Teach Your Kids Chinese When It Is Not Your Native Language

Teach Your Kids Chinese When It Is Not Your Native Language.

When I talk about the Chinese language, I mean Mandarin. There are two questions that I hear from parents often.

Is it possible to introduce Mandarin Chinese to my child when I don’t speak Mandarin?
Will I be able to teach my kid Chinese when I don’t speak it perfectly?

If you have watched one of my Mandarin immersion programs for the little learners’ videos you will see the participated families. The truth is that about 99% of the families in the program have no Chinese language background.

Who are these parents?

Parents who are new to Mandarin but they want their young children to acquire Mandarin as a foreign or second language.
Parents who have Chinese heritage but need assistance with Mandarin.
Parents who are native or heritage Chinese speakers but their spouses don’t speak Mandarin

These parents are in the program to play in Mandarine with their young children together. When they go home from the weekly playgroup they listen to the Chinese -English bilingual lessons and songs every day. Every day!

They listen to the bilingual album during their commute or when they ride in the car. They play the album during the quiet time or playtime. When these parents are familiar with a Chinese song/expressions they use it with their children. The repetition is invaluable for the kids. It is in-class playing and learning and continued playing and learning at home with the audio program.

There is a routine.

It becomes a habit.

Gradually, acquiring Mandarin Chinese and exploring Chinese culture become their family’s lifestyle.

But, it might not have a fixed schedule. There is flexibility.

What these parents have done is doing it daily.

Consistent fun in the target language acquisition.

The routine that you establish builds up a habit. It’s a habit to include the Chinese language in your everyday life for your child.

It all begins with one word. One expression. One song. One short sentence. One short silly story…

And, it adds up day after day.

The truth is, there is no shortcut. It takes efforts.

Efforts. Not just for you but also for parents who are native speakers of any language trying to raising bilingual children in a country that their native language is not the community language.

There is always someone you don’t see when you come across a video on a social media post with a young child reading in a target language or speaking several languages effortlessly. There are a parent, both parents, grandparents, teachers, and/or tutors behind the scene to make this happen.

Social media does not show you the full picture. What you see is the result but what you really need to see is the process. The process of reaching the result is often missing in the post or is shared in limited pieces.

So as you watch the children who are singing and playing in Mandarin in my videos please note that it is not their first time singing the song, playing that game, or listening and following my directions.

Do these young kids have amazing language learning abilities? Absolutely.

Your child has that ability, too.

Are their parents surprised by how their children absorb a new language? Yes. Remember the day your child spoke his/her first word?

What these children have learned in a weekly class is merely enough to accomplish what you see in the videos.

It’s their parents who have made it happen for their kids. That is you.

These parents have been consistently providing the Chinese language input to their children with assistance from audio, visual, book resources after each class.

These parents don’t speak Chinese but they’ve successfully begun the journey to introduce Chinese to their children. They are learning along the way as well. And, they’ve been on the Chinese language learning journey ever since.

You will start this journey or you’ve started on the journey. What’s more important than starting is to stay on this journey. You will encounter challenges but you can overcome them with a bilingual/multilingual family community.

You will need to set a small budget each quarter for high-quality Mandarin resources, like audio streaming services, video streaming services, physical books with audio support, digital books with audio support, or Audible books with text support, qualified Mandarin programs for children, quality Mandarin language tools like online dictionaries, or working with a qualified tutor/teacher. These are all investments. An investment in your child’s language education and bilingual development.

Veteran homeschool parents like Eva and Gina have been on the journey for years. They’ve outsourced their teaching to tutors or weekend Chinese schools. They have used books and programs that have worked with their kids. More importantly, they’ve been staying on the journey without a gap. They have led their kids on the learning journey.

Eva at EvaVarga has great stories on her family’s Chinese language and culture learning journey.
Gina at Oaxacaborn shares her daughter’s interactive and fun Mandarin learning experience.
Sunny at Spot of Sunshine shares resources that she has been creating and curating for her young daughter and the bilingual Christian community.
Elizabeth Weise, author of A Parent’s Guide to Mandarin Immersion, has brought her children’s immersion school experience and expanded it to an abundant growing resource.

So the answers to the two of frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Is it possible to introduce Mandarin Chinese to my child when I don’t speak Mandarin?
Will I be able to teach my kid Chinese when I don’t speak it perfectly?

The answers to these two questions are YES and YES with your everyday consistent high-quality target language input.

You will need resources and you will need assistance from experienced educators as you and your child learn together and make progress on this journey. What is your main resource at the starting point and onward? You don’t need 10 things to start with. You just need to have one, two, or a maximum of 3. Stay with the resources you choose for a period of time. Review and reflect.

Kids model what parents do. So you will be the one to have fun with Mandarin.

The joy of learning is not a jargon it is a practice. A practice!

As you go in the process you are creating the result on the other side of the journey. But, first, you need to start and stay in the process. You are welcome to join our bilingual family community.

If you are a parent whose native language is not Chinese you can consider “Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda!” audio lesson album – it is now streaming on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, GooglePlay and all streaming platforms. To take you and your child further with the learning, there is a Companion Learning Guide and it is available here. The lyrics that go with the lessons are here for you to download.

From “Please give me…” to “The last one in the car is a stinky skunk!” this audio lesson program has engaged thousands of children and families in everyday Chinese with the story led adventure in English and Mandarin. There are over 100 commonly used Chinese words/expressions included in the program. There is a song that goes with each lesson.

This is NOT a music and song album. This is a creative, engaging, and carefully designed audio program that has even helped non-Chinese speaking parents prepare their children to attend the Chinese immersion school. With smile and confidence.

Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda, an audio album designed for parents whose native language is not Mandarin Chinese and who want to introduce basic Mandarin Chinese to young kids (recommended for age 8 and under) in a playful, engaging, and interactive way.

The lesson content of this album is tested in preschools and elementary schools in the States with over 300 students for a school year before its release. Miss Panda uses the Chinese English bilingual approach so you and your child can understand everything from the start. There is a companion learning guide to this album so you and your child can connect the spoken words with the written language.

Teach Your Kids Chinese When It Is Not Your Native Language

Teach Your Kids Chinese When It Is Not Your Native Language.

When I talk about the Chinese language, I mean Mandarin. There are two questions that I hear from parents often.

Is it possible to introduce Mandarin Chinese to my child when I don’t speak Mandarin?

Will I be able to teach my kid Chinese when I don’t speak it perfectly?

If you have watched one of my Mandarin immersion programs for the little learners’ videos you will see the participated families. The truth is that about 99% of the families in the program have no Chinese language background.

Who are these parents?

Parents who are new to Mandarin but they want their young children to acquire Mandarin as a foreign or second language.

Parents who have Chinese heritage but need assistance with Mandarin.

Parents who are native or heritage Chinese speakers but their spouses don’t speak Mandarin

These parents are in the program to play in Mandarine with their young children together. When they go home from the weekly playgroup they listen to the Chinese -English bilingual lessons and songs every day. Every day!

There is a routine.

It becomes a habit.

Gradually, acquiring Mandarin Chinese and exploring Chinese culture become their family’s lifestyle.

But, it might not have a fixed schedule. There is flexibility.

What these parents have done is doing it daily.

Consistent fun in the target language acquisition.

The routine that you establish builds up a habit. It’s a habit to include the Chinese language in your everyday life for your child.

It all begins with one word. One expression. One song. One short sentence. One short silly story…

And, it adds up day after day.

The truth is, there is no shortcut. It takes efforts.

Efforts. Not just for you but also for parents who are native speakers of any language trying to raising bilingual children in a country that their native language is not the community language.

There is always someone you don’t see when you come across a video on a social media post with a young child reading in a target language or speaking several languages effortlessly. There are a parent, both parents, grandparents, teachers, and/or tutors behind the scene to make this happen.

Social media does not show you the full picture. What you see is the result but what you really need to see is the process. The process of reaching the result is often missing in the post or is shared in limited pieces.

So as you watch the children who are singing and playing in Mandarin in my videos please note that it is not their first time singing the song, playing that game, or listening and following my directions.

Do these young kids have amazing language learning abilities? Absolutely.

Your child has that ability, too.

Are their parents surprised by how their children absorb a new language? Yes. Remember the day your child spoke his/her first word?

What these children have learned in a weekly class is merely enough to accomplish what you see in the videos.

It’s their parents who have made it happen for their kids. That is you.

These parents have been consistently providing the Chinese language input to their children with assistance from audio, visual, book resources after each class.

These parents don’t speak Chinese but they’ve successfully begun the journey to introduce Chinese to their children. They are learning along the way as well. And, they’ve been on the Chinese language learning journey ever since.

You will start this journey or you’ve started on the journey. What’s more important than starting is to stay on this journey. You will encounter challenges but you can overcome them with a bilingual/multilingual family community.

Eva at EvaVarga has great stories on her family’s Chinese language and culture learning journey.

Gina at Oaxacaborn shares her daughter’s interactive and fun Mandarin learning experience.

Sunny at Spot of Sunshine shares resources that she has been creating and curating for her young daughter and the bilingual Christian community.

Elizabeth Weise, author of A Parent’s Guide to Mandarin Immersion, has brought her children’s immersion school experience and expanded it to an abundant growing resource.

So the answers to the two of frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Is it possible to introduce Mandarin Chinese to my child when I don’t speak Mandarin?

Will I be able to teach my kid Chinese when I don’t speak it perfectly?

The answers to these two questions are YES and YES with your everyday consistent high-quality target language input.

Kids model what parents do. So you will be the one to have fun with Mandarin.

The joy of learning is not a jargon it is a practice. A practice!

As you go in the process you are creating the result on the other side of the journey. But, first, you need to start and stay in the process. You are welcome to join our bilingual family community.

This is NOT a music and song album. This is a creative, engaging, and carefully designed audio program that has even helped non-Chinese speaking parents prepare their children to attend the Chinese immersion school. With smile and confidence.

Let’s Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda, an audio album designed for parents whose native language is not Mandarin Chinese and who want to introduce basic Mandarin Chinese to young kids (recommended for age 8 and under) in a playful, engaging, and interactive way.

Hope to see you and your child in the program!

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