“Dinosaurs are coming! They are coming!”
“Come! Dinosaur Come! Come!”
“Go! Dinosaur go! Go!”
Kids are excited about the game.
Last time, the boys told me they love dinosaurs. So, when they saw me taking out my “precious” collection they were thrilled. First, we talked about the names of the dinosaur and the dragon. These are 恐龍 kǒng lóng 恐龙, I pointed to the dinosaurs.
“Are Chinese dragons called 恐龍 kǒng lóng 恐龙?” I asked them. “龍 lóng 龙 (dragon), it has the same lóng in “kǒng lóng,” one boy provided the information. “It is Chinese dragon!” another said.
It is wonderful to see how the kids connect the Chinese language with culture.
We stacked up the cups and built a wall between the dinosaurs. The two sides were passionately rooting for their team in Chinese.
Learning is quite exciting! It should be.
Teach with what the kids enjoy and set the scene for the session. It is something we can create at home.
These boys are young dinosaur experts. It is quite impressive to hear them telling me what they know about dinosaurs. I keep the language in Chinese even though they are so eager to share what they know with me in English. It is okay.
We are guiding them in the lesson with the leading actor they love. Mine are the dinosaurs.
Teaching the target language with the target language. It provides the kids language input in Mandarin. At the same time, they are drawn to the topic you have prepared for them. I call it personalized learning experience. You cater to the interests of the children and you add the target language to playing.
When Mandarin is not your native language you have handy tools like Pleco, MDBG, and archChinese for the words or expressions you need. In addition, the educational program, Dinosaur Train is available in Mandarin if your young scientist want to experience the show in Chinese.
What will be the leading actor in your next Chinese session with your child? Think about what make them excited and start there.
photo image by Emily Bell.
