Product Description CHINESE FOR KIDS vol. 1 bring fun and excitement to language learning. Starring native Mandarin speakers and 3-D animated characters this DVD teaches basic conversational Chinese within the context of a fantastic birthday party - full of lively songs delicious, food, and playful games. Billy and his cute Shih Tzu puppy Benboo teach useful phrases for everyday situations along with words for colors, numbers, and toys. Embedded throughout the video are interactive DVD games that test a child s comprehension and original music by a Hollywood composer designed to reinforce new words and phrases. All Language Tree videos incorporate the breakthrough Multi-Cognition ApproachTM, developed by a Stanford University cognitive scientist, for faster and deeper learning. DVD comes with learning booklet. Review Anybody wanting an introduction to Mandarin Chinese would greatly benefit from this video. The teaching methods are clear, concise, and repeated for emphasis each time. Each video has an instructional booklet with phonetic pronunciations for each word. The cartoon characters are cute, without being cutesy, they don't detract from the message: to teach the basics of an intricate language. The tones that are characteristic of the Mandarin dialect are taught with pictures and sounds that any young child can grasp. One word, spelled exactly the same, has four different meanings, depending on where the inflection is placed and the tonal quality in which it is spoken. This is a quality product, recommended for anyone wanting to connect with the Chinese culture. --Review Board, Dove Foundation
J**U
Definitely not worh the price.
I bought the video for my kids to learn more Chinese. They know a bit of Chinese, like hello, thank you, etc.The video is level 1, so it is supposed to be starting easy. That's not true. The first lesson has the main character, a boy, introducing himself in full sentences and it was quite a bunch of sentences. When someone don't even know basic words like "I", "name", and you throw them with full sentences introducing themselves that's got to be daunting.It's done in a video featuring a his birthday in America. His Chinese is OK, but not perfect. His relatives' Chinese is OK too. I heard once his father struggled with a Chinese word.The format is a bit boring. The lessons contain a video clip of Chinese people talking in Chinese. Then they would go back and explain the vocabulary, etc.They would do a song, a quite boring song, when they introduce some language elements, such as numbers. The rest of the time, they would do a on-screen right/wrong game, which is more interesting, since my kids like video games.When they taught the Chinese words for older brother, younger brother, older sister, younger sister, they used "big brother", "little brother", "big sister", "little sister" as their English translations, which could have conveyed the correct meaning if they didn't simply enlarge the picture of a boy to mean big brother, and then shrink the SAME boy's picture to mean little brother. This would surely confuse the audience. Did it mean the same sibling who grow physically bigger or is simply a sibling that's older than you?So, I'm not buying the next video in the series.It's not a totally bad video, but I think a 3 star is fair.
R**E
No characters, not standard Chinese, but a decent start.
It is as advertised. Packaged well. DVD is in good working order. I don’t like that there is only English words and not spoken English translation. Not the best for little non-readers. Also, there is no Chinese characters-only pin yin. Finally, the native speakers’ pronunciation is not standard. Sounds like a southern or maybe Taiwanese accent. Sounds like “SH” come out like “s” etc.
K**H
Could be better
Not easy to follow or particularly entertaining for my 3yo who doesn't have prior exposure to Mandarin Chinese. After buying this DVD, we tried another - Learning Chinese & English Together - which we found taught similar concepts in a clearer and more enjoyable format for young kids who were absolute beginners.
G**R
Not A Good Purchase
Despite the high rating for this product, I, a native Chinese speaker found this DVD poorly presented.1. The whole image of this DVD feels very home-made, not professional at all. I think it's because of the sound system.2. The pronunciation is off (with a foreign accent).3. When the DVD introduces father (ba ba), it just shows a man's face - if you don't read English as a child, you'd have no clue what this man's face is meant. When the DVD introduces big present (da li wu), it has a child pushes a present forward. How a person who doesn't read know what it's trying to say - is the big bag da li wu?I wish I can return this DVD.
L**A
It's fun to watch and interact with the activities
We rented from the library and my son wanted to keep it, so I ordered it. It's fun to watch and interact with the activities.
E**Y
Not great for all kids
My kids would not watch this and they watch most everything... I have a 3 year old and 5 year old
J**O
Five Stars
My middle school students loved this when we were learning about Ancient Civilizations.
P**H
Disappointed!!!
Sorry to say "chinese for kids" is way to expensive for its contents,the video is boring, too short, didn't like the exercises, i don't think is worth the money. I thought i was getting something more instructive for the $24 I paid. My son didn't like it and doesn't want to watch it again.
A**A
Bad production
Very disappointed with the production quality. The sound is very bad, the songs are really loud and the speaking is very quiet. My 4 year old daughter cannot read yet but some of the English translations are written on the screen and not spoken which is not ideal for her. Very low cost poor production, would not recommend.
M**O
Three Stars
It was what i was expecting
B**E
This is brilliant great if you're learning Mandarin
Knowing i could visually remember things better i knew that buying a DVD showing the Mandarin phrases is what i needed. Having bought and watched this 3+ times i can remember nearly every phrase. I've now gone and bought the Chinese for Kids Vol.2 and its improved my Chinese considerably. I just need to remember how to write it in chinese and famaliarize myself with the radicals and I'll be coming along really well. This is a great product I highly recommend it if you think you're a kid inside !!
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