Play and say!
Let me be completely honest: The idea for Crazy About Chinese started because Chinese was driving me – and my kids – up the wall. In Singapore where the working language is English, school children are required to take up a Mother Tongue. In our case, that is Chinese.
I thought I did a lot for my two older kids when they were younger, to lay the foundation for Chinese language learning. Turned out I was not even close. They are still struggling with Chinese, although they do get decent grades in school.
So Jaymee (number 3) gave me one more chance to do things differently. And Crazy About Chinese is my platform to share with you what I have tried, tested, failed and sometimes succeeded (whoopee).
On this website, you will find articles and videos on games, activities and excursions. I have tried to make it as easy as possible for you to follow these posts, but if you have ideas or suggestions, please share with me! (Click HERE).
Here are my basic tenets:
- Home environment is key
- Start young, start small
- Weave a little Chinese into your child’s daily routine
- Play and say
- Do not expect to see returns quickly
I am dead serious about the last point. The most common complaint I hear from parents is that “my child is not responding”.
The best parenting advice I have ever been given is this: Just keep investing, and do not expect any ROI. Some day, your child will show you what he/she has internalized.
So have faith, and 加油！