This past summer, my Kiddo came home from China to visit for about 2 months before moving to San Francisco. During that two months, we all went on vacation to the Jersey shore (no, not THAT Jersey shore, we were much further south, but 10 miles north of Cape May.)
So, while we were there enjoying the sun, the surf and the beautiful weather we were lucky enough to have, Kiddo started getting homesick for China. She remedied this by watching a program on her Ipad called Happy Chinese.
What is Happy Chinese, you might ask? Well, it is a kid-friendly program designed to teach the viewer Chinese and something about Chinese life and culture. It is made in China, but there are English subtitles. And from what I have been told, there are lots of episodes. And, WOW, it is readily available on YouTube.
Why do I bring up Happy Chinese? Take a look at this photo I took:
On a beautiful summer's day, there are five people, 2 ten year old girls, a 12 year old boy, a 6 year old boy, and a 24 year old Kiddo, crowded on a bed, all watching Happy Chinese on one little Ipad and laughing like crazy.
They were hooked in Happy Chinese! They loved it. They couldn't get enough.
Meanwhile, adults (among them a reading teacher) looked on in dismay as all those novels and storybooks lovingly chosen for vacation fell by the wayside. But I am happy to say, the Happy Chinese obsession last only a few days and the kids were back to their usual activities and books. They still watched, but not so compulsively. And so all the adults relearned a good lesson: when you have children who love to read, they will always return to the books if you just give them time.
Oh, by the way, at the end of two weeks, the kids were all starting to say things to each other in Chinese so all was not lost. FYI: Two of these kids are now planning to pick Mandarin as their foreign language choice in school.
Curious about what may have hooked these kids? You can check out Happy Chinese here and lots more episodes on YouTube:
I'm doing something similar but in Spanish. It's an app called "Hey Amigo Learn Spanish." You watch a funny video about an American young man who goes to Argentina to learn Spanish. Episode after episode you are so in love with the story that you don't realize you are mastering the language!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information and for dropping into my blog!
Doris
Isn't great how language learning can be done like this. Now anyone can learn to speak a foreign language, at least conversationally. The kids loved Happy Chinese, so I will have to tell them about Hey Amigo. Thanks for telling me about it.
DeleteHow wonderful! Anything that brings people together with laughter and joy is a gift. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHere's MY SUNDAY SALON POST
I feel the same way. It was great watching them like this.
DeleteWhat an awesome story! I love seeing my kids reading now as adults when it's not assigned and we have some wonderful discussions.
ReplyDeleteI know, isn't it great. Ironically it was Chinese myths that got my Kiddo reading and interested in Chinese. Glad you enjoyed this post.
DeleteHappy Chinese sounds like a fun way to begin learning another language. I can how some words can be picked up from the show. I love that the kids learned some words and used them- and that they got back to reading (loved the way you worded that part of the post). :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
It seems Happy Chinese was a lot of fun, judging by the laughter we heard coming from the kids. I was actually surprised by how much they picked up after only a few days and they even got the tones right (that's more than I could do) But it was good to see them reading after a while.
DeleteWell now. I just spent 15 minutes of my writing time watching Happy Chinese! Fun distractions always welcome.
ReplyDeleteWell, I am glad you found it a fun distraction, especially since I know writing time is really precious time. It was really funny watching the kids watching Happy Chinese.
ReplyDelete