got a whole bunch of stuff for kids. It's broken down into Elementary, Middle School, High School too, so you can probably look in both Elementary and Middle School sections. Don't forget there are page numbers in a very light grey in the upper right -- there is more than one page of materials in each section.

[haidong]

I actually have great experience with Muzzy Chinese.

Granted, Muzzy Chinese is based on the BBC program developed a while ago, so the video is not state of the art in today's standards, but I found the DVD video quality to be decent.

We got it last year, when it first came out. The program is very interactive and engaging. My son is learning without even knowing it.

I have more comment here on my blog:

http://www.haidongji.com/2005/11/22/muzzy-is-great/

Thanks for the info on ChinaSprout.com. I will check it out.

[Toffeeliz]

I'm quite scared of Muzzy - I remember the Muzzy adverts, the animation was so bad I wanted to burn out my eyes. It doesn't surprise me that they have made a Mandarin version though. it;s sneaking into the western limelight and we are the poeple who are noticing it.

[haidong]

As mentioned earlier, my son and I really enjoyed Muzzy. In fact, we just watched them again over the past weekend.

As I said, I think it is a great program for kids to learn Mandarin Chinese. I highly recommend it, without any hesitation, to any parents who are interested in teaching their children Chinese.

It certainly didn't burn out our eyes. The video output from the DVD, connected to our Samsung monitor, was quite good.

[baining tang]

Not a fan of Muzzy either! Especially for 10 year old! Sorry! My boys did watch it over and over but the material did not stay in those cute little heads! Actually I don't really like having to sit my kids in front of the tv to learn stuff either so that could just be me. I have had a lot of success with teaching my boys with methods like Total Physical Response and other interactive methods. Learn Chinese with him also if you don't already know it. The more interactive my husband and I are with our two boys the more they retain. I think it is good to associate fun and good feelings with Chinese for young kids so they will want to continue with it past living at home. I would love to know any other hands on activities for learning out there if there are any comments on that. Love to hear your comments!

[TeresaWI]

My daughter is doing well with Better Chinese. (I'm learning along with her)

[baining tang]

Hi, I actually have this program(Better Chinese) on my site to see if anyone could review it for me. I don't like all the programs that just cover vocabulary and I heard this is pretty good with grammar. If you(the commenter on Better Chinese right before this) have time could you tell me what you like about the program, dislike? What content does it teach? How is the grammar and how are the readers? How old is you daughter. If you have time I would really like to know more about it. You could also go to my review page if you want, it is at http://madarinkids@wordpress.com/ - If you don't have time no worries:wink: I just hate to spend money on a program if I only hear that it is good from the products own site. Thanks again, Baining

[xiaotao]

Mimi,

I have seen After School Chinese on the CCTV channel before the DVDs came out. I think they do a good job of introducing situational Chinese in every episode.

[TeresaWI]

baining tang

We're using My First Chinese Reader vol. 1 from Better Chinese. Each chapter has a short dialogue between kids/teachers/parents. It's written with characters (you can get simplified or traditional) and pinyin. The words are defined in English at the end of the chapter. There are 2 workbooks for each level. One is for practicing writing the characters and also has flashcards to tear out for each chapter. The other has various games/activities for each chapter. I ordered the teacher's guide and am glad, as it gives many ideas of other things to do with the child. It's written assuming that you're teaching many children, but most things will work with just one. I was bummed that the teacher's guide was so expensive...for the English version, that is, but it's worth it, I think. I have zero background in Mandarin and we're doing pretty well. We do have access to some native speakers and that has helped my daughter, I think.

I also bought the 6 month online lesson for my daughter. It's the same dialogue from the textbook, but animated. For each chapter there is the lesson story, a "fun story", "Magical Chinese" which is an animated piece that ends with you learning how to write a character. There is a song/rhyme and a few short games/exercises.

You can get a free (2-week I think) trial of the online lessons on their site. I believe that that is for the lower level: My First Chinese Words, but it will give you a feel for how it works.

[baining tang]

Teresa,

Hi thank you so much! Do you mind if I put this info on my site as a review? I thought about a link but it is way down on the page. I could quote parts or just put the whole thing on as a post from you. I think a lot of parents are curious about this set but don't want to spend the upfront to try another lame program. However it works out thank you so much for your reply!

Wo hen ganxie! I really appreciate it!

[TeresaWI]

baining tang

If you think it would be helpful to others, go ahead and use it.

I'd like to get in touch with you via email. If you click on my name you can send me an email from my profile.