Mandarin Chinese

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Though Mandarin Chinese was not taught in Charlotte Mason’s schools, I have listed below resources that could be used in teaching according to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy.  Be sure to check back as more are added!

Vocabulary

In the early years, vocabulary is developed through pictures and objects around the student’s environment.  Below are resources you could use for vocabulary.  The key here is to remember that the students are not to see the words.  In some cases, you may need to find a way to cover the words.

 

Songs

Stories

Poetry

 

Formal Lessons-Online

There a lot of online options for learning Chinese.  I hesitate to include them here because many do not fit perfectly within the CM model, but we could certainly adapt some of them.  Families who are not comfortable with lots of screen time could use these resources sparingly.

  • Skritter.com is an onine/app tool which aims at teaching the Chinese characters.
  • Chineasy.com is a newer program developed to make Chinese easy for children.  Adults could also learn alongside their children.  There are some audio lessons and a podcast.  Most intriguing to me are the “tiles,” (similar to flashcards) which can be used to play a variety of games.  The only down side is printed words on each card.  Alternatively, one could use the flash cards from Chinese Made Easy (referenced above) and play games with those.
  • The Learnables-an immersion-based program for older students that begins with listening and speaking before moving on to reading and writing