Joseph, an American boy, is learning Mandarin with an online Chinese language school. However, his parents realized that Joseph’s Mandarin practice after class was ineffective, which seriously hindered Joseph’s Mandarin learning progress. For this reason, his parents, with the advice of a professional Chinese language school, decided to try something new: rewarding him in stages. By adjusting incentives based on Joseph’s milestones, such as mastering grammar or improving pronunciation, the aim is to boost his motivation and confidence effectively. This article will describe how they did it—what worked, what didn’t, and how they tackled the challenges along the way.
Joseph’s parents started by breaking down his Mandarin learning journey into smaller steps, each with clear goals and matching rewards. Their aim was to make sure Joseph knew exactly what he needed to achieve and why it mattered. In the first step, they set a goal for Joseph to learn 50 Chinese characters. When he reached this milestone, he earned a cool reward: a family movie night. This reward delighted Joseph because it allowed him to choose an engaging animated film. Connecting his hard work with something enjoyable really boosted his excitement about learning Chinese characters.
The next parts of Joseph’s learning journey followed a similar plan, where each step had new goals and corresponding rewards. For example, as Joseph got better at listening and speaking Mandarin, he got to play language games with his friends, reinforcing his practical use of Mandarin. This not only kept him excited but also gave him real ways to see how well he was doing and celebrate his progress in learning Mandarin.
To make sure Joseph stayed on track with his Mandarin learning, his parents and him divided up the responsibilities. In the first stage, they agreed that every evening after dinner, Joseph would dedicate 30 minutes to learning Chinese characters. For every set of 10 characters mastered, Joseph got to stick a star sticker up at home. Once he had 5 stars, he could make one of his little wishes come true. This clear system really kept Joseph motivated. He was excited to hit each goal and it boosted his confidence in his Mandarin skills. In addition, it taught him about setting goals and sticking with them, which he could use in other parts of his life too.
Joseph’s parents were there every step of the way to cheer him on in his learning journey. They made sure he stuck to his daily practice and gave him lots of encouragement as he reached each goal. They talked with Joseph often about how he was doing and what he wanted to achieve next, making sure he understood why the rewards were important. By keeping open communication and working together as a team, Joseph’s parents helped him through any tough spots and celebrated every win along the road.
Setting up rewards for Joseph’s Mandarin learning had its challenges. Despite making progress with characters, Joseph struggled with grammar and pronunciation. The same incentives that worked for learning characters didn’t quite fit here. So, Joseph’s parents decided to make speaking Mandarin more fun by adding interactive games with Mandarin cards. If Joseph completed 5 interactive games per week for every 2 months, he earned a weekend outdoor camping trip, or something else Joseph would prefer. They stayed flexible, changing goals as Joseph progressed. Watching closely and talking a lot helped them figure out what worked best, and together they made sure Joseph got better at Mandarin.
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