It’s now been exactly a year since I first started Hao Mama, and while I haven’t had time to post to it as much as I would have liked, I want to thank each and every one of you (all five!) who have read the site, posted comments, and offered your support. I’m hoping 2010 will find me more time and energy to focus here. In the meantime, I wish each of you a new year filled with peace and joy. 新年快乐！
ChildBook has posted Top 10 Home Efforts to Help your Kids Learn Chinese Faster. Useful tips for learners of any language.
Below are some suggestions of holiday gifts for the little linguists in your lives. I have mentioned most of these products elsewhere on this site but they are worth pointing out again because each of them has been well-used and loved by my own kids. Happy Shopping!
What young child doesn’t love playing with magnets on the fridge? Why not have them learn some Chinese while they are at it?
Kingka, a matching game that teaches young learners to recognize Chinese characters and learn the meaning. There are various ways to play it depending on the age and fluency of your children, and the sturdy character cards themselves are a great resource.
A beautiful book that creatively introduces a few characters through a fun story.
A gentle CD of songs and counting rhymes designed to teach the basic sounds of Chinese to very young children. One of my kids’ favorite CDs.
A beautiful soothing collection of lullabies that puts both my kids to sleep every night. My little one now sings “You You Zha” (the name of the first song) to signal she is ready for bed.
There is something about the drawings of Elmer that babies just love.
