Language Learning Made Fun for Kids

My husband and I have a daughter, age four years old, enrolled in Mandarin immersion classes at Yak Academy (formerly EarlyBirds Learning.)  She began classes when she was just 2 1/2 years old.  After just a few months she was able to speak and understand basic Mandarin. Now, she is fairly proficient and is well on her way to fluency.  The approach Yak Academy takes for world language, play-based learning, and fostering a learning community among parents and children is truly amazing.  Their approach has also made all the difference in engaging my daughter and has made her love foreign language and learning.

Our daughter was already exposed to Spanish at preschool, and was a planned part of her continued curriculum. My husband and I were interested in Mandarin based on the world economy and China's prevalence in the global marketplace.   We also thought fluency in Mandarin may be a more specialized or rare trait than fluency in Spanish.  We also had a hunch that starting her early, on any language, was important.  I did a lot of research on early language learning and best practices.  It was clear that the best time to learn language was from birth to 6 years.  Research indicates that this is the prime window for kids to learn language.  Their brains are just wired to pick up and process language skills at an early age.  This makes sense as they are forming language understanding and patterns at this age.  Research also indicates that immersion is the most effective way to truly acquire a language.  This, again, makes sense as children learn their native tongue through immersion.  With immersion, children are more likely to “think” and function naturally in the language.  Immersion also provides kids with a more intensive language experience.

So the search began for a foreign language immersion program for kids in our area.  Frankly, we looked all over our state and were willing to move for the right learning opportunity.  We had no idea that the search would yield so few resources.  However, among the resources we discovered Yak Academy.  To our delight, it exceeded our expectations.  Yak Academy combines all the educational elements we were seeking along with fun and play that we had not anticipated or even factored into our consideration process.  After learning about Yak Academy’s play-based approach to world language, I did some additional research and it turns out play makes learning much more engaging and tangible for kids, through real-life experience and exploration.  Play is also critical for healthy, physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development at all ages.  Play also just makes learning more fun and interesting.

The combination of world language, early language learning, and play was a perfect combination.  Our daughter considers Yak Academy (or Chinese school as we sometimes refer to it) a play place where she explores language and cultures.  In fact, Yak Academy is a compliment to her preschool learning as some of the language lessons are an extension of her preschool curriculum—just in a different language.  In some cases, she is learning phrases, household items, instruments, insects, and other lessons that she does not get in preschool so we have found that her English has expand as well as her Mandarin.  The variety also makes overall learning more dynamic and fun for her.  Our daughter simply thrives in the Yak Academy learning environment.  Their unique, expert approach has been transformational for our daughter. 

In the beginning, it was not obvious that she was understanding or truly learning.  Her brain was simply taking it all in and synthesizing this new world of language.  In time, it became evident that she was absorbing and applying new language skills to her existing ones.  Over the course of a year or so, it has become clear she can now understand and can speak another language.  It’s also clear that starting early was a smart decision.  At an early age, our daughter was more receptive to language skill development and play.  Given her early start, she now has an advantage in several ways: 1) she already has some bi-lingual foundation and ability, 2) she appreciates different cultures and languages, 3) she enjoys different learning environments, 4) she views play as learning and vice versa, and 5) she has an expanded sense of friendship and community.

While we, as parents, were interested in our daughter developing language skills in Mandarin it has been our daughter that has urged us to continue—through her learning and enjoyment.  Her language classes are among her favorite activities and her growth in a number of related areas has been amazing. Language learning at an early age that is made fun is truly rewarding!