Children best learn Chinese by absorbing new sounds, tones, and rhythms. This is easily accomplished by exposing them to a show in their target language, but only after they’ve already built a language foundation through real-life interactions with caring and attentive adults. Once your child has been exposed to Chinese and has a handle on the basics with a teacher, you can feel at ease letting them enjoy a TV program.
We’d like to introduce you to a kid-friendly station, CCTV-14 as well as some kid-friendly titles that will not only entertain your kids but will let them pick up new vocabulary as well. Animated movies, series, kids’ game shows, and other youth-oriented program series, can be a nice supplement to structured learning. The following selection of titles is complete with summaries of the show so you can help find a program suitable for your child’s individual preferences.
Chāojí fēi xiá
超级 飞 侠 — Super Wings
This series follows Jett, a charming jet plane that delivers goodies to youngsters all around the world. Every delivery presents Jett with a new dilemma that he and his Super Wings teammates must work together to overcome. Jett and the Super Wings have the incredible ability to morph from planes to incredible heroes who can sprint, climb, lift, dig, and even dive deep underwater.
Dà fēngchē
大 风车 — Big Pinwheel
Set at a school, Dafengche interests kids with topics related to school and classmates with real people who speak more natural and authentic Chinese compared to animations. The stories, which are surprisingly sophisticated, revolve around things like homework, parents, and home life. They cover themes such as friendship, trust, and cooperation. My kids are really interested in the characters and how they interact. We slowly get to know them as friends of our own.
Bānbān hé lì li de xiǎo wánɡɡuó
班班 和 莉莉的 小 王国 — Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom
You may already be familiar with the animated series called Peppa Pig, the same creators (and many of the same voice actors too) created Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom. It’s about the friendship between fairy a princess named Holly and an Elf called Ben who lives in the magical Kingdom of elves and fairies.
Wēi lā de yěshēng dòngwù
威 拉 的 野生 动物 — Willa’s Wild Life
This is a popular show for children who love animals and the idea of having animals as friends. You can find the young girl, Willa, in her backyard which is home to a variety of talking zoo animals. These animals include a giraffe, a camel, two elephants, an alligator, and many more zoo creatures.
Hǎidǐ xiǎo zòngduì
海底 小 纵队 — Octonauts
In Chinese, the title translates to “underwater squad” which makes perfect sense. The show follows an underwater exploring crew of animals made up of a group of eight adventurers who dwell in the Octopod, an undersea base from which they embark on underwater adventures with the support of a fleet of underwater vehicles. The crew’s encounters with animals and the places they visit are based on real marine species in their natural environments. Children marvel at the ‘Vegimals’ too, which are half-animal, half-vegetable creatures. Preschool children largely make up the audience demographic for this show.
Guójiā dìlǐ píndào
国家 地理 频道 — National Geographic Channel (Kids)
For older children with a sense of adventure, Nat Geo is a true winner. The most popular out of their programs are animal, outer space, and culture related themes. While some of the animal programs are uncensored others are made primarily for children viewers so discretion is advised when choosing wildlife themed shows. There is so much fascinating knowledge to be discovered in tandem with Chinese.
Let it be noted that while TV can be an effective tool for furthering a child’s according to research, children with language delays tend to watch television too early. It took them around ten months to say their first meaningful words. Children under the age of 12 months who watch more than 2 hours of television each day are six times more likely to have language delays. Therefore, children under the age of two do not learn language by watching television or films, even if the programs are labeled as educational. Listening to and engaging with nurturing adults helps babies and toddlers learn new words and develop language skills – genuine dialogue from real people, as opposed to TV.
You May Want to Learn More :
“Clearing up Confusion Between “zhe 着” and “le 了” for Children to Learn Chinese”
“The Most Easy Song for Children to Learn Chinese Greetings”
”Quiz and Analysis to the Chinese Measure Words “Zhī 只”, “Tóu 头” and “Gè 个””
