Bao & Bun's Bilingual Journey

We’re almost fully recovered from our trip and back to our usual routine. Now, with the realization that following Taiwan’s elementary school curriculum may not be the most important goal (because there’s no way we can keep up), I’ve identified that helping both kids recognize more characters is key to enabling them to read more books independently.

Little Bao has been steadily making progress with the Sagebooks 500 set. It’s hard to believe we’ve been using this set since they were 4.5 years old, and now he’s 7.5. I’ll share more about his ups and downs with Sagebooks in a separate post, but I’ve decided to stick with this series because it provides built-in reviews and repetition. I’ve tried using flashcards multiple times, but they just don’t work for me. Sagebooks allow us to pick up and start reading right away.

Currently, Little Bao is working on the pink set (characters 300–400). He’s doing much better now compared to when we first started. While there are still some characters he can’t recall, he’s improving at recognizing patterns or remembering we recently covered a character—something he struggled with 1.5 years ago.

One big difference between him and his sister is that his Zhuyin blending has improved significantly, which helps him read more advanced books, even without knowing a large number of characters.

When Little Bao gets frustrated or resistant to learning more characters, I use an ultimate prize—like a trip to an amusement park—to keep him motivated. At his age, kids don’t usually see the long-term value of learning a language, so I’ve found that proper incentives not only help him stay engaged but also keep me sane in this uphill battle.