No matter what language your child is learning, continuous input and practice is important. Here are a few ways you can keep your children interested in learning Chinese during the holidays and improve their Chinese proficiency.
1. Go to a Chinese restaurant or supermarket.
Depending on where you live, it is not easy to find an authentic Chinese cultural environment to immerse yourself in the language. Chinese restaurants and supermarkets can be great choices. At a Chinese restaurant or supermarket, your child will be able to recognize and memorize the Chinese names of foods in a real-world context. In addition, your child will be introduced to Chinese snacks that are not common in western supermarkets. You can even buy some of them for your child to try. Maybe they will get to know and fall in love with traditional, unique Chinese snacks.
Going to a Chinese restaurant is a great way for children to practice their Chinese. At a Chinese restaurant, they can read the menu and communicate with the waiter and order food, all in Chinese. The waiter will be surprised that your child can speak Chinese and praise them for their efforts. This is phenomenal for your child's confidence in speaking Chinese.
2. Cook a Chinese dish together.
Buy ingredients and cook an authentic Chinese dish with your children. Many people fall in love with a country because of its cuisine. Through cooking, children are able to have a deeper understanding of Chinese culture and find greater motivation to learn the language. It is easy to find recipes for delicious Chinese cuisine on the Internet. While cooking, children can also gain a better understanding of China’s diverse and profound food culture. For example, many ingredients, such as scallions, ginger, and garlic, are usually added in Chinese food. These ingredients add to the taste of the food and also eliminate certain flavor profiles, such as fishiness and coldness. The ingredients also strengthen the spleen and stomach. Therefore, Chinese food is not only vibrant in color, fragrance, and taste, but also healthy.
3. Hold an online party with friends who are learning Chinese.
If your children don’t have friends learning Chinese, or it isn’t convenient to organize a party at home, organizing online Chinese language practice sessions with your child’s friends is a great way to improve your child’s Chinese. Children typically have plenty of topics to discuss with their friends-- what they are doing during holidays, what their rooms look like, their families, pets, etc. This will help keep children’s interest in learning Chinese.
4. Organize a Chinese movie night with family and friends.
Watch a Chinese movie with your children about a topic they are interested in. Even if they cannot fully understand the movie, as long as they like it, they will keep watching. When children watch Chinese movies in class, they are usually very attentive and concentrated, and they get excited especially when they hear the words that they have learned. After watching the movie, they often ask many questions about Chinese language and culture. Therefore, watching Chinese movies and videos is an important method to enhance your child's interest in learning Chinese and understanding Chinese culture.
5. Make Chinese traditional crafts.
You can also make Chinese traditional handicrafts with your children. Paper lanterns, paper balloons, calligraphy, ink painting, and even weaving a Chinese knot are all traditional Chinese crafts that are great to make with your kids. There are a lot of fun and interesting videos about how to make traditional Chinese crafts on the Internet that children will enjoy.
6. Learn Chinese through professional courses and apps.
There are several Chinese language learning apps for children. These apps will help your child conveniently learn Chinese during the holidays anytime, anywhere. In fact, an increasing number of children are learning Chinese online after school.
You can take a look at the Ace Chinese Book App, which has over 1,000 children’s books in Chinese, including read-to-me, animation, and popular children’s books (including award-winning titles, Disney, Marvel, Pixar, etc). The books are searchable according to language proficiency level, so your child is able to find books they can read.
Parents can also help their children maintain their Chinese language skills during holidays with LingoAce’s immersive online Chinese live classes. LingoAce teachers provide one-on-one tutoring based on the children's language proficiency. Children's oral Chinese ability and overall language level will improve with LingoAce’s gamified and engaging curriculum.
