This is another installment in the Expat Homeschool Mom in China Series where I answer your questions about homeschooling in China. Click on the button to see all the posts in the series.
This post’s question is, “How did you and your daughter learn Chinese?”
Another great question! If you are going to live in China, you will want to learn the language. First of all, you will really want to be able to communicate in order to simply take care of yourself. Relying on others to help you shop, buy plane tickets, and tell the taxi where to go is very discouraging. And you’d hate to waste the opportunity of being in an all-Chinese speaking environment and not learn at least some Chinese.
So this is how we did it. You may choose another path. And other paths may get to the same destination. But these are the three factors that what worked for us.
- Language Tutors
- Positive Environment
- Chinese Made Easier curriculum
1. Language Tutors
For Sprite and myself, we always used tutors who could not speak English. In this way we were forced to learn the Chinese. Yes, there were many, many times we had no idea what was going on. And I spent a lot of my lesson time flipping through the dictionary to look up words. But we eventually learned.
This is the immersion technique, and I am a huge fan of it. (This is the way all children learn their own mother language, by the way.)
Another plus to using a non-English speaker is that you can be assured that your tutor is truly interested in seeing you master Mandarin and is not merely using you to learn English. For Sprite’s college student teachers (who all are learning English), I always made it plain upfront that they were not to speak any English with Sprite. Sometimes Sprite would tell me that a teacher was using her lesson time to ask her how to say something in English or asking her to read an English passage outloud. I generally dismissed those teachers if they continued such behavior.
Sprite came to China at age 3, so her lessons were actually playtime. I had to work hard with the tutors to help them understand that I didn’t want them to lecture or write characters. They didn’t need to plan lessons or bring materials. Their job was simply to expose Sprite to a rich, oral Mandarin environment, speaking constantly as they interacted with her, using the books and toys in her own bedroom. This did not come easy for some of the tutors we used. The best tutors were those girls who enjoyed children, were very verbal, and had a positive demeanor. Critical teachers were dismissed immediately. (We’ve had our share of horror stories over the years. One teacher even slapped Sprite and tried to choke her!) Each time we started with a new tutor, I spent a lot of time explaining my expectations and reinforcing those over the first few weeks of lessons. Once the teachers understood that I wasn’t expecting Sprite to pass some sort of test, they relaxed and learned to enjoy the freedom of this fun style of learning.
2. Positive Environment
Our entire family was studying Mandarin at the same time, and actually, the learning goes on even after seven years. Sprite’s dad and I always expressed fascination of the language. We were honest about our frustrations and mistakes, too. And all of that worked together to create an environment that valued the hard work involved in learning a second language. You can read more about that at this Heart of the Matter article —Building a Foundation for Bilingual Learners.
3. Chinese Made Easier curriculum
Chinese Made Easier curriculum is practical, using real life Chinese that you will actually use. Pinyin is used throughout the book, and characters are implemented slowly, giving you a chance to learn them bit by bit. Usually each lesson will have ten characters to learn. The grammar lessons and exercises are well designed to help you apply the vocabulary you learn into proper usage patterns.
My husband and I both like using flashcards to learn words. We buy blank business card papers from those little advertising shops for about 4 RMB per box. They are the perfect size for flashcards. A stack of these is perfect for studying while traveling on a bus.
I also devised a visual method for learning tones. It was especially helpful when I was just starting. I chose four different colors of highlighers and color coded the tones on my flashcards. The reasoning for my color choices was logical to me, but you’d have to make it work for your own mind.
- First tone — yellow (the sun, high and bright)
- Second tone –red (lady with a red dress, the eyebrows go up, a whistle goes up in admiration)
- Third tone — blue (waves on water, up and down)
- Fourth tone — green (a plant rooted firmly in the ground)
Actually, there is so much more that could be said about learning Chinese. But I hope these tips from our own experience will help set you on your own path of language learning.
It’s a most humbling yet rewarding journey. I can remember wanting to shout out to those around me, “I am an educated person! I have a master’s degree!” when I was frustrated by my preschool level Mandarin. It was not merely an academic task, but a real spiritual test of humility to learn a second language. I wish you the best on your own journey of the heart and the head.
Your use of color to learn the tones is really cool.
Someone else wrote about this whole theory a few months ago, and I found it really interesting–especially why certain colors were chosen to go with which tones. http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2009/08/11/tone-and-color-in-chinese
.-= amanda´s last blog ..the wu’s year in photos =-.
something about the characters and especially the tonal differences really intimidate me. it definitely makes learning spanish (and even russian) seem much simpler!
.-= Marsha´s last blog ..Interlude =-.
I just stumbled upon your blog and am facinated!! I’ve been to China twice, once with my dd when she was 10. We loved it! Such a beautiful people. And although we picked up a little bit of the language while there…..I was completely intimidated at the thought of learning it. We are learning spanish and russian as we have opportunity to use both. Thanks for all the helpful hints. I really appreciate them!
.-= Laura´s last blog ..Give-A-Way =-.
Thank you for this! We’re just trying to start this with our 4 year old, but it has been going horribly so far! I think we have the wrong sort of tutor. She’s a woman in her 50’s and expects way too much out of our daughter and lectures her, etc… Our daughter doesn’t want much to do with her. I think we need someone younger who will just get down and play with her. How long of a time would you suggest leaving a toddler with the tutor? We were trying 2 hours, but our daughter gets so tired of it after an hour or so. I’ve been so frustrated about the whole thing so far!
.-= Katie´s last blog ..Our trip~ =-.
@Katie — We generally do 3 hour lessons for Sprite. With play tutoring, it’s not too long. That time can include many different activities — hands on play, crafts, outdoor time, reading books, whatever! You can probably also get some very basic preschool worksheet type activities that have lots of images and can be used in any language.
If your child is tired of it quickly, definitely switch tutors. I personally think that attitude is a huge factor in learning. I always wanted my daughter to think, “Yah! The teacher is here!” When that excitement wasn’t there, I tried to first re-train the teacher and then if that didn’t work, let her go. I don’t know if it’s so much a matter of age, but younger people may be easier to mold and more open to Western ways of education. I have converted many a young girl over to our encouraging, fun ways of learning. I wish you the best.
I love this idea of colors for tones! I am very visual and that might really help me! The Sinosplice link was great also!
Now to think about what color goes with what tone!
.-= Sandy Fox´s last blog ..Christmas in China =-.
@Sandy — Yes, you have to make logical connections for YOU. It matters not if others understand the connections.
It is fascinating to me how you had to convince them to play to teach a three year old. And I loved how you used native speakers! Sprite seems to have such a full life!
.-= Rachel´s last blog ..Kid-Friendly Homemade Granola Bars =-.
@Rachel — Yeah, the educational system and child rearing customs (shoot, the entire culture!) is so very different from ours. Their idea of education is a very strict and formal venture. Play is silly and fruitless. Sad. Sprite often encounters children who simply don’t know how to play — imaginative, creative play. YOUR children will never lack that ability, Rachel.
Everything about the educational system and child rearing are different with China and Western cultures. I am a private English teacher in China and I feel sorry for Chinese kids sometimes.
Because of the one child policy, with each one young child that I teach there are 6 other adults (Mom, Dad, Mom’s mom, Mom’s dad, Dad’s mom, Dad’s dad). Some of these kids have Violin, Piano, English, Math and Chinese lessons in addition to their regular classes at school.
I can remember one Chinese kid in particular who had two different lessons every night 5 days a week from Monday to Friday. He had lessons all weekend long.
Some Chinese kids have no idea what it means to “play”. Their parents just don’t comprehend the idea of “play” having any value for a young child.
We’re learning to teach the Chinese kids how to play. But at the moment, I’m trying to teach MY TUTOR how to just relax and go with the flow. Last week she (playfully, but none the less) threatened to hit me if I got answers wrong the next time. Somehow, this just isn’t the encouragement I need to learn! I’m doing online flashcards and well, making progress but at times I think I just sound like a monkey:)
This is a great post re language learning (I did the color/tone flashcards while learning Thai), getting tutors to play rather than doing lessons, and difference in Chinese education/parenting style. Before we started homeschooling, my DD went to a private school in Canada with lots of Chinese students. They were never ever available for play dates or birthday parties because of all the lessons. Every day, one or two lessons.
Great blog overall. I love reading about your adventures in China.
Running late, gotta go, but as I said, great post.
Cheers!
Renee (expat homeschooling mum to one 9-yr-old daughter)
Hi
I am gita, I am from Indonesia and I’ve just moved to china 3 months ago. We do HomeSchooling too and curious how to learn chinese without sending our kids to school. This blog answer that question…
thank u for your sharing. My blog is written in Bahasa Indonesia, maybe you would not understand it. It tells about our homeschooling journey and our life in China…keep sharing ! ^_^
I don’t know if you remember me because I’m sure you got many questions from people who were planning on moving to China! We are finally here! We are living in Nanjing. We found a comfortable apartment and are all set up and settling back into our school day. My 15 year old daughter was able to get into Nanjing University’s language training program along with her dad, so she is covered language wise. (She’d been taking speaking lessons from Chinese Pod for about 6 months and is still ahead in all of her level 2 classes, so I recommend Chinese Pod to anyone who is interested in learning Chinese.) The girls and I are considering hiring a tutor and so I came back here to reread your recommendations. It is going to be a challenge to find someone who speaks Mandarin and not Nanjinghua in our price range. ;o/ We are really enjoying our experience here! Thanks for your advise!
Hi Jimmie, I totally concur with your estimation of immersion. It took me a couple years of study, but I’m fluent in Mandarin now and loving it!
When people ask me, “What’s the hardest part of learning Chinese?” To their confusion, I always say “English!” Especially on the campuses, many of the Chinese students see you as their once-in-a-lifetime chance to finally practice English, while 99% of the foreigners just huddle together 24/7 pretending they’re in their home countries. It’s ironic that the period of the day that I heard the most English was when I would attend Chinese class!
I got sick of it all one day and decided that from that day forward my life was only to be in Chinese, including my computer, Gmail, iPod, Bible, and even thoughts & prayers. Needless to say, those were days of very simple prayers 🙂
As I’m sure you can imagine, I constantly took flack from both sides for quite a while: the Chinese thought I was weird and the foreigners thought I was anti-social. But now that I’m fluent, I find that the foreigners look up to me and the Chinese often seem to forget I’m a foreigner and converse w/ me like peers, which I think is the greatest compliment and reward of successful language study.
I’ll leave you w/ 1 tip that proved to be the game-changer for me w/ learning characters: Chinese comic books. Kids’ books are too simple to hold one’s attention & novels are too hard (1 sentence per hour is pretty boring), but comic books hit that sweet spot of interest + appropriate level + repetition of new words + picture cues, that ended up opening the door for me to reading fluency. Just a thought!
-Joe