How to Teach Chinese to Kids: 16 Effective Tips

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So, you want to teach your children Chinese, but you’re not exactly sure where to start? Don’t fret because many parents (and some teachers) face this issue. After all, Chinese is a complex language that is very different from English or any other European language. 

Whether you’re trying to pass on your knowledge of Chinese to your kids or simply want them to learn a new language, I’ve got you covered with these 16 tips (recommended by a native speaker!) to teach Chinese to kids. Trust me, I was a kid once myself! 

Why teach Chinese to young kids?

For one, Chinese is one of the most widely-used languages in the world, so knowing how to speak it is definitely a plus. But more importantly, learning Mandarin at a young age is a good idea because: 

• Children generally pick up languages faster than most adults. When they’re young, their brains are more receptive to new information, which makes learning Mandarin much easier. 
• They have more time to appreciate a brand-new culture. With such a rich cultural heritage, the Chinese language is a treasure trove of new experiences to be discovered. Kids can learn to appreciate all that Chinese culture has to offer without the preconceived prejudice most adults have. 

• It gives them an edge when they grow up. As mentioned, Chinese is a truly global language. By teaching Chinese to children at a young age, it gives them the chance to master the language early on, which then opens a wealth of opportunities for them in the future. 
• There are a ton of resources to learn and teach Mandarin. With Chinese being one of the most popular languages to learn, you will find plenty of useful resources online to teach Chinese to children.   
• It trains their minds in a different way. Learning languages has been proven to help improve one’s cognitive abilities, especially when it comes to learning a language as far-removed from English as Chinese. 

Additionally, teaching languages online is also a great way to work (and earn) from home. Preply and italki are just a couple of the best websites to teach Chinese online — there are lots to choose from if you’re considering a flexible and remote-friendly career.

What to expect when teaching Chinese to children?

Teaching Chinese to anyone is difficult but keeping children interested enough to continue learning is a true challenge. This is especially true if the child in question has never encountered the Chinese language in any way before. 

The key thing to remember is that kids learn differently from adults. One way to teach Chinese to children effectively is to make the process fun. This means gamifying your approach and using a diverse variety of resources. Allow the children to learn in a way that they look forward to each session. 

1. Start with learning to write basic words

One of the earliest memories I have about studying Mandarin was just repeatedly writing my name over and over again. This may sound weird but one of the best ways to teach Chinese to kids is actually to encourage them to “scribble”, or at least that’s what I felt like I was doing when I was learning to write Chinese radicals and components!  

You may think that teaching children to write Chinese can wait until they have a firmer grasp of the language but I beg to differ. Being able to recognize and write is one of the key components of reading and understanding a language like Mandarin, especially since the alphabet system is one of the key differences between English and Chinese. 

Have them start by writing different Chinese strokes repeatedly and then to simple Chinese characters, like one to ten. Next, teach them how to write their names. Once they’re comfortably familiar with the different strokes and patterns,  move on to simple, basic words and build from there. You can even let them try calligraphy to make things more fun!

2. Make learning sessions short, frequent, and fun 

Learning a new language can be a tedious process, especially when you’re teaching Chinese to preschoolers. That’s why it’s a good idea to learn in short but frequent sessions. Back when I was in school, each Chinese class lasted 40 minutes, but just 30 minutes is fine too! 

The more important thing is to ensure there are frequent learning sessions spaced throughout the week. Not only does this help children to better retain what they’ve learned without overwhelming them, but also helps them to view studying Chinese as a good habit. 

What’s more, if you can make the sessions fun, it can become something that they look forward to every day, which will definitely help in their progress. 

3. Set a study routine and stick to it 

Another thing to take note of when teaching Chinese to children is retaining their interest. While setting short and frequent learning sessions can help keep children focused given their attention span, you will still need to diversify your sessions so as to not — forgive the directness — bore them.

One way you can keep things interesting when teaching preschoolers Chinese is by setting a routine for your sessions and sticking to them. You can even split each day’s session into short 10-minute segments focusing on different topics.

One way that my teacher kept Chinese lessons interesting was by diversifying the topics we covered each day. Mondays were for listening skills, Tuesdays were for vocabulary, Wednesdays were for grammar, and so on. Until today, I remember looking forward to Wednesdays because those were the days when we covered Chinese idioms and history! 

4. Use fun videos on Youtube or TikTok to teach them Chinese 

It’s undeniable that, for children and other young learners, videos are an invaluable source of information. Not only are they entertaining to watch, which helps in memory retention, but also with the proliferation of Youtube and TikTok, Chinese video lessons have become one of the most up-to-date and easily accessible learning resources. Plus, most of them are free!

Here are some of the channels that I’ve personally checked out and can recommend: 

小不點中文 A Little Chinese: An educational bilingual channel with plenty of short, entertaining videos. What I like about this channel is that it was created by a couple of parents who wanted to pass down the language to their children, so they know what they’re doing. 

Little Fox Chinese: Colorfully illustrated Youtube videos that teach Chinese to children through fun stories.

Yoyo动画: Teaches Chinese idioms through vivid illustrations

Fun Fun Elmo: A Sesame Street Mandarin Language program designed for children

@GoEast_Mandarin: A TikTok channel run by professional teachers that specialize in short, bilingual lessons

@chinesewithmia: A bilingual channel that focuses on essential phrases and vocabulary

In addition, once your kid(s) have gotten better at understanding Mandarin, you can even watch Chinese cartoons like Barney and Friends or introduce them to Chinese literature by watching Romance of The Three Kingdoms. 

5. Use colorful flashcards for vocabulary

Another effective way to teach Chinese to children is to simply use flashcards.

This may sound like a rudimentary method of teaching but it works for kids, especially when you include vivid imagery that helps them to remember what they’ve learned. It’s one of the best ways to improve one’s Chinese vocabulary, to be honest.  

In fact, even when I was studying Mandarin in school, my teacher used to create her own flashcards (we didn’t have smartphones back then) to teach us vocabulary and hanyu pinyin in one go! 

Lucky for you, these days, you can simply download flashcards online, which makes it so much easier. As I mentioned way back at the start of the article, I recommend starting with the simplest words before advancing to basic phrases and then on to the more advanced stuff. 

6. Learn simple songs and nursery rhymes

Believe it or not, my teacher used to do this too! With children, you really can’t just keep expecting them to learn by sitting still and reading from a book or watching a video, no matter how interesting your teaching materials are. That’s why you need to include some interactive segments. 

One of the best Chinese activities for children is simply to learn Chinese nursery rhymes or simple songs. Have them sing along while looking at the lyrics from a printout, and you can get them to hone their pronunciation and reading skills at the same time! 

What’s more, the fun nature of the rhymes and songs can then lead to interesting discussions about fun facts about Chinese that will only get them even more interested in the language! 

7. Find innovative ways to test their proficiency

One way to ensure that your children are advancing in their mastery of Chinese well is to periodically test them on their Mandarin proficiency. While it’s perfectly fine to test them the old-fashioned way: think quiz sheets and pencils, you can also gamify the experience with a reward system.

For example, when testing their vocabulary, you can quiz them by playing charades. Want to see if they’ve mastered writing in Chinese? Hold a friendly competition with a small prize at the end of it for whoever finishes writing first. 

The important thing is to motivate them to do better but also encourage them if they fall short. And then, once you, as their teacher, identify certain areas that they might need help in, you can incorporate it into your future sessions. 

8. Set fun “take-home” assignments

Yes, if you’re home-schooling your children, then “take-home” assignments sound like an oxymoron. But I do feel that this is a key part of teaching Chinese to children. 

There are two ways to go about this depending on your child’s attitude toward “homework”. You could for example have them focus on practicing their grammar and vocabulary using Chinese workbooks, or you could set them a simple task like writing a weekly diary about their Chinese learning sessions. 

The former helps to build strong fundamentals while the latter helps with improving your child’s Chinese handwriting. Whichever you choose, the main thing is to keep them actively involved in learning Chinese even when “class” is not in session. 

9. Start labeling things around your house in Chinese

But perhaps quizzing your children or checking their progress sounds a bit pressurizing. No worries because there are also other ways to check their progress and help them improve. And that is simply to encourage passive learning by incorporating Mandarin into your daily lives.

One easy way to do that is to have your children help you label things around the house in Chinese. It’s one of those Chinese activities for children that doubles up as an opportunity to brush up on their vocabulary. 

You can even gamify this activity too. For example, you can prepare all the Chinese labels in advance, and have your kids bring you the objects in the labels, like a treasure hunt! And then once the game is over, your children will continue to be exposed to Mandarin every day as they move around the house, helping them subconsciously remember certain words more easily. 

10.  Communicate and interact with your child in Chinese

Another way to encourage passive learning when it comes to teaching Chinese to children is simply to communicate with them in Mandarin. 

You could, for example, set a rule that they can only converse in Mandarin during playtime or that 7 pm till 8 pm each day is “Mandarin O’clock”. By encouraging your children to speak Mandarin at home, not only are you helping them to speak Mandarin more fluently, but you’ll also be able to catch any mistakes in their grammar early on. 

In addition, you can also read them stories in Mandarin, or watch some Chinese cartoons or TV shows with them when you’re free! 

11. Introduce them to some Chinese learning apps and resources

The other day I was having dinner with my family and my 7-year-old nephew basically spent the entire time on his parents’ mobile phone. Like it or not, even children these days can’t keep their hands off their tablets and mobile devices. 

Use that to your advantage when teaching Chinese to children. With a twist of course.

Make a deal with your children: They are allowed to spend a certain amount of time per day on their tablets or mobile phones, on the condition that they use it to either watch videos in Chinese or use Chinese learning apps like Duolingo or Drops to improve their vocabulary.

You could also introduce them to helpful resources like Standard Mandarin which provides free audio lessons for beginners. 

12. Play games in Chinese 

This is quite different from the vocabulary games on language learning apps. Here, what I mean is to actively encourage playing games (be it real-life games or video games) in Mandarin. 

Kids learn best when they’re having fun. In fact, most of my English was learned through playing games like Pokemon and Command and Conquer. If you want to teach Chinese to children in a fun, engaging way which will get them excited about learning, let them play their favorite games using Chinese language settings. 

Or, if you’d prefer your children to play real-life games, incorporate learn-as-you-play games like charades or tongue twisters, and have them make a note of any new words they come across. 

13. Introduce Chinese culture to them

Another way to teach preschoolers Chinese without having to make them actively learn is simply to teach them about the Chinese language and its culture. 

There’s so much to unwrap when it comes to the Chinese language and culture. After all, it’s one of the oldest languages in the world! You can teach them about Chinese customs and superstitions, interesting periods in history (like The Three Kingdoms era), or just make a Chinese meal with your children and share bits of trivia along the way. 

What made me want to really give my all when studying Mandarin was, as mentioned earlier, my passionate interest in Chinese history. Trust me. If you can get your kid to love Chinese culture, they’ll love learning Chinese too! 

14. Sign your kid up for a Mandarin class

This isn’t you throwing in the towel on trying to teach Chinese to your child. There are many benefits to signing your kid up for a proper Mandarin class, even if you are a teacher yourself by trade.

Kids tend to learn better in a group. And by enrolling your child in a Mandarin class, not only will they learn through a structured curriculum using the best Chinese textbooks, but they also have more opportunities to interact with others in Mandarin. 

Alternatively, instead of a formal Mandarin class, you can set up language exchange play dates with other parents and their children! 

15. Reward them for their progress

The critical thing to teaching Chinese to children is to consistently reward them for showing progress or simply for showing the effort to learn. 

We all know affirmation goes a long way when it comes to young children, so make sure to let them know what a great job they are doing when they reach certain milestones. Reward them when they complete a certain number of learning sessions, or when they successfully read something aloud without mistakes. 

16. Be patient but consistent

Finally, arguably the most important thing to remember when teaching Chinese to children, especially preschoolers, is to be patient and consistent. 

There are many benefits to learning Mandarin but mastering the language is a huge challenge, even for adults. If your child is struggling with certain topics, guide them through it patiently and apply the reward system from above to encourage them. That said, it’s important to stay consistent. 

For example, if your plan is to have five learning sessions in a week, stick to it. Perhaps switch the lesson topics a bit to focus more on the topics the child is struggling with, but do not cancel a session just because they find it “hard”. Instead, work through the challenge together. 

Final thoughts

And there you have it: 16 ways to teach Chinese to children effectively. I know that trying to teach a language like Mandarin to kids and preschoolers is a daunting task, but as someone who grew up learning the language, I can guarantee that your kids will appreciate you for going through the hassle of teaching them. 

Hopefully, this article doesn’t just offer tips for teaching Chinese to children, but also inspires you to continue teaching! 加油!