Fun and Interesting Ways to Help Your Child Learn Chinese

What if Chinese is not your native language? What are you going to do to help your child learn a second language?

Why not learn Chinese with fun? Let’s do the Chinese chunk picture and phrase puzzle!

When I began to teach, I thought of using some fancy material to impress my students but I realize that there is a better way for my students to learn. I noticed that using simple pictures and phrases is an approach that makes complicated lessons easier. In fact, my students became less confused and less frustrated. Thus, learning Chinese could be as simple as doing puzzles!

Preschoolers tend to pick up a second language as naturally as they learn their mother tongue; but, what if Chinese is not your native language? How can you help your child learn a second language? 

No matter which language you are going to help them with, your child’s motivation and interest are key! We need to be passionate and enthusiastic to help children learn Chinese. We can vary our teaching styles by using catchy music, engaging dialogue, and fun picture books as well as related fun activities.

Why not learn Chinese with fun? Let’s do the Chinese chunk picture and phrase puzzle!

Let’s do the Chinese chunk picture Phrases puzzle!

How to Practice Chinese with the FlashCard?

Playing flashcards is a good way to memorize the Chinese phrases. This is an important and powerful tool for practice. There are many types of flashcards online, or you can use this ready-made flashcard to practice.

The purpose of using this Puzzle game is to practice a chunk of Chinese phrases.When you get familiar with the game,you can reuse the same chunks in different phrases and sentences in the future.

I created this infographic inspired flashcards “ 吃(chī)eat & 喝(hē)drink” below. Also, I added pictures with accompanying vocabulary and phrases. I hope this helps you understand simple Chinese grammar and be able to practice Chinese on your own and for your child as well.

Verb (吃 eat)  + Object (饭 rice/面 noodle/鱼肉 fish/鸡肉 chicken)

Below is the flashcard Eat template and eat flashcard.

Verb (喝 drink)  + Object (汤 soup/茶 tea/水 water/果汁 juice)

Below are the sample flashcard templates.

Let’s take the “喝 (drink)”as an example. The first template contains the verb “喝(hē)” and the second template contains four flashcards with different “types of beverages”.Print out the flashcards and you can start pairing the verb “drink(喝 hē)”with each of the “beverage” flashcards to make short sentences. Then, read aloud with your children.

You can also use these flashcards for other purposes. For example, you can play the “Drinks and Eat” flashcards as a memory game. It is a simple and fun game to help your children remember the object better. You might need to print out two sets of “Drinks or Eat “ flashcards. Put the cards on the table and have your children match them as quickly as possible.

Game

Here is a RELATED fun game, if you and your children watched and learned the lesson, you are ready to play with your preschoolers of Chinese basic food vocabulary at home. Prepare various food and beverage.Then, cover your children’s eyes and let them smell. Ask your child to say the Chinese name of the food or beverage. Once they get familiar with the game, you can add a challenge by asking them to say a whole sentence.

Verbt Key words: Eat and drink.

Object Key words: (Soup, Tea, Water, Juice ; Rice,Fish,Chicken,Noodle )

Key phrase symbol  ( ‘eat rice…….’ ‘drink soup………’’)

Please note: You can replay this game after you and your child get familiar with the game. Only use Chinese during the game at first, adding one more challenge each time. After a period of time playing this game, the child can develop their knowledge and start speaking in complete sentences before they proceed to the next activities.

As a second language learner, it is best to teach your child the basic grammar concept and vocabulary in a simple and practical approach. This will ensure that your child does not only memorize the terms but also teaching them the practical application of the concept. Basically, if your child should appreciate the use of the learned concept, the faster their Chinese language learning will be. So make it fun, interesting and memorable!