Home of the teach kids Chinese podcast, and blogging about resources to help teach kids Chinese.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
A Little Mandarin giveaway!
We are very excited to team up with Toni Wang to give away 2 copies of her album "A Little Mandarin"! We previously reviewed this excellent CD of Chinese children's music here. You can sample the music on Amazon or through Soundcloud. It was and still is our favorite collection of Chinese children's music. It's easy to buy on Amazon, and the digital album is only $8.99!
If you're feeling lucky, however, enter our contest to win it for free! We are giving away 2 copies!
Here are the rules and how to enter:
UPDATE: Here are the winners!
Thank you everyone for entering our contest! It was very fun to read everyone's comments and see how motivated so many of you are to teach your kids Chinese. It's inspiring!
We have 2 winners! Instead of using a computer program, we decided to have a game with our kids. There were 12 entries, so we put 12 scraps of paper into a bucket with our kids and had them draw them. We recorded it, and it's mostly in Chinese, so give it a watch!
Here are the winners and their comments:
Suzie86
"My 4 year old recently announced out of nowhere that he wants to learn Mandarin! So he's been attending a Mandarin-immersion camp 6 hours a day for a week now and loves it! We could use all the wonderful Mandarin music we can get!"
Terri Ching
"I want my kids to learn Mandarin because it's part of who they are. When they grow up, I don't want them to regret not having tried."
Send us your address and we'll get a CD shipped to you! Contact us on our contact page, email teachkidschinese@gmail.com, or you can message us on facebook or twitter.
We really hope you respond and get your prize, please respond to us by Monday night, 8/3/15, 11:59 PM! Or we will end up picking another winner.
Congrats to you both!
If you're feeling lucky, however, enter our contest to win it for free! We are giving away 2 copies!
Here are the rules and how to enter:
- Like us on Facebook
- Leave a comment on this blog post about why you want your kids to learn Mandarin (or why you yourself want to learn Mandarin!).
- The contest ends 11:59 PM, July 31st, 2015, so like us on Facebook and leave a comment before then!
- Winners must respond to us within 24 hours or we will move on to the next lucky person.
We will have a computer program randomly pick two of the comments to be winners. We will announce the winners on our Facebook page, Twitter page, and here on our blog. If you're a winner, contact us on Facebook, Twitter, or the contact us page here on the blog with your email within 24 hours, and we'll arrange to get the CD send out to you. Alternatively, leave your email in the comment and you'll be sure not to miss out.
Good luck and we look forward to reading your comments!
UPDATE: Here are the winners!
We have 2 winners! Instead of using a computer program, we decided to have a game with our kids. There were 12 entries, so we put 12 scraps of paper into a bucket with our kids and had them draw them. We recorded it, and it's mostly in Chinese, so give it a watch!
Here are the winners and their comments:
Suzie86
"My 4 year old recently announced out of nowhere that he wants to learn Mandarin! So he's been attending a Mandarin-immersion camp 6 hours a day for a week now and loves it! We could use all the wonderful Mandarin music we can get!"
Terri Ching
"I want my kids to learn Mandarin because it's part of who they are. When they grow up, I don't want them to regret not having tried."
Send us your address and we'll get a CD shipped to you! Contact us on our contact page, email teachkidschinese@gmail.com, or you can message us on facebook or twitter.
We really hope you respond and get your prize, please respond to us by Monday night, 8/3/15, 11:59 PM! Or we will end up picking another winner.
Congrats to you both!
Friday, June 26, 2015
300 Words to get ready for school
Somebody was asking for words to learn to get ready for 1st grade immersion program earlier. I have this list of words that they use in China for kids to get ready for school. Obviously these words might be a little advanced, but I think if you are an overachiever like us then your kids for sure will be ready for the immersion program after learning all the 300 words here.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Little Pim Chinese for kids -- Free with Amazon Prime
We're back! Sorry for the relatively long absence... we moved across the country, bought a house, started a new job, got a dog, etc etc etc. Life is busy! But it's calmed down just a tad so maybe we'll start writing more again.
Thanks everyone for liking us on facebooks! Up to 49 likes, keep them coming! We're almost to 50, so we'll try to organize a giveaway of "A Little Mandarin!"
And now for today's subject: Little Pim's series of Chinese videos for kids
What is it: These are roughly 30 minute videos entirely in Chinese that go over basic vocabulary. They are clearly meant for kids learning Chinese as a second language. There's lots of footage of kids doing things like eating, sleeping, playing, and then the narrator will say the vocabulary word that is featured on the TV screen. They also display the pinyin that goes along with it.
Target Age Range: 1-5
Pros: It's free if you have amazon prime! There's lots of footage of other kids, and our three kids under age 5 are all somewhat entertained because of this. The mandarin is also clearly spoken, and it's helpful for those that can read pinyin. Kids that don't know much mandarin or don't have parents who speak Mandarin will probably learn a lot from this.
Cons: It's sort of boring... the pace is very slow and there's just not that much that's fun or interesting about it. It's sort of like glorified flash cards. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just know what you're getting. By the end of one 33 minute episode, my 3 and 5 year old were wrestling on the floor and had completely lost interest. This is probably something you're going to have to watch with your kids if you want them to not get bored.
Our rating / The bottom line: We give these a B. If you have Amazon prime, you should definitely check them out (free is free!), and if money isn't that big of a deal then go ahead and buy them. If you're the type of parent who doesn't speak Mandarin and really wants your kids to learn Mandarin, this is probably a great thing to buy and let your kids watch while they are young and still entertained by it. If your kids are 5 or older these might not have a long shelf life and might be a bit pricey for what you get.
What do you think?
Thanks everyone for liking us on facebooks! Up to 49 likes, keep them coming! We're almost to 50, so we'll try to organize a giveaway of "A Little Mandarin!"
And now for today's subject: Little Pim's series of Chinese videos for kids
What is it: These are roughly 30 minute videos entirely in Chinese that go over basic vocabulary. They are clearly meant for kids learning Chinese as a second language. There's lots of footage of kids doing things like eating, sleeping, playing, and then the narrator will say the vocabulary word that is featured on the TV screen. They also display the pinyin that goes along with it.
Target Age Range: 1-5
Pros: It's free if you have amazon prime! There's lots of footage of other kids, and our three kids under age 5 are all somewhat entertained because of this. The mandarin is also clearly spoken, and it's helpful for those that can read pinyin. Kids that don't know much mandarin or don't have parents who speak Mandarin will probably learn a lot from this.
Cons: It's sort of boring... the pace is very slow and there's just not that much that's fun or interesting about it. It's sort of like glorified flash cards. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, just know what you're getting. By the end of one 33 minute episode, my 3 and 5 year old were wrestling on the floor and had completely lost interest. This is probably something you're going to have to watch with your kids if you want them to not get bored.
Our rating / The bottom line: We give these a B. If you have Amazon prime, you should definitely check them out (free is free!), and if money isn't that big of a deal then go ahead and buy them. If you're the type of parent who doesn't speak Mandarin and really wants your kids to learn Mandarin, this is probably a great thing to buy and let your kids watch while they are young and still entertained by it. If your kids are 5 or older these might not have a long shelf life and might be a bit pricey for what you get.
What do you think?
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Play "Spot It" in Chinese to learn colors, shapes, & numbers
"Spot It" is one of our favorite children's games. There are several different versions of spot it, but we prefer the letters, shapes, and numbers version to play with our kids.
There are several ways to play, but no matter how you do it it's all about matching. We think it's fun because it's very fast paced. There are 31 cards, and every card has one number or shape that matches another number or shape on another card. They are also color specific. We put all the cards in the middle, and everyone gets one card. Then, if you find what matches on your card with the cards in the middle, you add that middle card to your own pile. You keep on playing until all the cards in the middle are gone, and whoever got the most wins.
This game is really easy to play in Chinese, and it's great for teaching colors, shapes, and numbers! Just make your kids say the match they found outloud in Chinese, and before you know it they will have mastered colors, numbers, and shapes.
Here is our kids playing it:
If you're new to Chinese, no problem! Here's the words you need to know to play this game:
Red 红色 Hóng sè
Yellow 黄色 huáng sè
Orange 橘色 (or 橙色) jú sè（chéng sè）
Green 绿色 lǜ sè
Blue 蓝色 lán sè
Purple 紫色 zǐ sè
Square 正方形 zhèngfāngxíng
Circle 圆形 yuán xíng
Triangle 三角形 sānjiǎoxíng
Rectangle 长方形 chángfāngxíng
One 一 yī
Two 二 Èr
Three 三 sān
Four 四 sì
Five 五 wǔ
Six 六 liù
Seven 七 qī
Eight 八 bā
Nine 九 jiǔ
What other games do you like to play in Chinese?
 |
| Spot it, numbers, shapes, colors |
There are several ways to play, but no matter how you do it it's all about matching. We think it's fun because it's very fast paced. There are 31 cards, and every card has one number or shape that matches another number or shape on another card. They are also color specific. We put all the cards in the middle, and everyone gets one card. Then, if you find what matches on your card with the cards in the middle, you add that middle card to your own pile. You keep on playing until all the cards in the middle are gone, and whoever got the most wins.
This game is really easy to play in Chinese, and it's great for teaching colors, shapes, and numbers! Just make your kids say the match they found outloud in Chinese, and before you know it they will have mastered colors, numbers, and shapes.
Here is our kids playing it:
If you're new to Chinese, no problem! Here's the words you need to know to play this game:
Red 红色 Hóng sè
Yellow 黄色 huáng sè
Orange 橘色 (or 橙色) jú sè（chéng sè）
Green 绿色 lǜ sè
Blue 蓝色 lán sè
Purple 紫色 zǐ sè
Square 正方形 zhèngfāngxíng
Circle 圆形 yuán xíng
Triangle 三角形 sānjiǎoxíng
Rectangle 长方形 chángfāngxíng
One 一 yī
Two 二 Èr
Three 三 sān
Four 四 sì
Five 五 wǔ
Six 六 liù
Seven 七 qī
Eight 八 bā
Nine 九 jiǔ
What other games do you like to play in Chinese?
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