Blog
Dim Sum Warriors offers a new CLUB membership specially designed for bilingual kids
Dim Sum Warriors offers a new CLUB membership specially designed for bilingual kidsThe Dim Sum Warriors CLUB has been a truly special part of our journey as children’s book creators who want to support bilingual kids’...
National Day Singapore Special – What do Taiwanese think of Singapore?
For the National Day Singapore season this year, I had the pleasure of speaking with Liang Jan Jia (JJ) and Sai Siew Min, a couple with deep ties to both Singapore and Taiwan. JJ is particularly well-known in Taiwan as...
Curious About the Ghost Month? Discover the Spooky Traditions of the Hungry Ghost Festival in Taiwan!
Curious About the Ghost Month👻? Discover the Spooky Traditions of the Hungry Ghost Festival in Taiwan!As Chinese Singaporeans, we often know about Chinese traditions superficially. But one festival that has always been...
Now you can read Dim Sum Warriors Stories on the Web App!
Now you can read Dim Sum Warriors Stories on the Web App!We are thrilled to share with you the exciting launch of the The Dim Sum Warriors Bilingual Reader Web App! Specially designed for Mandarin-English bilingual...
Funny Cheesy Chinese-English Cross-Language Puns in Taiwan!
Funny Chinese-English Cross-Language Puns in Taiwan! In Singapore, English has been absorbed with local languages in the very creative Singlish form of speaking. In Taiwan, English has not been so completed absorbed...
Back to School Must-Read: “UH-OH! 糟糕！”
Back to School Must-Read: "UH-OH! 糟糕！"One kid has overslept, the other one has forgotten her homework, and another his water bottle. Will you get the kids out the door in time so they don't miss the bus? Does your...
Essential Read for School Holidays: ‘GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY! 快去外面玩！
Essential Read for School Holidays: 'GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY! 快去外面玩！Are you worried about your kids sticking to their phones and tablets all day long during a holiday break from school. Do you know who else has a similar...
Exciting New Lunar New Year Children’s Book: ‘庆祝好累人！Celebrating is Hard Work!
《庆祝好累人！》 Celebrating is Hard Work! Hot Off the Press! New Lunar New Year Book from the Dim Sum Warriors! In an exciting literary collaboration, three Singaporean storytellers, Woo Yen Yen 胡恩恩, Colin Goh...
5 Fun Lunar or Chinese New Year Activities For Families
5 Fun Lunar or Chinese New Year Activities For Families Are you a parent trying to figure out what you can do with your kids during the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year—if you're far away from relatives or if you're...
Amazing Facts About the Hongbao (Chinese New Year Red Envelope)
Amazing Facts About the Hongbao(Chinese New Year Red Envelope)Growing up, the most exciting part of Chinese New Year for me was always the Chinese New Year Red Envelope or Red Packet—the 红包 hóngbāo! On the eve of...
正月調 15 Commandments of Chinese New Year 2024
THE 15 COMMANDMENTS OF CHINESE NEW YEAR 2024!Here's a super fun chant for you for Chinese New Year 2024! Heard the song ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’? Well, here’s a Chinese equivalent. Though true to stereotype, it’s not...
Learn Chinese Through Funny Chinese Puns!
Learn Chinese Through Funny Chinese Puns! We love puns, don’t you? How about Chinese puns? Do you know what puns are called in Chinese? Usually we talk about it as 双关语 (shuāng guān yǔ) or 押韵 (yā yùn) - you know you are...
5 Essential Chinese Songs that Chinese Kids Know
5 Essential Chinese Songs that Chinese Kids Know What are essential Chinese songs and rhymes that Chinese kids grow up singing, the equivalent of songs like "Wheels on the Bus"? Engaging in children's songs and...
New Year’s Resolutions in Taiwan and Chinese-Learning Activity
New Year's Resolutions in Taiwan and Chinese-Learning Activity The new year is coming. Have you made your New Year's Resolutions? We’ve found that in Taiwan, “跨年” （kuà nián) or “stepping into the new year” marks an...
2023 Happy Holidays! – Christmas Live Event Review!
Christmas Live Event: Celebrate with Dim Sum Warriors! 2023 Happy Holidays from the Dim Sum Warriors Young Artists and Team! It’s the Dim Sum Warriors holiday tradition! The Dim Sum Warriors team held a Christmas Live...
Ever Experienced the Eggsmas Holidays (生蛋节)?
Ever Experienced the Eggsmas Holidays (生蛋节)?Once upon a time, there was a magical holiday that happens around the winter solstice called Eggsmas (生蛋节)? During Eggsmas, a bearded old man called Father Eggsmas (生蛋老人)...
Why Do Kids Love the Holiday Doodle Dates?
Why Do Kids Love the Holiday Doodle Dates? We chatted with our young doodlers about why they love the Dim Sum Warriors Doodle Dates. “Because it embraces our chaos!” ZZ (Age 12). Strange thing to say about a...
7 Reasons Teacher-Moms Are Choosing Dim Sum Warriors’ Bilingual Reading App!
7 Reasons Teacher-Moms Are Choosing Dim Sum Warriors' Bilingual Reading App!Did you know that many Dim Sum Warriors parents are themselves teachers? Why would so many teacher-moms choose Dim Sum Warriors? The answer...
WHAT DO CHINESE PEOPLE EAT ON 冬至 DONGZHI WINTER SOLSTICE?
WHAT DO CHINESE PEOPLE EAT ON 冬至 DONGZHI WINTER SOLSTICE?1. 汤圆 Tāngyuán Glutinous Rice Balls The Southern Chinese, such as the Cantonese and Taiwanese, like to get together to make and eat colourful glutinous rice...
HOW DO CHINESE PEOPLE CELEBRATE DONGZHI 冬至?
HOW DO CHINESE PEOPLE CELEBRATE DONGZHI 冬至? As they do with major astrological events, many cultures celebrate the winter solstice—not just the Chinese, but also the Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese and other East...
What’s “Sticky” About Learning Chinese the Bilingual Way?
What’s "Sticky" About Learning Chinese the Bilingual Way? By Dr. Woo Yen Yen: Did you know that the English word “wear” is expressed in different ways in Mandarin, depending on what you’re wearing? As someone...
Halloween Bilingual Event – the Time to Get Creative!
Halloween Bilingual Event: What would happen when Halloween Monsters Meet Chinese Ghosts!? Get Creative Fun with Dim Sum Warriors Halloween is a time for ghosts, ghouls, and goblins, and at Dim Sum Warriors,...
Cosplay Meaning For A Family
Halloween Family Fun With Cosplay! Coming from Singapore, I didn’t really care about Halloween – to me it was just a highly commercialized holiday involving too much candy that was celebrated mainly by...
Creative Mooncakes Fun: Mid-Autumn Festival Traditions & Drawing Activities
Why do we eat mooncakes during 中秋节 the Mid-Autumn Festival? Eating mooncakes 月饼 (yuèbǐng) and pomelos 柚子 (yòuzi) while sipping tea as you admire the full moon 赏月 (shǎng yuè) are the most traditional things you...
Chang’e and other Mid-Autumn Festival Story Characters
Chang'e and other Mid-Autumn Festival Story Characters 1. Chang’e 嫦娥 the Moon Goddess Among all the Mid-Autumn Festival stories, probably the most famous of all the Chinese moon legends, 嫦娥 Cháng’é (pronounced “Chang...
Mid-Autumn Festival: A Celebration of Harvest, Mooncakes, and Family Traditions
All you need to know about 中秋节 - Mid-Autumn Festival Mid-Autumn Festival What is Mid-Autumn Festival? Imagine a festival that brings together the magic of a full moon and the joy of celebrating the harvest – that’s the...
3 Ingredients for Raising a Creative Child
3 Ingredients for Raising a Creative Child The Creative ChildWhen YB (short for 'Yakuza Baby', my daughter’s nickname) was in first grade, she came home crying one day, because all through her school day, she had...
Let’s Be Chinese Ghosts Experts!
Are You A Chinese Ghost Expert? How Many Do You Know? Have you heard of the Chinese Zombie, also known as 僵尸 (jiāng shī)?Are you aware of the Chinese Mer-people, referred to as 氐人 (Dī rén)?Do you know about the...
Celebrate Singapore’s National Day In Multiple Languages!
Celebrate Singapore's National Day In Multiple Languages! What do children think are uniquely Singaporean activities? Can you imagine Singaporean food characters "choping" a seat at the kopi tiam? See what...
FREE Multilingual Activity Sheet: Make Friends with Food!
We all know that the best way to bridge differences and make friends is with food! We were very tickled to have been invited by the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (Toa Payoh) Primary School to commemorate Racial...
This National Day: Join Our Multilingual Doodle Date!
This National Day: Join Our Multilingual Doodle Date! Let's get creative with all things Singaporean in this special Doodle Date. Throw crazy Singapore-themed prompts at our artist and we'll learn what to call...
Creativity: It Takes a Village
It really takes a village (at the very least) to nurture the right conditions for creativity! And we at Yumcha Studios are very honoured and privileged to have played our part by organising the 2023 Singapore Dreaming...
How to choose the right extracurricular activities for kids?
How to choose the right extracurricular activities for kids? Extracurricular activities for kids - when are they too much, and when are they just perfect for growth and learning? How do we choose? Extra- or...
9 Different Types of Zongzi To Make You Hungry this 粽子 Festival
9 Different Types of Zongzi To Make You Hungry this 粽子 Festival Rice Dumplings—ZOMG! Zongzi! 粽子！ 粽子Zòngzi—often called 'rice dumplings' in the West or some variation of "bak chang (肉粽)" in Southeast Asia—are a...
Why We Should Not Wish People “Happy Duanwu Festival”
Do you know it's not correct to wish people "Happy Dragon Boat Festival" or “端午节快乐”？Instead, wish people 端午节安康 (Duānwǔ jié ānkāng) "May you have a peaceful and healthy Duanwu Festival”This is because since ancient...
Do you know the 10 different names of the Dragon Boat Festival?
Do you know the 10 different names of the Dragon Boat Festival? It's not actually the "Dragon Boat Festival" The proper name for the ‘Dragon Boat Festival’ is the Duanwu Festival 端午节 (Duānwǔ jié), which is celebrated...
MAGIC MAMA 魔法妈妈: A special bilingual story for Mother’s Day!
A Special Bilingual Story for Mother's Day!Moms must have magical powers to be able to do all that you do for the family! Here's a special bilingual story for Mother's Day for each mother in the world!Watch/Read it...
Great Chinese Idioms for Mother’s Day
Chinese Idioms for Mother's Day Let's start with a Chengyu about the great Chinese philosopher Mencius’s Mom. 1. 孟母三迁 mèng mǔ sān qiān Literal Meaning: Mencius' mother moved 3 times Definition: The great efforts...
Earth Day in Chinese: 45 Essential Terms
April 22nd - Earth Day in Chinese is 地球日. Protecting the earth is something many of us are all still a bit too casual about—we try to do something when we remember and don’t feel too bad when we don’t. This year, our...
5 Amazing Women in Chinese Legend and Literature for International Women’s Day
5 Amazing Women in Chinese Legend and Literature for International Women’s Day Some like to characterize Chinese culture as being supremely patriarchal and 重男轻女 (zhòng nán qīng nǚ, meaning to favour sons over...
Valentine’s Day in Chinese 情人节成语
Valentine's Day in Chinese: What Idioms 成语 Can I Use? February 14th is Saint Valentine’s Day, which in Chinese is the much more transparent 情人节 (Qíngrén jié), as it translates to “Lover’s Festival”. It should...
Chinese New Year Greetings for The Year of the Rabbit
Chinese New Year Greetings for The Year of the Rabbit Are you looking for Chinese New Year greetings for the Year of the Rabbit that are a little funkier than traditional ones like 恭喜发财 (gōngxǐ fācái: Wishing...
The 12 Days of Christmas in Chinese!
The 12 Days of Christmas in Chinese! We translated the traditional song "The 12 Days of Christmas" into Chinese, so you can finally know how to say "partridge in a pear tree" in 中文! You're welcome!THE 12 DAYS...
Bilingual Books: A Powerful Tool for Second Language Learning
Bilingual Books: A Powerful Tool for Second Language LearningIn this article, we explore the mystery of why many kids dislike reading books in their 2nd language, and how research shows how bilingual books and stories...
“Forcing” my kids to learn Chinese backfired … so I tried another method
Guest contributor: Denise Yong wears different hats: she's an Early Childhood Educator/Educarer, a writer, and a Mum of three.My struggle: how to teach the kids Chinese when I struggle with it myself? My children are...
How Your Child Can Learn Chinese Creatively
How Your Child Can Learn Chinese Creatively We know how your child Can learn Chinese creatively, because of our unique approach and experience.Complaining About CreativityThe lack of creativity and imagination is a...
6 Takeaways & a video recap! from our recent Translanguaging Pedagogy webinar
6 Takeaways & a video recap! from our recent Translanguaging Pedagogy webinarThank you to everyone who signed up for our Translanguaging webinar on 1 September 2022! We attracted participants from more territories...
Being Bilingual is a Super Power!
Bilingualism is a super-power! Neuroscientific studies show that bilingual kids can parse and handle more complex situations because they're used to interpreting multiple linguistic and social cues. Here's a useful...
Competitive Parenting, Inclusion, Homeschooling and Struggling with Chinese: A Mom’s Testimony
Guest blogger: Lim Swee Pei is a mother of 4 and she is homeschooling her kids in Singapore. She shares her experience with competitive parenting, homeschooling and struggling with Chinese. (Her kids are members of the...
Singapore Mandarin Quiz! 新式华语小测验
To celebrate Singapore's National Day, we've come up with a quiz on Singapore's distinct strain of Mandarin Chinese, which we call 新加坡华语 (Xīnjiāpō Huáyǔ). It's pretty similar to mainland China's 普通话(Pǔtōnghuà) and...
There are already so many Chinese Learning Resources out there – is the Dim Sum Warriors Club worth it?
There are already so many Chinese Learning Resources out there - is the Dim Sum Warriors Club worth it? There are so many Chinese learning resources out there - how do we choose? It's important to know what you're...
5 Tips For Building an Easy At-Home Routine To Boost Chinese Language Learning for Bilingual Children
Guest contributor: Jocelyn Sara Lim-Tan is a seasoned teacher and education researcher and the mom of Jude and Joshua. In this piece, she shares her tips for building a daily routine to boost Chinese language learning...
5 Ways NOT to Kill Creativity in Your Kids
5 Ways NOT to Kill Creativity in Your Kids Ministries of Education all over the world are racing to equip children with competencies that are needed for the 21st century: critical thinking, communicating,...
Raising Bilingual Children (Without Resentment): 8 Questions for 4 Moms
Raising Bilingual Children Without Resentment: 8 Questions for 4 MomsThe footage above was edited from the Instagram Live session.IntroductionWe know that being bilingual or multilingual confers great advantages in our...
端午节: 8 Essential Things to Know About the Dragon Boat Festival
8 Essential Things to Know About the Dragon Boat Festival! Think you know all about the Dragon Boat Festival? Dumplings, dragon-shaped boats and poets tossing themselves into rivers? There's so much more to it!1. It's...
How I found a new way to Learn Chinese Online — Natural, Creative, Bilingual
How I found a new way to Learn Chinese Online — Natural, Creative, Bilingual Jacqueline is the mom of 7-year-old Isaac. I spoke to her and this is her genuine feedback about the difference Dim Sum Warriors has made to...
7 Family-Friendly Chinese Movies for International Women’s Day
7 Family-Friendly Chinese Movies for International Women’s Day Here are 7 family-friendly Chinese movies for International Women's Day to help kids who are learning Chinese get immersed in the language while being...
5 Best Chinese Animation Movies for Kids
Chinese animation movies are great for helping kids who are learning Chinese get immersed in the language while having fun! We chose these five movies because many kids in the Chinese-speaking world have watched these...
Cosplay Meaning For A Family
Cosplay: Meaning For Our Immigrant Family Coming from Singapore, I didn't really care about Halloween – to me it was just a highly commercialized holiday involving too much candy that was celebrated mainly by...
3 Reasons Why the Dim Sum Warriors Books are NOT Designed to follow a Reading Levels Chart
Many classrooms employ reading levels charts for their students, but up-to-date research is showing that this way of regulating students' reading doesn't have strong scientific evidence to support it. This is why we...
Teachers of Chinese ELLs or Emergent Bilinguals, You Are Invited!
Dear Teachers of Chinese ELLs or Emergent Bilinguals: I have bilingual stories that will be great for your students and I want to get these stories to your kids——FREE! Please get in touch with me as soon as possible at...
LUNAR NEW YEAR 2022: Popular Livestream Cartooning Program Just Opened For Schools to Book!
Get Your Students to Draw Cartoons and Learn Chinese This Lunar New Year 2022! For Lunar New Year 2022, Dim Sum Warriors has a creative and fun Chinese New Year Livestream Activity that you can now book for your...
Learn Chinese for Kids Part 3: The Importance of INTEREST
Learn Chinese for Kids Part 3: The Importance of INTEREST In this four-part series, former New York-based professor and “ang moh pai” (Western-Educated) English teacher Dr. Woo Yen Yen went from being that student who...
How I got my American born daughter to learn Chinese – Part 2
How I got my American born daughter to learn Chinese – Part 2 How am I going to get my daughter to learn Chinese in New York? In a previous post, I had talked about how hard it was for me to find suitable Chinese...
How I got my American born daughter to learn Chinese – Part 1
Desperate Search for Solutions to Help My Kid Learn Chinese When we were living in New York, I found myself looking for learn Chinese materials for my daughter (nicknamed 'YB', short for 'Yakuza Baby', because she was...
How to Raise Kids With Empathy
How to Raise Kids With Empathy As I was stressing in front of my computer over an app update that went wrong the other day, my 12-year-old quietly brought me a cup of tea with some honey and flower petals. I didn’t...
Workplace Diversity: The Dim Sum Warriors Experience
Workplace Diversity: The Dim Sum Warriors Experience Benefits of Workplace Diversity At lunch today, I learned that in Taiwan, someone who is stingy, fusses over little things and is cheap can be described as “小氣吧啦...
5 Positive Tips to Improve Communication with Children
5 Positive Tips to Improve Communication with Children How parents and kids can communicate better On 9 October 2021—to celebrate Children's Day in Singapore—we held a special webinar with BigV SG titled...
Parent-Child Communication Tips from Education and Psychology Professors: FREE Webinar
Parent-Child Communication Tips from Education and Psychology Professors My daughter is now 12, and recently, several of her friends’ parents are reporting a new pattern of behavior that’s stressing them out....
LET’S DRAW MOONCAKES DURING MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL!
LET’S DRAW MOONCAKES DURING MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL! There are, of course, many, many different designs, styles and flavours of mooncakes nowadays, but let's try drawing a traditional Cantonese-style mooncake.LET'S DRAW...
5 Lessons I Learned From Being Last in Class
5 Lessons I Learned From Being Last in Class I was getting increasingly nervous – they were talking about which camera to use to produce a newer or older effect; the different steps of post-production; conversion from...
Thinking About Afghanistan
Thinking About Afghanistan I went to Afghanistan twice in 2004, not long after the US invasion, on a UNICEF-backed consulting project to help rebuild the Afghan education system. I’ve been trying my best not to think...
The Story of Our Children’s Art
The Story of Our Children’s Art Children's Art: How to keep them motivated? After I write the piece on “Why is Drawing Important for Children’s Development”, several parents contacted me to ask about...
Why is Drawing Important for Children’s Development?
Kids Drawing Is Making Something Out of Nothing My daughter loves to draw. (Her nickname is Yakuza Baby—or YB for short-- because she was born while my husband and I were watching a Japanese gangster film. It's...
How do I teach my kid Chinese at home? – Part 1
When we were living in New York, I found myself looking for Chinese-learning materials for my daughter (nicknamed 'YB', short for 'Yakuza Baby', because she was born while we were watching a Japanese gangster movie)....
How do I teach my kids Chinese at home? – Part 2
In a previous post, I had talked about how hard it was for me to find suitable Chinese teaching and learning solutions for my daughter when we were living in New York. Experience the Target Language as Dynamic and...
Learn Chinese For Kids Part 1: ‘I Tore Up My Chinese Book’
How to get my kid to learn Chinese when my own Chinese is so bad? by Woo Yen Yen An English teacher’s journey towards getting her daughter to learn Chinese. In this four-part series, former New York-based professor and...
How I Got My Kid to Learn Chinese Part 2: “What Can We Learn From Being Last in Class?”
What if I'm the Worst Student in Class? by Woo Yen Yen An English teacher’s journey towards getting her daughter to learn Chinese. In this four-part series, former New York-based professor and “ang moh pai”...
How I Got My Kid to Learn Chinese Part 3: “How Do We Begin With Interest?”
How do we follow our children's interests? by Woo Yen Yen An English teacher’s journey towards getting her daughter to learn Chinese. In this four-part series, former New York-based professor and “ang moh pai”...
How I Got My Kid to Learn Chinese Part 4: “How Do We Become At Home In Our Languages?”
How do we become confident in a language? by Woo Yen Yen An English teacher’s journey towards getting her daughter to learn Chinese. In this four-part series, former New York-based professor and “ang moh pai”...
