Recipe for a Parent Mandarin Class

Planning an Intro to Mandarin Class for Parents

A Recipe in 10 steps

1. Recruit a native speaker: a parent, grandparent, teacher, or neighbor willing to meet on a weekly basis.
2. Determine if the class leader will volunteer time or require a small donation.
3. Set the class meeting place and time (mornings after drop-off, evenings, or weekends), and let your parent body know.
4. Design a simple curriculum for brand-new learners, such as following the kinder curriculum: colors, numbers, family members, animals.
5. Cover basic features using the kinder high frequency word list:
   • How characters work
   • Stroke order
   • Pinyin and tones
   • Online resources and apps
6. Sprinkle in songs to liven up the class and help with different types of learners.
7. Leave time for cultural stories from your teacher to add to the experience.
8. Show off to your kids with your new vocabulary.  Allow your kids to mock you for your pronunciation.
9. Offer to sing one of the Mandarin songs at an assembly.  Think twice about it.
10. Understand how it feels to learn Chinese.  Feel empathy with your kids and excitement for a new world opening up to you.  Mix well and let steep.