A Little Mandarin: In cooperation with Multicultural Kids Blog

Nimen Hao!   你們好  Hello!

We were absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to review this CD as part of the Multicultural Kids Blog.
I started teaching my daughter (Malika) mandarin six months ago; I used the vintage style Chinese for Children textbook and while it was quite charming it was not very exciting and did not engage Malika and encourage her to learn mandarin.
Having worked as a TEFL teacher in the past I know that songs and music are one of the best ways to engage young learners, and maintain levels of interest.
A Little Mandarin is an excellent teaching tool with a wide range of 15 songs with musical styles ranging from hip-hop to lullabies.
Malika's favourite songs were Phone Call, Scale Song and Pulling the Radish.


Make a Phone Call (打电话)

Make a Phone Call is a really charming song about a conversation between two dolls and the essence of real communication.

The tune is fab and the words are really funny according to Malika!  After a few listens Malika was able to pick up some of the expressions like 小娃娃 (xiǎo wuá wuá), which means little children and
喂 喂 喂(wéi wéi wéi) which is an expression for hi when picking up the phone....


Scale Song (音阶歌)
Malika has always loved singing and performing and she loved this song because it combines the english scale (do re mi!) with chinese lyrics which are really sweet and catchy,

Little friends
小朋友,
 xiǎo péng yǒu,
 Come and sing
 来唱,
 lái chàng gē,
 do do si la so,
You sing, too
,你也唱
nǐ yě chàng


Pulling the Radish (拔萝卜)
This is my personal favourite because it so so catchy and frankly bizarre!  I love the fact this is a song about the difficulty of pulling out a radish and asking so many people from all walks of life for help....Old women, little dogs and yellow cats are all asked to come quickly to help with the task!  This is an old Chinese song and the contemporary horn music is fab!  We loved the song although the lyrics
Pulling the radish
拔萝卜
bá luó bó
are really stuck in our head!

Here are some song intros which you can enjoy!!!

Just click on this image of the Little Mandarin to go to the start of the songs....

And please go to the facebook and Twitter page for regular updates...





This link will take you to the website for the little Mandarin CD where you can find supporting materials such as lyrics in english, simplified mandarin and pinyin....
www.alittlemandarin.com

The CD won all these awards last year!  Amazing....

Awards
 Dr.Toy Best Classic, 2013
 Parent’s Choice Silver Honor, 2013
 Creative Child CD of the Year, 2013

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But WHY do we want to learn Chinese?  Right over to Malika....

This is me Malika!  I was eight months when this picture was taken and I was in China for my Uncle Connor and Aunty Keng-Keng's wedding.  This picture was taken in a small cafe in Dali, Yunnan province with a xiao pengyou (small friend).  That is my mum in the picture with me!

These are Aunty KengKeng's grandmothers.  They are so adorable and I would love to speak more Chinese so I can talk to them.  They came to stay with me in Scotland a few years ago.

This is Aunty Keng-Keng.  She is a fashion designer and milliner and lives in London.  Milliner means hat designer!  She also makes delicious food (hen hao chi!).  This is a traditional Yunnan Pineapple rice dish in the picture....soooooo tasty.

And this is Keng-Keng in North Yunnan last year....

Another one of my mum and I in a little restaurant in Zhongdian, North Yunnan.

And this is me now I am five!  This was taken in Tallin, Estonia, this summer when Aunty Keng-Keng and Uncle Connor came to visit....

So thank you so much for Toni for making this wonderful CD!   I can learn more chinese and practice with my aunty and Chinese family.  谢谢 - Thank you!