For every parent or teacher, it is always a challenge to get a child or student to be inspired to learn something new.
If you press the child too much, they would not take their lessons into heart because they do not want to learn it in the first place. They would also be unwilling to pursue it even if it is beneficial for them in the future.
How to Make Chinese Interesting to Learn?
In the case of languages, many students find it difficult to take on learning the Chinese language. Some would say it is very challenging to learn because of its alphabet, pronunciation, and use. Others would say they are not interested in the language at all and would prefer other languages as their focus.
This hesitance to learn the language can be remedied by motivating or inspiring the child to learn it. However, some parents would threaten their kids or bribe them to pursue it because of its benefits in the future. Unfortunately, this would only fuel the child’s reluctance to learn the language and disable progress from continuing.
Fortunately, here are some of the ways on how you can make Chinese interesting to learn for your kids to consider:
A useful means of communication
The most notable reason as to why schools in Singapore include Chinese as an important subject is to help students communicate in Chinese fluently especially because it is one of the country’s major languages. China is also becoming an important player in the international community, so learning the language is a bonus. Considering these factors, students who are aware of the reason why Chinese is included in their curriculum would be more open to learning the language.
To help your child get used to communicating in Chinese, you can create a Chinese-friendly environment at home and use the language in daily conversation. Since it is one of Singapore’s major languages, it is not uncommon to hear about families who speak in Chinese in everyday discussions at home even if they speak in another language outside their home. Of course, families may vary as to how they can apply the language in their daily routine, but they will always find a time to help their child to practice even at home. You can even start by just adding basic words or phrases in your talks and just increase the difficulty when your child gets used to it.
If the entire family is open to the idea of speaking Chinese at home, the children in the household would be more receptive to the language and strive to learn it. If the family is not open to using Chinese at home, the child would be hesitant or indignant to learn the language.
The lure of entertainment
China has a very rich culture, which dates back to the ancient times and it is deeply embedded in their art and language. The language itself can already tell a story on its own and display a beauty you can’t see in other languages. When it is used in written form, such as in poems or novels, it reflects how emotions run deep in the Chinese language.
Unfortunately, such emotion and beauty aren’t visible in today’s entertainment mediums from China. However, for the younger generation, it is possible they would love one or two Chinese pop songs, movies and books throughout their lifetime.
Since Chinese songs, movies and books would definitely use the language in some way, it would cause the child to become curious with the translation of these works. As a result, they would become inspired to learn the language and translate the songs, novels, and movies they love without having to rely on subtitles.
Eventually, as they learn the language, they would be able to discover new movies, novels, and songs that would catch their interest.
Engage an interesting Chinese tuition teacher
Finally, when learning a new language, it is always great if you can practice it regularly with someone who is fluent in the language. In this case, getting your child a tutor who specializes in Chinese tuition can do wonders for your child’s Chinese proficiency.
However, don’t just get any tutor who promises to teach your child Chinese because some tutors may do the traditional approach to teaching a new language and test your child through assignments and workbooks alone. If you get this type of tutor, you will not inspire the child to learn the language and they would just forget the lessons after class.
When teaching a new language, a tutor must keep the child interested in the language by making it fun to learn and easy to understand. A fun language class would not only make it easier for the student to learn the harder aspects of the language, but it can also inspire them to learn the language further and become fluent.
Alternatively, you can enroll your child in one of Singapore’s tuition schools that offer special Chinese tuition to help them practice and learn more advanced words and phrases. Not only can their teachers in this school teach them more about the language, your child can practice their communication skills with their fellow classmates.
Final Remarks
While your child is young, it is recommended to get them to learn another language since they would pick it up easier as compared to learning it at a later time. The harder the language, the better and the Chinese is one of the most challenging languages in the world today.
However, do not scare them into learning the language for fear of being punished for not doing so or bribe them just to get them to learn. Let them make the first step to seek it out after giving them an idea of why learning a new language can help them in the future. If they are allowed to decide for themselves to learn the language and given the right push, they will learn the new language with zeal and become fluent in no time.
Mastering Chinese is not easy but we have helpful articles to motivate your child here:
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