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Mandarin Made Easy

How to Celebrate Lunar New Year!!!

Year of the rabbit activity for kids rabbit picture frame free printable

Easy Chinese New Year Crafts for Kids

girl holding dumpling

Make potstickers and dumplings — a new year tradition!

preschool children wearing Chinese New Year clothing

Our Lunar New Year Traditions, New and Old!

Lunar New Year word search chinese worksheets

Lunar New Year Word Search Worksheet

Chinese New Year books in Chinese

Chinese New Year – Lunar New Year Books

girl with pigtails and mouse ears headband wearing a red chinese dress with tutu skirt

Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year Outfits for Kids

mama made products for chinese learners

Stick to your Chinese language learning goals with one of these mama-made resources

Asian-inspired Lego sets - Monkey King noodle shop

Asian inspired Lego sets to celebrate Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year

Online Chinese Classes

girl and boy in front of laptop

Online Summer Camps 2022

Boy taking online classes sitting at a desk

25+ Online Classes in Chinese

Children’s Books for Chinese Learners

Asian girl and black boy reading in a tent, Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev from Pexels

Diverse Kids Books in Chinese

LGBTQIA+ Children’s Books in Chinese

Picture Books to Celebrate Pride Month

Chinese Language Shows for Kids

Live-action Chinese shows for kids

Live-action educational Chinese shows for kids of all ages

20+ Family-Friendly movies to watch in Mandarin Chinese

More than 20 Family-Friendly Movies to Learn Chinese

65+ Youtube Channels for Chinese Shows for Kids

65+ FREE Youtube Channels to watch Chinese cartoons and shows

More Resources to Learn Chinese

bulldozer worksheet

Chinese Character Worksheets

top websites and apps to watch chinese shows and movies

7 Websites and Apps to Watch Chinese Shows and Movies

Crafting with Kids

alligator Chinese activity sheet with egg carton alligator

Egg Carton Art Printables

Pea shoots in eggshells

Planting Peas and Vocabulary

Watercolor Appearing Art

Watercolor Activity

Learn Through Play

diy cardboard pinball game

DIY Cardboard Pinball Game

knock em down game made with a cardboard box and chinese flash cards

Taiwan Night Market Game with Chinese Flash Cards

Feed the Frog Game to learn Chinese Characters

Feed the Frog Game to Learn Chinese Characters

Cooking with Kids—Easy Taiwanese Inspired Recipes

girl holding dumpling

Dumpling and Potsticker Recipe

boy looking at slices of taiwanese sponge cake on a plate

Easy Taiwanese Spongecake Recipe

round and heart shaped tang yuan 愛心湯圓

Tang Yuan Recipe

Taiwan With Kids

how to find a preschool or kindergarten in taiwan

How to Find a Short-term Preschool or Kindergarten in Taiwan

Things to do in Taipei with Kids

Kid Friendly Places and Activities in Taipei

Taiwan Summer and Winter Camps list

Find a Summer Camp in Taiwan!

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Pleasantly surprised at how accessible Chinese lan

Pleasantly surprised at how accessible Chinese language resources are these days. We visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and chose the Mandarin audio tour.

My daughter was translating to English for her dad even though he had his own audio device. She says to him, “good thing I know Chinese” 🤣

Traveling and hearing people speak different languages has had a positive impact on my daughter.

We moved back to California when the kids were 2 & 4, too little to do many of the NYC activities. Excited to be back! Oh how I’ve missed you, New York!

#bilingualparenting #worldschooling #newyorkcity #newyorkwithkids #raisingbilingualkids #familytravel #travelingwithkids

This photo from six years ago popped up in my Face

This photo from six years ago popped up in my Facebook memories today. We had just started learning Chinese characters. Honestly, I had no idea where to start so I googled “100 most common Chinese characters” and began incorporating the easiest characters into our daily routine. For breakfast, we often had pancakes, decorated with the Chinese character we were learning that day.

At that time, my kids were 4 and 2 years old and learned their first 25 characters very quickly. Somehow, I already knew it wasn’t always going to be that easy!

At home, I was able to create a mostly mandarin language environment, but once my son entered an English speaking elementary school, he very quickly switched to more and more English.

Many of us fear English taking over because it feels like years of hard work going down the drain. But language learning is a lifelong journey. We can’t put a timeline on it however, I will recommend trying to build a solid foundation before your kids start school. It’s also important to have to have a Chinese learning routine that works with your lifestyle.

My son is now 10 (I can’t believe it!) and he has been resisting learning Chinese for the past two years. He can still speak Mandarin but struggles to remember words that he wants spoke fluently. And for me, I have to hold back my panic and find different ways to keep him learning without resentment.

Here’s what has worked for us this past year :
🔸 Reading five @lelechinesetw books each day. This takes less than five minutes.
🔸 reading three articles on the Dot Languages App. This also takes less than five minutes.
🔸 private Mandarin tutor twice a week
🔸 math tutoring in Mandarin
🔸 piano in Mandarin
🔸 chatting online with a Taiwanese college student once a week

Do you have big kids? I’d love to hear what works for your family.

Not me making a trilingual phrase book an hour bef

Not me making a trilingual phrase book an hour before we’re supposed to leave for the airport 🫣

When my son was a toddler, we actually tried to learn Italian. We lived in New York at the time, and I was able to find an Italian babysitter. But when we moved back to California, I couldn’t find any Italian language resources. Considering I’m not a native speaker of either Mandarin or Italian, I decided to drop one of the languages.

Maybe this trip will inspire the kids to learn Italian!

of course, happy to share this phrase book for your next trip 😉

#bolognaitaly #italianphrasebook #travelingwithkids #italytravel #italywithkids #bilingualparenting #learningitalian

Obsessed over this wooden dim sum set! It’s not

Obsessed over this wooden dim sum set! It’s not too early to get these for Christmas or as a baby shower gift because they might be sold out!

Finally got to see these in person at the @bitty.bao booth! Lacey was in town for the mid autumn festival and her booth was so packed with shoppers that it was impossible to chat with her!

I wish these were around when my kids were a little . My daughter kept asking me to buy her a set, but she is eight years old!

✈️ flying with toddlers For my son’s first

✈️ flying with toddlers

For my son’s first Halloween, I made him a cardboard airplane and dressed him up as a pilot, complete with a tie and vintage hat I found on @ebay.

When I was planning my first solo parenting long haul flight to Taipei, I was so worried about him crying or being fussy. I read that if your kid is cuter, people are more understanding. 🫣 So what did I do? I dressed him in his costume for the flight!

After this trip, he always wore his pilot uniform when we flew. Every time we got on the plane, he was invited him into the cockpit for photos. Unfortunately, we lost his hat during one of our connections @tsa, and that was the end of our mini pilot days. But we sure have a lot of adorable memories.

#flyingwithkids #flyingwithtoddlers #travelingwithkids #travelparentingtips #cutepilot #hellocaptain #parentinghacks #futurepilot #cutesthalloweencostume #babiesinuniform #kidsincostumes #sofreakingcute #travelmemories

We are testing a new idea to use the mooncake mold

We are testing a new idea to use the mooncake molds. Every year I tried to come up with something fun and different. This week I’ve already reposted my mooncake cookie recipe and the air m-dry clay mooncake ornaments.

What do you think we are making today? Hint, it’s not Play-Doh. 😉

Time goes by so quickly for me these days that it feels like we just celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival. Meanwhile, last year feels so long ago for my daughter that she didn’t forgot how to use the mooncake molds!

#mooncakemold #cookingwithkids #bikingualkids #bilingualparenting #chineseholiday #midautumnfestival #mooncakes #speakingchinese #speakingmandarin #hapakids #taiwaneseamerican #taiwaneseheritage

These clay moon cakes, make great gifts. They are

These clay moon cakes, make great gifts. They are pretty as desk ornaments and cute pretend play food for your child’s toy kitchen.

Pro tip: dust the clay ball a little bit of cornstarch to keep it from sticking to the inside of the moon cake mold

My kids love this activity year after. The full tutorial is available on my blog but if you want, comment “clay mooncakes” and I will DM you the link

#mooncake #midautumnfestivalcrafts #mooncakerecipe #toddlercrafts #preschoolcrafts #crayolaairdryclay #airdryclay #mooncaketoy #asianinspired #chinesecrafts #chinesecraftideas #easyclayideas

Here’s another craft to make the most of those m

Here’s another craft to make the most of those mooncake molds! There is no such thing as a single use tool in my kitchen!

We started making these moon cakes out of air dry clay as teacher gifts. It was the first year, returning to school after the Covid lockdown, and our school had a rule that no one can exchange food. So I had to get creative!

My daughter was only five at the time and she loved using these as pretend play food. They are so cute and pretty. Don’t they look like fancy chocolates?

I got some Crayola air dry clay for free from @buynothingproject, but you can use any air, dry clay. there’s even a super lightweight type of clay that would be great for refrigerator magnets.

PRO TIP:
🥮 Use a little bit of cornstarch to keep the clay from sticking to the inside of the moon cake mold.
🥮 seal the paint with a coat of Modge Podge

They’re pretty easy to make, but if you want the full tutorial you can find it on my blog or comment “clay mooncakes” and I’ll send you the link

#mooncakes #mooncakeart #mooncakerecipe #mooncakecrafts #chineseholidays #taiwaneseholidays #moonfestival #midautumnfestival #中秋節 #claycraftsforkids #easyclayideas #mooncakegift #diyplayfood #foodprops

Last year I baked so many batches of cookies to co

Last year I baked so many batches of cookies to come up with the perfect recipe that can be used to make cookies. These were easy and so good that no one complained about how many batches we had to make to get it just right.

I’ve never really been a big fan of mooncakes. And the two-step process is a bit complicated when you’re a busy parent with young children. So I thought why not make cookies? And of course, these are just right, not too sweet. 😉

The recipe is on my blog for Mid- Autumn Festival but if you want the recipe sent right to your inbox, just comment “moon cake cookies “

Why ChatGPT is the best app for Translations! Whe

Why ChatGPT is the best app for Translations!

When I first started learning Mandarin, Google Translate was my lifesaver. I used it to read baby board books, create flashcards, and look up words I didn’t know! I tried many apps but Google Translate was my top pick because it was easy to use. But now, ChatGPT is way better, and here’s why:

👀 Context Matters
Google translates word-for-word with awkward results that often don’t make sense.

ChatGPT looks at the whole sentence and surrounding conversation and translates in a more accurate and natural voice.

🗣️Colloquial and Nuanced
ChatGPT understands everyday language, slang, and idioms, making translations feel more authentic and true to how people really talk.

😶Right Tone and Expressions
ChatGPT captures the right tone, whether it’s casual or formal, and does a fantastic job with idioms and expressions that don’t always translate directly.

Take a look at the screenshots I’ve included to compare results: ChatGPT vs. Google Translate, and even Apple Translate, which I never use. You’ll see the difference for yourself!

#LanguageLearning #ChatGPT #LearnChinese #BilingualJourney #BilingualParenting #RaisingBilingualKids #LanguageLearningTips #TranslateApp #LanguageApps

A lot of Asian parents in Northern America often a

A lot of Asian parents in Northern America often ask, “how can I share our culture with my child’s class?”

If you celebrate the mid autumn festival with moon cakes, here is the most adorable book! This is an English language recommendation for parents to share with your child’s class.

My daughter is 7 but not too old to enjoy a picture book, especially when the illustrations are this cute. We are not allowed to bring food items to school, so I think this book is the perfect compromise.

Teacher, would you appreciate this gift for your class?

Title: Mooncakes Mean Family
Written and illustrated by: @bshum79
Language: English

Order online at:
@penguinrandomhouse
@amazon
@target
@barnesandnoble

#teachergifts #classgifts #teachergiftideas #roommomideas #asianamericanparenting #chineseamericanparenting #chinesecanadian #taiwaneseamericanparents #midautumnfestival #moonfestival #mooncakes #chineseholidays #taiwaneseholidays #chinesekidlit #asianamericanauthors #kidsbookillustrator #diversekidsbooks #preschoolbooks

四神湯 One of my favorite dishes to eat when I

四神湯

One of my favorite dishes to eat when I’m in Taiwan is for spirits soup. It’s so delicious and comforting.

I don’t usually try to make Taiwanese food at home but I saw these soup packets. and thought I’d give them a try. Even though I know there are only four main ingredients, I was pretty surprised when I opened the packet. There are no other seasonings besides dried yam, lotus seed, a type of mushroom, and some barley.

I paid $7 for this tiny packet and I’m pretty sure I can find all the other dried ingredients fairly easily.

The soup is pretty easy to make although I don’t use pig intestine. I just buy whatever pork is on sale. To cook, sear the pork and add water. Once it’s boiling, I dump in the dried herbs. Add some rice, wine and cook until the lotus seeds are tender.

If you don’t have an Asian grocery nearby, you can order from @sayweee_official

#fourspiritssoup #四神湯 #taiwaneserecipes #easyasianrecipes #chinesesouprecipe #easychineserecipe #taiwanesecooking

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