At Cambridge, students start studying Mandarin Chinese, in addition to Latin, in Kindergarten (K5). Because it is such a difficult language and because it is the most widely spoken language in the world, Cambridge students have a significant advantage in starting to learn Mandarin at such a young age. We also believe that the balance between the study of Latin, the root of many western languages, and the study of Mandarin, the most common eastern language, is beneficial to The Cambridge School students in many other ways, teaching them how to think logically, how languages are structured, and much more.

In order to help our parents help their kids succeed in Mandarin, we suggest these resources:

1. Mandarin Club: Every Thursday after pick-up, our Mandarin-speaking parent volunteers are available to help with Mandarin homework.

 

2. Mandarin Primer: This primer is available here to give you a general introduction to Mandarin to better prepare you to help your student.

 

3. Mandarin Flash Cards (password-protected): Click here to access flashcards that you can print out at home. Alternatively, printed flash cards are available for purchase at the following links:
   • Easy Steps to Chinese Picture Flashcards 1
   • Easy Steps to Chinese Picture Flashcards 2

    

4. Web Sites:
   1. Quizlet: This is a great site for making online flashcards to practice vocabulary. Log on to Quizlet (or create a user name and password, if you haven’t already), and then access the Cambridge flash cards on this page. The group password is “Chinese”.
   2. InputKing: This site allows you to enter the pinyin of the character, so that you can then copy and paste the character to create new flashcards.

    

5. Video of the 23 Initial Sounds in Mandarin
    

6. Purchasing an Additional Mandarin Text:

   This is completely optional, of course, since your student will bring home his or her copy of the Mandarin text when there is homework. But if you’d like to purchase an additional copy so that you always have one on hand at home, we’re providing these links for you:

   Kindergarten: no textbook

   1st Grade: Easy Chinese for Kids with CD (please ask Mrs. Law for a copy of this text)

   2nd Grade: My First Chinese Reader 1

   3rd Grade: Easy Steps to Chinese 1

   4th & 5th Grade: Easy Steps to Chinese 2

   6th Grade: Easy Steps to Chinese 2 & Easy Steps to Chinese 3