Be like water. It is a Chinese saying 滴水穿石 “dī shuǐ chuān shí.” It literally means dripping water penetrates the stone. Four simple words with a powerful message. It is persistent and it is perseverance.
Drip, drip, drip. Little by little. Remember when your child spoke her first word? It usually takes about a year for us to hear our babies’ first word. Remember the excitement? First word! Then, one word after another. One phrase then two. Here comes a sentence!
We talk to our babies before they start talking. We just keep talking to them, singing to them, and reading to them. That is language input. That is a lot of language input. The time before a baby starts talking she is paying attention to all the sound around her. She is listening to the conversation, all the languages and sound around her.
I remember the time I taught my daughter the sounds of animals in Chinese. She was so little. But, she was having fun with different kinds of sounds.
Many people knew she was able to make a few animal sounds. So moms in the babies and tots playgroup would ask her, “What does a chicken say?” “What does a monkey say?” Everyone cheered for her when she answered with the coordinating sound. This little toddler beamed and was thrilled to see the response from her audience.
She didn’t learn the sounds in one day. We played with stuffed animals. She waddled around the house with her plush toys and made the funny noise she could recall for days. This process is playful. It is learning. And, it is consistent. More important, there is celebration!
When we introduce a new language to our children the process is the same. Our kids need to hear the target language. They need to hear Mandarin Chinese on a consistent basis. Songs and nursery rhymes are always a good start.
Five minutes a day to start with. Once in the morning. If possible, once in the afternoon or in the evening. Everyday.
Consistency. That is one way to interpret “Be like water” on the bilingual journey
Tools to use for parents to guide kids to play in Mandarin
First Mandarin Sounds: an awesome Chinese word book Now available – Traditional Chinese. Simplified Chinese
“Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda!” audio streaming album on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify
Play and Learning digital books by topics
Image by Photo by Eric Welch
Be Like Water – Teach Your Child A Second Language