How Parents Help Their Children to Learn Mandarin Chinese

Almost all parents in today’s world pay attention to their children's education they receive. They know when folks have an array of skills, they have a multitude of open doors to choose from. In the age of globalization, it is important to learn more than one language, especially when a person is going to compete in the job market. For some people, it is necessary to learn the art of Mandarin Chinese.

In fact, many people--both foreigner and ethnic Chinese—choose it for their second language. So in this article, we will discuss how parents help their children to learn Chinese. We will also discuss some tips to help you to get your child interested in learning the Chinese language.

Because for every parent of the teacher, it is a problem to get a student or child to be inspired to learn something new. If you force your child too much, they will not take their lessons into the heart because they do not want to study it in the first place. They would be unwilling to learn it even though if it is valuable for them in the future.

How Parents help their children to learn the Mandarin language

The issue is how to teach and make children interested in learning Mandarin Chinese language. After all, there are various reasons why kids are unable to talk in or even want to speak in Chinese. When you are living abroad, it is not enough to get Chinese lessons.

For instance, in America, there are only two hundred Chinese middle and primary schools. For most people, this number of schools would not be enough. This means that parents will need to hire private tutors, move to China, or Skype with a professional Chinese teacher to give their children the chance to learn the Chinese language.

Some people might think this is a crazy idea to travel thousands of miles to China just to learn the Chinese language. However, other parents are willing, and such are the parents who want to give their child the most opportunities possible.   

Why it is difficult to learn the Mandarin Chinese language

It should be remembered that the Mandarin Chinese language is not easy to learn. It is vital to learn how important the critical period is if you want to learn about language learning.

If you desire to speak Mandarin Chinese fluently, then it is essential to start as early as possible and get into the best learning environment. The Mandarin Chinese language is hard to master because you need to master all tones and characters.

According to the United States Department’s Foreign Service Institute, it takes about 2200 hours of classes to learn the Chinese language, in which half of that time is spent within a country where the language is spoken.

On the other hand, to learn Spanish takes 750 class hours to master the language.   

Ethnic Families and Teaching their kids a second language

In the ethnic family’s majority of parents are either bilingual or multilingual. The Mandarin Chinese language is not hard for them to learn. Their children can easily pick up the Mandarin Chinese language. You might not realize it, but of course, they face problems and pressure too you never could imagine.

Because of the obligations they face, these parents want their kids to learn the Chinese language proficiently. These high expectations of fluency make them nervous about the results. The reality is that very few ethnic kids who live abroad learn to speak the Chinese language entirely.

They might speak well at home, but outside of the home, they are unable to speak fluently. They can learn their native-speaking languages and might reject or speak rarely in their daily life. Many such kids have excellent command and a general understanding of the Chinese spoken language, but when it comes to writing, you may do not even know how bad it actually is.

They might handle a short trip to China, but living there is might not in option them. If you want your kids to learn the Chinese language naturally, then you need to put your kids in the right kind of language environment.

Of course, this decision is not easy. But getting a good education is indeed hard, but parents always find a way to deal with the issue efficiently.

Make Chinese Interesting for your children to Learn

In the case of languages, many students find it problematic to take on learning the Chinese language. Some students would say it is very challenging to learn because of its pronunciation, alphabet, and use.

Other students would say they are not interested in the language at all and would desire other languages as their focus. This hesitance to study the language can be cured by inspiring or motivating the kid to learn it.

However, some parents would bribe their kids or threaten them to follow it because of its benefits in the future. Unfortunately, this would only fuel the kid’s lack of enthusiasm to learn the language and disable progress from continuing.

Here are some of the tips on how you can make Mandarin Chinese enjoyable to learn for your children’s to consider:

A useful means of communication

China is also becoming a vital player in the international community, so learning the Chinese language is a bonus and makes them competitive in the job market. Considering these factors, students who are conscious of the importance of the Chinese language and why it is included in their curriculum would be more open to learning the Chinese language.

To help your kid get used to communicating in Chinese, you can make a Chinese environment at home and use the language in daily life. Families may differ as to how they can apply the language in their everyday life, but they will always find a time to assist their youngsters to practice even at home.

You can also start by just adding essential words or phrases in your daily conversation and only increase the difficulty when your kid gets used to it. If all the family members are open to the idea of speaking Chinese at home, the kids in the household would be more accessible to the language and struggle to learn it. If the family members are not open to using Mandarin Chinese language at home, the kid would be hesitant or irate to learn the language.

The lure of entertainment

The culture of China is vibrant, which dates back to ancient times, and it is intensely embedded in their language and art. The language itself can tell a story on its own and show a beauty that you cannot see in other languages. When the language is used in written form, such as in novels and poems, it mirrors how emotions run deep in the Chinese language.

Unfortunately, such beauty and emotion are not visible in today’s entertainment mediums from China. However, for the younger generation, there is a possibility that they would love one or two Chinese books, movies, and pop songs, throughout their lifetime.

Since Chinese movies, songs, and books would definitely use the language in some way, it would cause the kid to become inquiring with the translation of these works.

Eventually, they would become interested and inspired to learn the language and translate the novels, songs, and movies they love without having to depend on subtitles. Ultimately, as they learn the language, they would be able to find out new novels, movies, and songs that would attract their interest.

Engage with a delightful Chinese tuition teacher

Finally, when learning the Chinese language, it is always a great idea if you can practice it frequently with someone efficient and fluent in the language. In this case, getting your kid a tutor who specializes in the Chinese language can do wonders for your youngster’s Chinese proficiency.

However, do not just get any tutor who promises to teach your kid Chinese because some tutors may make the traditional approach to teach a new language and test your kid through assignments and workbooks alone. If you get this type of teacher, you will not motivate and inspire the kid to learn the language, and they would just forget the lessons after class.

When teaching the Chinese language, a teacher must keep the child interested in the language by making it fun to acquire and easy to understand. A fun class would not only make it cooler for the student to learn the tougher aspects of the language, but it can also encourage them to learn the language further and become fluent.

On the other hand, you can enroll your kid in one of the tuition schools that offer special Chinese classes to assist them in practice and learn more advanced phrases and words. Not only can their tutors in this school teach them more about the language, but your kid can also practice their communication skills with their fellow classmates.

Final Remarks

When your kid is young, it is suggested to get them to learn another language since they would pick it up quickly as compared to learning it at a later age. The more robust the language, the better, and the Chinese are one of the most thought-provoking languages in the world today.

However, do not panic them into learning the language for fear of being punished for not doing so. Let them make the first step to pursue it out after giving them an idea of the importance of learning language and why learning a new language can benefit them in the future. If they are allowable to decide for themselves to learn the language and given the right push, they will absorb the new language with passion and become fluent in no time. Be supportive of your kid, and do not squander their interest.

But at the same time, do not push them too hard! Pressuring your kid to learn too much in one go or filling up his or her schedule with too many Chinese language-related activities will result in burn out, and make them dread Mandarin time – the very thing you have been trying to remedy. Keep in mind, learning a foreign language is a marathon, not a sprint, so expect a few difficulties along the way.