SAN DIEGO
“A very unique and effective product,” says Lilian, mom of two. “My 4- and 11–year-olds were both speaking Mandarin at us after watching it together a few times.”
Pamela, mom of a 16-month-old daughter, was equally excited about the DVD. “Great product! First of its kind! Love the fact that it teaches Mandarin with English. Cute upbeat repetitions of various kinds throughout the DVD.”
The DVD utilizes repetition and music to enhance language acquisition. Once a word is introduced, it is used in follow-on dialogue. Key vocabulary words are used over 20 times. Vocabulary words are set to fun sing-along songs and traditional Chinese children’s music.
“We have accomplished our goal if children are excited about learning Chinese,” says Min Tung, founder of Mandarin Advantage. “The vision for the product came from my own frustration in trying to get my own children to learn Chinese.”
In addition to the story-based approach, “Journeys to the East” is different from other language products because it is bilingual, which makes it accessible to new learners. The DVD introduces words and sentences that children would encounter in everyday life so that there is greater opportunity for children to use the language immediately, thus reinforcing language learning.
Schools have found “Journeys to the East” useful as a device for reinforcing material learned in class. By using both English and Chinese, the DVD provides a bridge from an English-only environment to a Chinese-only environment.
Studies show that to truly learn a language, children need to be exposed to that language at least two hours a day. For most families, that means children will need exposure to the language at home. In the first episode “The River Dragon King,” children learn basic colors, fruits, greetings, body and face parts. Also, 50+ vocabulary words are introduced including nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
For more information visit: www.mandarinadvantage.com
Founded in 2007, Mandarin Advantage develops Chinese language learning material for children learning Chinese as a second language.
