Chinese For Kids

As some of my regular blog readers know, I am torn about whether to send my kids to Chinese school to learn Chinese since I don't know any Chinese myself. After much pondering (we're still thinking), we finally registered the older girl for Chinese school.

This puts us in a dilemma. How to teach the kids Chinese when we don't know any Chinese? I searched the internet for good sites to teach the kids Chinese but I could only find one or two game sites and many sites and resources for adults who want to learn Chinese but none for kids. Some other kids sites were too complicated for me. There were too many Chinese words and instructions that I couldn't understand. I can't guide and aid my child in learning Chinese when I don't understand it myself. I needed something simpler.

Finally I found BetterChinese.com. Its the most comprehensive and structured teaching kids Chinese site I've come across so far. The best part is its tailored for English speaking parents and kids who are learning Chinese as a second language. I immediately signed up for the free 30 day trial.

My girl loves it. She loves the animations, songs, rhymes and exercises and when she loves something she learns better. I'm learning too. Its structured and repetitive so its easier to recognise the Chinese characters. And you know what? I understand it because the instructions are in English. Lol!

Apart from its online curriculum, the site has a host of complementary products to aid learning such as storybooks, workbooks, teacher/parent guides, CD Roms and other supplementary materials which you can mix and match according to your needs or budget. The Chinese learning materials are targetted for children from ages 2 to 13.

Parents, I hope you find the site useful. You can sign up for the free trial and see if your child enjoys it before you decide on whether to pay for full or partial access to the site. The free trial has 12 lessons. Each lesson has stories, animations, songs/rhymes and exercises. Lots of stuff for your kid to try out. Enjoy!