Learn Chinese Colors and Animals with Bao-Bei the Panda

Posted by Diane

September 5, 2008

I just discovered the cutest DVD to introduce my boys to Mandarin Chinese. It’s called Early Start Mandarin Chinese with Bao Bei the Panda. Ni Hao Productions, LLC, offers a series of Chinese DVD’s recommended for children ages 1 to 5. The host of the show is a panda puppet with a child’s voice named Bao-Bei. His “sidekick” is a grown-up cartoon cricket named Chu-Chu. The highly visual presentation and classical background music remind me of the Baby Einstein programs my kids used to watch. Unlike Baby Einstein, Mommy has to pay close attention to the puppet!

I’ll be the first to admit it: I feel challenged by Mandarin Chinese. Although I was concentrating intensely, most of the time I was thinking, “What did they say?” Meanwhile, my 3 year-old was repeating the words. No biggie. And Chinese colors? Honest to goodness they all sounded alike to me. My 5 year-old set me straight, ”No, Mom, that’s yellow. This is how you say red . . . ” Just goes to prove that preschoolers are language sponges and the Bao-Bei approach is working. Fortunately, the written words are provided at the end of the program. After a few viewings and the written words in pinyin, it’s finally starting to sink in for Mommy, too.

Here’s just some of what you and your kids will learn with Bao-Bei in Volume 1: (Forgive a few of the missing accents. My computer is having difficulty learning Chinese, too!)

Ni hao – Hello

Bao Bèi – Treasure

Xio péng yu – Little Friend

Tiào – Hop (nice opportunity for TPR–Total Physical Response method.)

Yán sè – Colors

Hóng sè – Red

Lán sè – Bue

Huáng sè – Yellow

Lu sè – Green

Dòng wù – Animals

Go – Dog

Mao – Cat

Ya zi – Duck

Tù zi – Rabbit

Zài Jiàn – Goodbye

Xiè xiè – Thank you

It’s really encouraging to see my kids respond to Chinese like it’s no big deal. They hop around, repeat words, and it’s sinking in naturally. Hurray!

To order or download the Bao-Bei DVD’s, visit the Early Start Mandarin Chinese website.

You can also order from the links below:

Chinese, Foreign Language Fun

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