How to start a Mandarin Chinese language playgroup

With Mandarin Chinese becoming an increasingly important language, what better time than now to exposure your young children to the notoriously difficult language. An easy way to expose young children to the tonal language is to start a Mandarin Chinese playgroup.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• computer
• a local Chinese community

1. Define the playgroup age range
   As a basic step, define the targeted age range for the children. Make sure that the age range is no more than 18 months. Exposing children to Chinese Mandarin at an earlier age is preferable, while they are still developing their primary language skills. As children get older, they will tend to rely on their primary language and will not be willing to learn and communicate in Mandarin Chinese.

2. Define the frequency of meeting
   Is this a weekly or twice monthly playgroup? Because Mandarin is a tonal language and foreign to native English speakers, it is ideal to err on the side of more frequent meetings. Having regular exposure to the language will not only help acclimate children to the new social setting but also help children develop an ear for the language.

3. Organize the playgroup online
   Create an online group site for the group and publish the group's public website so that other interested families can find the playgroup. Use the online group sites to establish an email list, group calendar for playgroup meeting places and times, photo sharing, group description, member roster, etc. Yahoo and Google both had group functionality, but can be a bit confusing. Startups such as Qlubb, Cozi, and Centered are making this even easier for real world groups with cool functionality such as online sign-up sheets and automatic reminders. Qlubb also has the ability to automatically publish a public web page.

4. Recruit Mandarin-Chinese speaking families
   This is critical, and probably the hardest part of establishing the playgroup. The playgroup should be comprise at least 50% Mandarin Chinese speakers. To recruit this group, put flyers with tear-offs at places where Chinese families frequent (e.g., Asian grocery stores, Asian churches, Chinese language schools, college campuses, restaurants). Added bonus, have a Chinese friend translate the flyer into Chinese.

5. Recruit non-Mandarin-Chinese speaking families
   Given the growing importance of Mandarin Chinese, it will not be difficult to find families interested in participating in this playgroup. Make sure that the non-Mandarin-Chinese speakers do not outnumber Mandarin speakers. Place flyers with tear-offs in local supermarkets, Starbucks, schools, churches, etc.

6. Decide on initial playgroup activities
   An easy way to get started is to find out if there are any local Mandarin language activities. One place to start is the local libraries - look into open Mandarin story time. Another option is to look into language classes for children at the local rec center - schedule the playgroup around these activities. Place these events and any related tasks/sign-up sheets onto the online calendar - automatic reminders!

7. Enforce language during the playgroup meeting
   Request that Mandarin-speaking children only speak Mandarin Chinese (again, this is easier if they are younger, less than 2). Over time the non-Mandarin speaking children will gradually pick up the language. Also encourage the parents (especially the Mandarin speakers) to join in the play. Put on Mandarin-language CDs as background music.

Tips & Warnings

• a good Chinese-English dictionary is http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php
• Chinasprout.com is a good place to buy Western books translated into Chinese - many also have accompanying audio CDs
• don't expect kids to be fluent through this playgroup
• this is more an opportunity for Mandarin-chinese exposure and to meet other interested families

Resources

• MDBG Chinese-English dictionary
• Chinasprout - for children's Chinese books
• Qlubb - an easy way to organize playgroups, real-life groups

[charocharo1976]

on 8/12/2008 great article - though I wouldn't assign this as an easy "how to" - maybe a moderate easy to medium