Chinese for Kids: Learn Chinese Beginning Level 1 Volume 1

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Starring: Chinese for Kids-Beginner Level 1
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Donovan Miller
Studio: Language Tree
Release Date: 2005-11-08
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.

Not a proper accent if you want to sound right
My husband is native Chinese and we want our baby to be Bilingual. I checked this DVD out from the library to test it out and he made me turn it off. (I found it boring any way.) The accent is not from mainland China. He suggested it was from Taiwan, so if you want to sound Taiwanese (and if that's your goal, go for it! Nothing wrong with it if that's your goal.) try this show. But, if you want a proper high class mainland Chinese accent, don't watch this. He won't let me even play it for our baby.

Captivating Chinese DVD
Chinese for Kids: Learn Chinese Beginning Level 1 Volume 1

My five year old son absolutely loves the Chinese for Kids video. I was skeptical
about how much he would actually learn and was very pleasantly surprised to see
him watch the video and to speak along. He watches the video at least once a week
and enjoys using the Chinese words he's learned, especially at our local chinese
restaurant. It's very fun to see.

I highly recommend this DVD series. It's entertaining and educational too.

Cartoon part is good, sound quality could be a lot better
My daughter really likes watching this video but she has not learned more than "ni hao". I believe the reason is the poor sound quality, going from loud very signing to quiet conversation with a fuzzy background.

Best Chinese Langauge DVD I've seen
I've seen several learn Chinese DVD's and this one is one of the best. The mix of speech, song, graphics all came together to keep your attention and educate. This DVD really does it's job.

The basis of the DVD is 2D Flash Type animation where the subjects are fairly static but moving through the scene. The colors are bright and there is enough motion and change to keep watchable but not distract from the message, Somehow I really think this minimalist style adds to the impact, flashy GCI is nice but you end up watching the pictures, not focusing on the lesson.

The presentation is by an american female narrator who follows the daily activites of a Chinese family, specifically Billy and his pet Shi-Tzu Bemboo. But it doesn't cute out too much on the dog nor is it all about billy. The lessons cover names of family members, dinner, a visit to the farm, the four tones, parts of the body and more. There is both regular speech and a recap song after the "lesson". The format and pacing might be a little fast for the first time but after you watch it enough times you catch on. I've already got some experience with the langauge so I can't rate it from a strictly beginner standpoint.

I'm married to a Chinese lady and we have two kids 4 and 18months at the time of this review. So I've got well above average exposure to the Langauge but I found it useful, kind of a reinforcement exercise and fleshing out a few little details. My kids (who understand but refuse to speak chinese) loved it. It kept them engaged and encouraged the older one to actually spit out a few words. The younger one got a lot of it as she was picking up both the Chinese and the English words.

The fact that they really enjoyed it and it kept their attention and focus and they got a lot out of it is why I rate this one so highly. Others may make arugments for or against this methodolgy or presentation of the langauge. I could pick at a few things (my wife mentioned that the chinse pronounciation wasn't very good) but in the end its the impact on the target audience that determines how good the product is and it really hit home. I'd highly recommend it.

PROS -
Excellent presentation, visuals, audio and songs are well balanced and keep the pace going.
Good selection of material (very relavent to beginners)
Best explanation of the 4 tones yet

CONS-
MIGHT be a big jump for a total beginner (I can't judge)
Chinese pronounciation isn't perfect (Taiwanese accent claims the Mainlander), I wouldn't know.

All and all I'd highly recommend it.

OK DVD
This DVD is interesting ; however, the accent is more Taiwanese. ( according to my nanny from China) Overall it is well done but the interactive part is a bit tricky for car use ( ie portable DVDs)