On this episode of Bilingual Avenue, I interview Toni Wang a mother to three trilingual children and the artist behind “A Little Mandarin,” a collection of Chinese Children’s classics which she has given a new life with a contemporary sound and voice.
Toni is originally from Shanghai, China. She is the mother to two trilingual children who speak French, Mandarin and English!
Episode #35 Quick Guide
On this episode, Toni discusses with us:
- Her personal language journey with her family including Mandarin, French and English;
- The reason why her family chose to raise multilingual children;
- The support she has gotten from her mother and mother-in-law;
- The two playgroups she started to infuse Mandarin and how that led her to the creation of “A Little Mandarin;”
- Where she found her inspiration to create a quality Mandarin album for children;
- How she designed each song;
- One of her favorite songs “I Have a Pair of Little Hands” and how she found inspiration from stepping to find the perfect rhythm;
- How music can be leveraged into language learning because of its engaging nature;
- How her family will celebrate Chinese New Year and how others can celebrate as well by visiting a museum or a cultural institution and learning more about this special holiday;
- How seeing her children connect with her family in China with their heritage language made all the hard work worth it;
- How the family finds it funny when her husband tries to speak Mandarin and the children correct him;
Once we hop on the Autobahn at Bilingual Avenue, Toni shares –
- Favorite resources: Books and a large library at home;
- Best advice received: The best gift you can give to your baby is your language so speak it as much as you can;
- What has held her back: Lack of resources and finding other support outside of the home;
- Best Advice to others: Keep it fun!
You can learn more about A Little Mandarin –
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alittlemandarin
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ALittleMandarin
- Website: http://alittlemandarin.com/
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