Dora's First Phrase

If simplified (Mandarin) Chinese characters do not appear below, you will need to change the "view" section on your internet browser. (Firefox users: Go to view, character encoding, auto detect, simplified Chinese)

Dora says "I am called Dora!"

I = wo = 我
called (for names) = jiao = 叫
Dora = duo la = 朵拉

我叫朵拉

Then she asks, "What are you called?"

you = ni = 你
called = jiao = 叫
what = shen me = 什么
name = ming zi = 名字

The easiest way to learn Mandarin is to work with translations that are direct. Many books and teachers translate things roughly instead of using the precise translation. If you translate each word with precision, so you know exactly what it means, it will give you a strong base going forward.

Have you figured out the Chinese word for back pack? If not, we'll be back online tomorrow with some answers:)

Note: As soon as we get the tone mark software up, we'll edit this with the tones. But, just watch the show with your child, and follow along. Children naturally pick up the tones as they listen. Once you're grown up, it's harder, but very possible.

Your Teaching Goal for Mandarin Chinese: Children Under 8 Years of Age

Your goal for teaching young children Chinese should be the development of native speaker level pronunciation. This comes from spending time in a Chinese language environment.

Since children have the ability to learn languages easily and quickly (unlike the rest of us, who really have to hit the books), creating even a temporary language immersion environment can be amazingly helpful.

If you do not have the opportunity to spend at least a few months in China, using such tools as children's television programs, DVDs, cartoons, and music CDs, allow your child to hear the language on a regular basis.

Here are some basic guidelines for children under eight:

1. Always remember that your goal is to help your child fall in love with learning Chinese. He or she has the opportunity to develop almost native speaker level pronunciation at this age. This is the most important goal! Vocabulary and everything else can be studied, but native speaker level pronunciation can only be acquired at this age!
2. Select five to ten hours worth of age-appropriate material. Buying vocabulary drills or structured lessons on tape do not count!
3. Create a stress-free and relaxed environment for your child and play the DVDs or CDs.
4. Leave your child alone (unless you speak Mandarin) to soak in the language. It's hard to listen to a new language when Mom or Dad is chatting away in English (or whatever your native language might be).
   
5. The length of the time spent with the material is determined by your child. If you are tempted to force your child to watch the material you have selected, you have purchased the wrong material!
6. Let your child's interest level guide you. Does he or she enjoy the current material? If so, get more. Basically, go with the flow!
7. Do not push the introduction of pinyin until your child reads English well. See our early blog posts for a discussion of pinyin.
   
8. Focus on listening and speaking skills.
   
9. Use flashcards with pictures and characters to introduce reading when your child becomes interested. Children learn quickly which characters go with which sounds. You can let them use the pinyin, if they find it interesting, but let them work with the cards on their own and see what happens. Many children focus on the link between the spoken Chinese word and the written Chinese character. This is perfect. Once your child is reading English well, he or she can quickly pick up pinyin in an afternoon!
   

Teaching tips: Credit to our Beijing-based language instructor and former middle school teacher Zhang. Translated from the original Mandarin by Montessori House staff (the original Mandarin was more elegantly put!)

Dora the Explorer: Introductory Set

Six great Dora the Explorer DVDs in Mandarin Chinese!

In these DVDs, Dora uses Mandarin Chinese wherever she would normally speak English. Key words are then presented in English -- this helps your child understand the show! Then the words are also given in Chinese. Even if your child has never heard or used Chinese, he or she will be able to quickly and easily soak in beginning words and phrases!

A total immersion language program for TV time!

Are you just beginning to learn Chinese?

One easy and efficient study method is to learn to write Chinese characters on the computer.

PC users will need to install the Asian language pack (Mac users have it a bit easier) for simplified Chinese.

It's super simple to get started. Shift the keyboard to Chinese (hit the control key and space bar for most computers) and type the pinyin and then move the arrow keys (or you can punch in the number next to your choice) to select the character.

Using the computer lets you start writing words, phrases, and sentences in Chinese quickly, so you can enjoy your new skills. Characters on the computer are definitely NOT a substitute for writing characters by hand (the process of writing each stroke helps you memorize the character), but it is another useful channel for learning.

Children love learning to write characters on the computer! They can work on projects such as learning how to write "I love you" on Mother's Day -- 我爱你（wo ai ni) - and print out a card.

Making your own flashcards (great if you have a textbook and want to drill with the words in the book but no cards have been provided). You can use blank rolodex cards and print out two sets, so you can practice matching the character with the pinyin and/or translation on the back. The process of making the cards helps you learn the characters, too.

Questions? Let us know!

Strawberry Shortcake comes to DVD in Chinese

A great new find!

Visit our our store to order it. We will have more Strawberry Shortcake coming soon.

This program has slightly more difficult words and phrases than the Dora DVDs in Chinese, so if you are just starting out, you might want to try our Dora series first.

If your child is old enough to read in English already, then this is a good program to start with because it has both English and Chinese subtitles. For children who are learning Chinese characters, this is a wonderful way to practice because they see the same characters repeated in the appropriate context.

Chinese Numbers 1-10 and 10 to 100 by tens.

We caught former Chinese TV anchorwoman and now renowned movie producer in China on a small video camera. Here she is with absolutely pristine Mandarin Chinese.

Tidbit: Wait until your child can read English to teach pinyin

Introduce Chinese in spoken and written character forms as young as possible, but hold off on teaching pinyin until your child reads English well (of course this only applies to native English speakers). The alternate pronunciation for pinyin will be confusing to children who do not read yet.

For example, the word "house" in English blends the "ou" (ignore the silent e for pinyin purposes because there are no silent letters in pinyin). In pinyin, in the equivalent spelling "shou" for hand, you should not blend the o and u -- the two sounds should receive equal weight in the pronunciation.

Dora the Explorer in Mandarin Chinese

Modern technology makes learning languages so easy!

Dora the Explorer has some of the best Mandarin translations of any programs out there. The songs are all beautifully translated and the famous Backpack song will soon be ringing in your ears in Mandarin instead of English...but, hey, that's a good thing if your child is learning Chinese!

See Dora on our store

How to help your child start learning Mandarin Chinese

Tips for starting out:

1. Begin with simple DVDs such as Dora the Explorer in Mandarin Chinese.
   
2. Focus on DVDs and songs instead of books (unless you speak Chinese well enough to read the books aloud)
   
3. Use flashcards and beginning books to teach basic characters such as numbers from 1 to 100.
4. Avoid saying words in Mandarin to your child if your Mandarin pronunciation is not good. You can watch programs with your child and learn together!
5. Avoid textbooks that are not clear and easy to understand. A lot of books published in China and Taiwan for teaching Chinese to children are horrible!
   
1. Look for texts that build lessons sequentially. For example, children should learn the numbers from 1 to 10, and then learn how they combine to make numbers up to 100. Children love this progression because it makes learning characters logical and intuitive.
   
2. Texts should review old vocabulary as they introduce new vocabulary. Watch out for this one. A lot of texts introduce a ton of new words in each chapter, but do not focus on words that build sequentially. For example, if your child learns the word for book (shu), he or she should then learn basic adjectives such as red （hong) or big（da) to combine with the word he or she just learned. Why teach another random word that does not fit with anything else?
3. Dick and Jane. Chinese is basically like learning how to read with whole words (the methodology where you memorize words instead of using phonics to sound them out). Children need simple storybooks that repeat words over and over again.