Bao & Bun's Bilingual Journey

I rarely recommend online group lessons because the quality often depends on a mix of the teacher, curriculum, and class dynamics.

We’ve had some positive experiences with group lessons in the past, and I largely attribute that to the teacher.

However, if you ask what type of online classes I’d recommend based on content, I’d suggest this one that Little Bao has been taking.

The class is《包姆與凱羅》注音繪本班 from Mandarin Mommy & Me.

Recently, after an online teacher encouraged me to read simple books with Little Bao, I noticed his independent reading really started to take off. I then signed him up for a Zhuyin blending class combined with picture book reading, and his reading ability has significantly improved since starting.

This ties into something I’ve been reflecting on: the ultimate goal for overseas kids learning Chinese is to speak, listen, and read. The reading aspect often gets overlooked, and parents are now expected to take on that responsibility instead of the class. While parents should definitely be involved, for working parents like me, finding the time to read every day can be tough. I found that following a class and keeping up with the assigned reading is helpful—it saves me the trouble of researching books and starting from scratch.

That said, I hope more advanced reading classes become available, beyond just the Taiwanese elementary curriculum, which is now widely offered everywhere.