Several years ago I took a Chinese class. Besides wanting to learn some Chinese, as a foreign language teacher, I felt it important to be able to again understand what it was like in a class and not understand a word! I did well in the class but I longed to learn more and have more of an immersion type experience. I needed more repetitions than the class was able to give me. I longed for a program like BiLingo Kidz in Chinese where a learner can listen and study independently. For me, as a teacher and as a learner, repetition is the key to learning not only correct pronunciation but correct sentence structure in context.
Several years later I attended a TPRS (Teaching for Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) conference where I had the opportunity to again learn some Chinese using TPRS techniques. I learned so much in about 20 hours because of the constant repetition and it was so much fun! Of course having an instructor is more fun than working off a software program but either way one can learn.
Parents often find themselves without a class for their younger children. Most schools in the United States wait until high school to teach a second language. This practice directly affects correct pronunciation. Many parents start before or after school programs but they are difficult to maintain with schedules, car pools, and finding teachers.
I am currently lucky to have a Chinese student living with me. Of course I had to practice my minuscule amount of Chinese with her. Most of the time she didn't have a clue as to what I was saying as I had picked up some bad pronunciation habits. Not my teacher's fault, just a lack of repetition and reading. At any rate, I practice and get corrected and practice and get corrected again and again. At this rate I don't know that I will ever be fluent but hopefully not completely illiterate when I visit China.
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