Joseph, a 9-year-old American boy, was encouraged by his parents to learn Mandarin from a very young age in order to better understand Chinese culture and communicate with people in the future. At the beginning, he learned Mandarin by taking Chinese classes offered by his school. However, Joseph always found learning Mandarin confusing and boring. His mother decided to take some innovative approaches to encourage his active participation in learning and find a sustained motivation.
One day, Joseph’s mother took him to a Chinese restaurant where many Chinese customers were conversing in Mandarin. This surprised Joseph, and his mother explained that interacting with Chinese people was an essential part of learning Mandarin. She encouraged Joseph to actively engage, despite his limited fluency in Mandarin. Joseph mustered up the courage to interact with them using his rudimentary Mandarin skills, even though he didn’t understand what the person was saying. Despite the lack of comprehension, this wonderful experience made him feel great about himself.
After returning home, Joseph’s mother arranged video chats for him with one of her Chinese friends. The friend was very friendly and communicated with Joseph in simple Mandarin. Although Joseph often didn’t understand what the friend was saying, his mother told him that it was okay to make mistakes. Encouraged by his mother, Joseph became brave enough to communicate with native Chinese speakers, which made him feel proud and excited.
To further stimulate Joseph’s learning motivation, his mother prepared some interesting Mandarin learning materials for him. She bought a variety of Chinese story books, which Joseph found not only helpful for learning Mandarin but also enjoyable.
To improve his Chinese, Joseph’s mother arranged for him to learn Chinese with a teacher from eChineseLearning. The teacher emphasized that in order to become fluent in Chinese, it was essential to acquire a solid vocabulary foundation. Every week, Joseph’s teacher would set a small goal for him to learn 20 new Mandarin vocabulary words or phrases. When Joseph achieved the goal, his mother would reward him with small incentives.
To help Joseph better understand the practical application of Mandarin, his mother invited some Chinese friends to their home as guests. They cooked traditional Chinese dishes together, watched Mandarin movies, and encouraged Joseph to communicate with them in Mandarin. This interactive environment made Joseph realize the importance of learning Mandarin and sparked his interest in learning. Over time, Joseph’s proficiency in Mandarin improved. He no longer found learning Mandarin boring; instead, he became passionate about it.
Parental encouragement plays a significant role in a kid’s journey of learning Mandarin. It is hoped that this article will be helpful to parents who also want to encourage kids to learn Mandarin.
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