Blog
The Story of Our Children’s Art
“How do we keep our kids inspired and motivated to draw?” This video follows the story of our daughter’s art-making over 10 years from Age 1 to 11 and provides a delightful example of the documentation of children’s art.
Why Does Cosplaying at Halloween Have Such Meaning for Our Family?
Coming from Singapore, I didn’t really care about Halloween. But it’s become one of our family’s favorite days of the year—when we bond not just as a family, but as part of a story universe!
De-Stress Doodle Date 20211002
We held a special Doodle Date to help kids and parents undergoing the exams and home-based learning vent their frustrations in cartoon form!
Parent-Child Communication Tips from Education and Psychology Professors: FREE Webinar
In partnership with BigV SG, we’re holding a FREE WEBINAR on 9 Oct 2021! Yen Yen will be sharing tips on Better Communication for Parents and Kids, together with eminent developmental psychologist Prof. Chao-Hsiang Hung from Taipei. There’ll also be a puppet performance and workshop for the kids, run by the award-winning Paper Monkey Theatre!
FREE WEBINAR: Better Communication for Parents and Kids
In partnership with BigV SG, we’re holding a FREE WEBINAR on 9 Oct 2021! Yen Yen will be sharing tips on Better Communication for Parents and Kids, together with developmental psychologist Prof. Hong Zhaoxiang from Taipei. There’ll also be a puppet performance and workshop for the kids, run by the award-winning Paper Monkey Theatre!
Mid-Autumn Mooncake Madness!
Here are some fun videos and drawings we did for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival!
5 Lessons I Learned From Being Last in Class
Being ‘last in class’ can provide great opportunities. Seriously!
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 of what’s happening now in Afghanistan because I feel completely helpless. But I can’t help it.
Our 1st Ever Multilingual Doodle Date!
Wow! First time-ever in the world—a MULTILINGUAL DOODLE DATE! Specially for Singapore’s National Day! Bring some cheer to this tough year by drawing funny cartoons and learning new words in Mandarin, English and now, Malay and Tamil too!
Why is Drawing Important for Children’s Development?
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...
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. (See: How do I teach my kids...
Learn Chinese For Kids Part 1: “I Tore Up My Chinese Book”
Dr. Woo Yen Yen, an English honors grad and former professor in New York went from being *that* student who ripped up her Chinese textbook to writing Chinese comics and a giant musical that toured 25 cities in China. She shares her journey and tips for getting her American-born daughter with zero Chinese to thrive in an all-Chinese-instruction Taiwanese public school.
This is Part 1 of a lecture she gave in Mandarin as part of the 2020 Mother Tongues Language Symposium organized by Singapore’s Ministry of Education.
How I Got My Kid to Learn Chinese Part 2: “What Can We Learn From Being Last in Class?”
Dr. Woo Yen Yen, an English honors grad and former professor in New York went from being *that* student who ripped up her Chinese textbook to writing Chinese comics and a giant musical that toured 25 cities in China. She shares her journey and tips for getting her American-born daughter with zero Chinese to thrive in a Taiwanese public school where the instruction is completely in Chinese. This is Part 2 of a lecture she gave in Mandarin as part of the 2020 Mother Tongues Language Symposium organized by Singapore’s Ministry of Education.
How I Got My Kid to Learn Chinese Part 3: “How Do We Begin With Interest?”
Dr. Woo Yen Yen, an English honors grad and former professor in New York went from being *that* student who ripped up her Chinese textbook to writing Chinese comics and a giant musical that toured 25 cities in China. She shares her journey and tips for getting her American-born daughter with zero Chinese to thrive in a Taiwanese public school where the instruction is completely in Chinese.
This is Part 3 of a lecture she gave in Mandarin as part of the 2020 Mother Tongue Language Symposium organized by Singapore’s Ministry of Education.
How I Got My Kid to Learn Chinese Part 4: “How Do We Become At Home In Our Languages?”
Dr. Woo Yen Yen, an English honors grad and former professor in New York went from being *that* student who ripped up her Chinese textbook to writing Chinese comics and a giant musical that toured 25 cities in China. She shares her journey and tips for getting her American-born daughter with zero Chinese to thrive in a Taiwanese public school where the instruction is completely in Chinese.
This is Part 4 of a lecture she gave in Mandarin as part of the 2020 Mother Tongue Language Symposium organized by Singapore’s Ministry of Education.
When learning a Second or Foreign Language, should I only choose books at the “Appropriate Reading Level”?
In 1st grade, my daughter, Yakuza Baby (the nickname we gave her because she was born while Colin and I were watching a Japanese gangster movie), had fallen in love with reading and was fast...
How to Improve Kids’ Chinese?
How to Improve Kids' Chinese? by Woo Yen Yen It was a joy and delight chatting online with creative folks from different disciplines at the “Speak Mandarin, Spark Creativity” Symposium organized by...
CROSSING INVISIBLE LANGUAGE LINES
by Woo Yen Yen Why is it important to cross invisible language barriers? Why is it important to learn a “minority” language or a dialect? My daughter YB (short for 'Yakuza Baby', the nickname we...
Bilingualism is Good for the Brain
We have known this for a while now—bilingualism is great for the brain! The more we think across two or more languages, the more exercise our brains get! This CNN article says that bilingualism...
Moving Experience: Drawing Comics for Kids Learning the Chinese Language
During our most recent Doodle Date, we asked kids for suggestions on things they want to do but can’t because of the new Covid-19 restrictions… and the results were, well, very moving to us.
Great Movies to Help Kids Learn Chinese
Summer school holidays are just around the corner... so here's a helpful list of Chinese movies your kids might like—provided by Jia Yu 姐姐, a Masters student in Taiwan who sometimes helps out during...
Increase Reading and Language Learning Motivation: One Simple Trick
Reading aloud to children is a simple but highly effective strategy to help kids fall in love with reading and motivate them to learn languages—but there’s an art to it.
Learning Chinese Language: Vocabulary About EARTH DAY
A field trip yields some useful vocabulary for Earth Day for those who are teaching Mandarin at home or in school or those who are simply learning Chinese.
How do you say different kinds of clothing in Chinese?
Check out our video of yet another crazy Dim Sum Warriors Bilingual Doodle Date—where our artist Colin draws the wacky things kids suggest, while former professor Yen Yen and certified Taiwanese...
Doodle Date: How do you say different types of clothes in Chinese? Part 2
Check out our video of yet another crazy Dim Sum Warriors Bilingual Doodle Date—where our artist Colin draws the wacky things kids suggest, while former professor Yen Yen and certified Taiwanese...
Doodle Date 20210417: Can you name various animals in Mandarin?
How do you say “Swiss Roll Mouse” or “Bittergourd Godzilla”? Or other silly combinations of food and animals? Check out our video of yet another crazy Dim Sum Warriors Bilingual Doodle Date—where...
Doodle Date 20210501: Can You Name Various Jobs in Chinese?
Welcome to the Dim Sum Warriors Doodle Date—a really fun way to learn Chinese for kids, that also builds creativity and imagination!
In this session, we mashup FOOD 食物 + JOBS 工作 for Labour Day 劳动节!
Doodle Date 20210515: Food + Things You Want to Do But Can’t, Because of Covid
In this session, we mashup Food and Things You Want to Do, But Can’t—Because of Covid. Your suggestions were surprisingly moving! Hang in there! 加油！We’ll get through this somehow!
DOODLE DATE 20210403: Food and Holiday Activities
How do you say "Sushi in a hot bath" or "Pie sleeping"? Or other silly combinations of food and holiday activities? Check out our video of yet another crazy Dim Sum Warriors Bilingual Doodle...
DOODLE DATE: Chinese New Year Food with Feelings
Check out our video of yet another crazy Dim Sum Warriors Bilingual Doodle Date—where our artist Colin draws the wacky things kids suggest, while former professor Yen Yen and certified Taiwanese...
DOODLE DATE 2021027: Food and Adjectives
How do you say “Lazy Fishball” and other oddball things in Chinese? We not only learn how to say them, we draw them too!
DOODLE DATE 20210306: Food and Sports
In this crazy Doodle Date, we mashed FOOD 食物 up with SPORTS 运动 to get some crazy characters, and learned what to call them in Chinese!
Happy 牛?Year! We had a blast at our Reunion Doodle Date
Thanks for Joining Our Chinese New Year Reunion Doodle Date 新春【画】团圆！ THANK YOU for all your creative ideas! We had a blast creating these cartoons with all of you on Saturday 6th February, 2021!...
正月調 The 15 Commandments of Chinese New Year
There’s a Chinese equivalent of ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’–but it’s not about your true love giving you anything. Rather, it lists all the stuff you have to do over the 15 Days of Chinese New Year!!!
Merry Eggs-mas…uh, Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all our friends and fans! It's always tickled us that in Chinese 圣诞 (shèngdàn: Christmas) sounds almost like 生蛋 (shēng dàn: laying eggs)—which tells you about the kind of...
Happy Winter Solstice 冬至快乐
Happy Winter Solstice! 冬至快乐！冬至快樂！ It's the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, and people in China or of ethnic Chinese heritage everywhere are celebrating 冬至 Dōngzhì, which literally means...
Dim Sum Warriors New Year eCards!
Happy New Year to all our friends and fans! Wish your family and friends—in fact, anybody!—a very happy new year with these adorable eCards! Available in English, simplified Chinese and traditional...
Honouring Food Workers on World Food Day 2020
16 OCTOBER IS WORLD FOOD DAY, which is run by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. We’d like to honour food workers everywhere for their hard work and service, especially during this pandemic.
5 Useful Chinese Phrases for Mother’s Day
5 Useful Mother's Day Phrases in Chinese Hey, kids, don’t just wish Mom “Happy Mother’s Day (母亲节快乐 | 母親節快樂 Mǔqīn jié kuàilè)”—try these 5 Chinese phrases and put an extra smile on her face! 1. Mom,...
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