Looking for ways to help your child improve their Chinese skills?
Then look no further!
Today, I’m going to share the top 3 fun and painless ways so you know how to improve your chinese quickly.
These are also the same tips that I share with my kids’ parents when I meet them during PTM. Hopefully they’ll help you too!
Tip 1:
Help your child improve their Chinese vocabulary with cartoons
Children usually find Chinese difficult because they are unable to express themselves.
Why?
Because they lack the vocab in Chinese.
To help them build up their Chinese vocab in a fun and enjoyable way, try exposing them to simple Chinese cartoons or Japanese animes that appeal to their interests.
Yes, no point forcing them to watch the news in Chinese. Not only does it make learning Chinese more boring, they’ll probably find Chinese even more foreign because they lack the context.
I’ve tried out many kinds of Chinese cartoons and Japanese animes over the years. Most of the kids in my class enjoy watching the few below:
Best Chinese cartoons and animes (according to Zhu lao shi’s recommendation)
- 阿公講古 （Suitable for Primary 3 to 6 kids)
Coming from an English-speaking family myself, I need to give credit to them for my current ability in Chinese.
If these didn’t spark my interest, I’ll probably still prefer speaking English 100x more than Chinese and would not be the zhu lao shi that I am. XP
Why this method works
Allow your child to watch them regularly and listen to the Chinese language. The more they watch, the more they can hear how Chinese is being spoken. In addition, they’ll learn the relevant vocabulary which will help them express themselves better over time.
Subtitles are useful to help children recognise the Chinese characters as they are being spoken. As they watch, they can refer to the words to see how they look like.
Don’t worry about the appropriateness of these videos, I’ve curated them on your behalf in terms of their subject matter and educational value.
Once your child has built up a good pool of vocab, it’s time to practice! And that brings us to tip number 2!
Tip 2:
Help your child improve their Chinese oral skills by speaking
The next thing that you’ll want to do is to help your child gain confidence in Chinese by using it.
This is where it is important for your child to make mistakes.
The more mistakes they make, the more they’ll learn.
To help your child speak in Chinese, try to do it together and make it a fun activity. You don’t have to be well-versed in Chinese to get involved.
What you are aiming to do here is to let your child know that you are also not perfect and you are learning together.
When it becomes a bonding activity, the focus is not so much on who speaks Chinese perfectly, but rather learning about the right way to express something when any of you get stuck. Once your child sees you modeling the right attitude, they’ll naturally be less conscious about their Chinese proficiency and more open to trying and learning.
I’ve found that children often learn the best by applying what they’ve learnt and getting feedback for it.
This is a great chance for them to show you any new vocab that they’ve learnt in school or while watching tv. Don’t forget to be generous with your praises when you see them doing that!
Tip 3:
Help your child write better by learning their Chinese spelling
Don’t underestimate the power of the weekly ting xie in school!
Ting xie helps your child learn the essential vocab that is covered in each chapter of their Chinese textbook.
Making sure that your child is well prepared for ting xie every week will help them grasp the important Chinese characters that they need to express themselves.
(Think “comprehension” and “composition”, characters are the basic building blocks.)
Conclusion
I hope these 3 top tips gave you some alternatives of what you can do to help your child improve their Chinese without forcing them to memorize.
Let me know if you have found this post useful or if you have any other questions about helping your kid improve their Chinese in the comments below! =)
