by on 26/12/2019 1665
Chinese is the most widely spoken native language in the world, yet it is one of the most difficult to learn, or at least it has a reputation for being one of the hardest to master. Especially for learners who are accustomed to the Latin alphabet, the usual challenges stem from the complex Chinese characters and intonation. For instance, to read a newspaper, one needs to know more than 3000 characters. How is it possible to recognise so many words and understand the meaning of each? This might seem like a near impossible mission but look no further for the method to do so.
Learn Chinese with Little Professor Chinese Learning Centre and be equipped for the future! Little Professor is a team of trustworthy teachers who are friendly and personable, each dedicated to maximising children’s learning, while being engaging and fun. They help children grow in confidence to communicate in Chinese and prepare them for the many challenges of today’s world.
Children, aged 4 to 12 years, are introduced to Chinese through the Pictorial approach – a highly effective learning technique that helps learners remember Chinese characters by breaking down the characters into components that form an imagined illustration or short story. For example, visualising the character 活 (“live”) as a fish above a splashing tub of water is much easier to remember than the composition of strokes in the character. Also, the next time when children sees the Chinese character itself, the corresponding image or story of a lively fish jumping out of the tub instantaneously appears in their minds, assisting children to learn and remember the language. This Cognitive Associative Memory Method takes learning a lot further than rote memorisation. Even studies on whole brain teaching techniques showed that learners are the most receptive by associating words with images.
Learning is individualised to each child’s ability. An initial placement assessment ensures that children are placed at the right level that is suitable to their learning styles. Overall learning experiences are enhanced by small class groups paired with one-on-one sessions to allow for maximum personal attention and interaction.
The programme is thoughtfully designed to cover comprehensive language outcomes – listening, speaking, reading and writing. Each level of the course is broken down into various learning objectives.
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Every moment here is joyful and engaging, without boring drills. The pleasant, low-stress environment emphasises the context of everyday activities that are relevant to children’s lives. By embedding new words into real-world contexts, as well as incorporating live dialogues and games, children will naturally find it interesting, actively participate in class and understand quickly.
Often described as a family, Little Professor Chinese Learning Centre is a caring and supportive community that inspires and challenges children to master the Chinese language and fulfil their potentials in a variety of contexts. A fun fact: the panda in its logo has two hidden messages inside of it. One, it represents the effective teaching strategies that are adopted here to help children create stronger knowledge retention more rapidly but at a fraction of the effort, resembling the panda’s “6th finger” – which is an opposable thumb that gives pandas a stronger grip on bamboo and trees. It also reflects the nurturing aspect of the team to give children a strong foundation of essential skills that they can carry through life, exemplifying the life cycle of a panda – born blind and helpless at around 100g and nourished to grow into independent individuals that can weigh up to 150kg. Children learn and live the Chinese language at Little Professor Chinese Learning Centre. In no time, they will be able to converse with friends, describe things accurately through writing and handle communicative tasks like a native.
