Sunday, January 22, 2012

Language Stars-Week 1

We had signed up for the Language Stars Parent/Tot Mandarin class.  Because a friend referred us, we both received $50 credit-nice bonus!  Before we attended our class, I received an email with links to three worksheets of information about what we'd be covering. The first two classes will go over winter clothing: Hat, Mittens, Scarf, Coat and Boots. There is a button on the web page that lets you hear the words spoken by a native Mandarin speaker. This was very helpful!

On our way to the first lesson, I was curious how E would react to the setting, teacher and other students.  Class started with toys on the floor.  Two more mothers came in with their sons. Our teacher is really cheerful and friendly.   She interacted really well with E and speaks only in Mandarin during class.  After a few more minutes of playtime with cars, blocks, rings and things, it was time to clean up. The teacher sang a song that I assume was about cleaning up. All the kids helped put the toys away.

Next we played a  few games with the winter clothing words -dressed up a frog in winter clothing and sang a song about being cold. I did my best to speak the words back to the teacher as she asked. E didn't say a thing, but the class held her interest.  She did hand the teacher the correct clothing item when asked. I'm not sure if she understood or if it was a lucky guess.  The only word I remember is for hat. It sounds like "Mao-zer."

We all sat at a table and had fish and animal crackers.  E liked this part just fine! We were also offered lemonade. There was a coloring activity involving a hat. E was thrilled that we were using markers instead of crayons (a treat around our house). "Marker" in Mandarin sounds like "Marker-bee" to me. I think I'll remember that word.

After cleaning up, class was over.  E was starting to act sleepy-it is past her nap time. Excited to see what next week will bring!

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