First Mandarin Sounds an awesome Chinese word book

Big News!

A debut children’s picture word book by Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett “Miss Panda” is now available worldwide!

There are two versions to choose from to fit your need.

Traditional Chinese. Pinyin, English edition

Simplified Chinese. Pinyin. English edition

Keep reading…there is also BONUS material.

The first step to early Mandarin Chinese literacy is learning the first words and sounds.

“First Mandarin Sounds” provides children, parents, and educators with a fun introduction to each of the thirty-seven essential sounds of the Mandarin Chinese language. Using playful words and basic sounds.

With vibrant illustrations, a “look & find” design, and complimentary audio support, “First Mandarin Sounds” helps readers connect the right Mandarin sounds with some of the most commonly-used Chinese words. This is a tool for parents to guide children to learn how to pronounce Mandarin words in Pinyin spelling accurately.

You can order from Amazon by clicking here. Traditional version. Simplified version.

Does Pinyin, the romanized Chinese words sound like the English alphabet? Not really. This picture word book shows you what the essential Pinyin spellings sound like in Mandarin with meaningful Chinese words that are relevant to your child’s daily life.

This children’s picture book is written in Chinese characters, Pinyin and English. Both Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese versions are available.

To further support the learning, There is bonus material of complimentary audio and playsheets for adult readers to guide children in learning the sounds and featured Chinese words in the book.

Read, play and learn! Let’s always keep learning fun.

First Mandarin Sounds is a totally amazing beginner’s guide to pronunciation in Mandarin Chinese. It ticks all of my boxes for a great resource for my homeschooling, non-native speaking, learns as you go, Mandarin classes as Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett, in her own unique way brings words and learning to life. I think kids of all ages would be helped with their Mandarin Lessons from this book, and love it! The illustrations are engaging and fun! If you are adding one new resource for your beginning Mandarin journey, for any age, this is the one I would suggest! –Jaye, goodreads

Miss Panda Chinese Joy of Learning for Everyone!

La Ba Festival – Exploring World Culture with Kids

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Bilingual Parenting, Chinese culture for kids

La Ba Festival | Chinese Culture | MissPandaChinese.com

La Ba Festival La Ba Festival is an important day leading to the Spring Festival, Lunar New Year. It is the day that kicks off the preparation for the Lunar New Year. Laba always falls on the 8th day of the last month on the Chinese lunar calendar 農曆 |农历. It will be on January 2, 2020, in the year of the PIG. The last month on the lunar calendar is called “La Yue” 臘月| 腊月

Perfect Timing

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Bilingual Parenting, Teaching Chinese to Children

Perfect Timing – Teach Your Child A Second Language What is perfect timing? Look at the big picture it can be when to start teaching your child a second language. When looking at the day-to-day learning it could be when your child is at the peak of the day to try something new. Babies are great with languages. They listen to the sounds around them even before they were born. Dr. Patricia Khul, co-director of the Institute

Happy Holidays Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah – World Culture for Families

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Teaching Chinese to Children, World Culture for Kids

happy holidays merry christmas - world culture for kids | misspandachinese.com

Happy Holidays Merry Christmas HappyHanukkah The holiday season is an exciting time for children. First, there is winter break, that means no school for the kids! Next, it comes with family gatherings and travel. What else? It is a special time for baking, cooking, events, volunteering and time with the extended family… What should we say to friends during the holiday season? With our diverse community, families are more mindful of different cultures and traditions in the

Input and Output – Teach Your Child A Second Language

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Bilingual Parenting, Teaching Chinese to Children

Input and Output – Teach Your Child A Second Language Kids get excited to save money in their piggy banks. They shake it, wiggle it, and peek inside. Is it heavier today than yesterday? Language input is like saving in the piggy bank. What you say to your child is language input. What you read to your child is language input. The books you have at home is providing visual input. The posters with text, games with

Work Together – Raise a Bilingual Child

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Bilingual Parenting, Teaching Chinese to Children

Work Together Team Work - Bilingual Parenting | misspandachinese.com

Work Together – Raise a Bilingual Child Together is better. When parents work together toward the same goal you have a team. It is very much like team work on a project, in the office, or at work. You will need to work together. When you lead at work you have your team on your side to work with you. It is great to have support from your team when you introduce a new language to your

Your Time Is Precious

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Bilingual Parenting, Teaching Chinese to Children

Your Time Is Precious Your time is precious. As much as you want your child to be engaged in the learning. You, as a parent, need to be in the moment as well. There are many resources but you actually only need one to start with. You can aim for 30, 45, or 60 minutes a day but I often say it is a good idea to start with just five minutes. Quality over quantity. How about

Time and Place Approach for Parents Who Are New to Chinese – Raise A Bilingual Child

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Bilingual Parenting, Teaching Chinese to Children

Time and Place approach - Raise A Bilingual Child | misspandachinese.com

Time and Place Approach Raising bilingual kids is an exciting journey and there are different methods that you can use. Which method will work for your child and your family? Do you need to be bilingual or have a high proficiency in the target language to introduce the language to your child? What if you are learning the Chinese language as you are teaching it to your child? The goal for the parents is the same. Parents

Minority Language At Home MLAH Approach – Raise A Bilingual Child

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Bilingual Parenting, Teaching Chinese to Children

Minority Language At Home MLAH - Raise A Bilingual Child | misspandachinese.com

Minority Language At Home MLAH – Raise A Bilingual Child Speaking more than one language is the norm in many countries. A person might be speaking one language at work and speak another one or two languages at home. This is very common in some European countries. You also see it in Indian, Malaysia, Singapore, Malaysia, Africa, and China. Bilingualism seems natural in these countries. Dr. François Grosjean, Psycholinguist, and Professor Emeritus and former Director of

One Person One Language OPOL Approach – Raise A Bilingual Child

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Bilingual Parenting, Teaching Chinese to Children

one person one language approach | misspandachinese.com

one person one language (OPOL) approach When I met Annie at a party, she was about three years old. Her Dad’s native language is English and her mother’s native language is French. Both parents are fluent in each other’s native language. The Dad only speaks English to Annie and the mother only spoke French. She is now in college and is bilingual in English and French, although dominant in English. Her parents used the one person-one language

The Impact of Curiosity

By Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett on / Bilingual Parenting, Teaching Chinese to Children

The Impact of Curiosity When there is curiosity there is learning. You want to find out where your friend buys that amazing birthday cake so you make efforts to find out. Your little child wants to know how to open the drawers so she stands there to play with the drawers and figure it out. And, a student of mine who wanted me to teach more Chinese characters to the class so he brought his brother’s Japanese