native speakers to teach chinese
One method for those households that do not have a native speaker is to hire a Chinese-speaking nanny. The NY Times published an article noting the rise of au pairs from China. It is also possible to arrange play dates with other children who are learning Chinese, as well as find a Chinese-speaking babysitter. Local universities will often have spouses of Chinese working on masters and PhDs looking for additional income. Another option is to find a local babysitter, and there are a number around. If you’re in public service, remind Zoe Baird about the requirements to legally hire a nanny. Truthfully, there is a large population of people in the US from China who do not have papers working as babysitters, so be careful. Nannies also take care of your children, so choosing the right person is extremely important, especially if they live with you. Friends of ours have been through several babysitters and it was not a good experience.
private chinese schools
Traditionally, non-public Chinese schools in the US start teaching children when they are older to sit still and copy characters. Most schools still use traditional rote teaching methods that are still used in Taiwan and China. In most cases with children in the US, it doesn’t work because of the culture classes. There is a great deal of independence in children in the US and using boring teaching methods that do not capture the interest of the child so that they want to go to school without much pressure from parents will end in failure. With the child being forced to go to school and often being treated as simple childcare and not learning Chinese.
An alternative is to find a school that uses more of the Montessori Method or what is used in ESL where there is a lot of conversation. I was pleasantly surprised when my daughter’s public school language teacher talked about using this method in the classroom, rather than the traditional grammar approach to learning many foreign languages. At a young age, I would suggest programs that teach using a lot of singing and other fun activities.
Chinese learning products
CD to learn Chinese
CDs come in two different types. One is products that are 100% Chinese from Chinese children’s songs or stories in Chinese only. Some products include a Chinese lyric book and some do not. Other products are designed to teach Chinese and have a booklet with English letters, pinyin, and Chinese characters. The Chinese teaching products are both from the US (most) and a number from Singapore. Chinese teaching products are bilingual, so songs are sung in both Chinese and English. What I like about the CDs is that they give parents the opportunity to be a part of the process where they can sing Happy Birthday on the CD and the Teach Me Chinese book in both English and Chinese (this series focuses on popular songs in Chinese and English). The other series have songs written especially for teaching Chinese. The Teach Me Chinese series has teacher guides available. The Sing & Learn Chinese CD and book includes a track of the songs without lyrics (such as Karoke). Let’s Sing Chinese is a 3 product series from Singapore that has both well known and new songs. 3 is the most I’ve seen of any CD series for teaching Chinese to children.
Videos to learn Chinese
Videos like Mei Mei’s take a more hands-on approach to teach basic vocabulary and she currently has five videos in her series. From the first one where she teaches counting and parts of the body with songs through an approach that children love to later ones that progress like her Play and Learn Chinese with Mei Mei where she visits a real Chinese kindergarten. The good thing about this video is that it gives your child the opportunity to compare her experience and see the differences between her school and the one in the video. From lunch to physical education and naps. To select the right video for your child, I recommend reading the reviews (both good and bad).
books to learn chinese
A great book for those just starting to learn Chinese is I Won’t Bite. It is a touch book that has pinyin, Chinese and English characters. The challenge of using a book is that you often need to know how to read Chinese in order to teach from it. A fun book to expose children to Chinese characters is Long Is A Dragon by Peggy Goldstein A selection of books to learn Chinese characters