The Mandarin Stars early Mandarin education program for kids was developed on the foundation that picking up a new language is easier as a kid. Now it looks like more and more is being written about language acquisition that backs up this fact. In 1967, neuroscientist Eric Lenneberg presented his argument that there is a "critical period" for language acquisition, beyond which and without the normal stimulation, a person could never really develop a natural way of speaking. I

We had the pleasure of welcoming many wonderful families last Saturday to our first morning of classes. Much fun was had by all! We've had great feedback from parents on our program and all the children really enjoyed themselves. We're already hard at work planning next week's lessons. Although Term 1 has kicked off, you can still join us for a free trial class. Just email us at enrol@mandarinstars.nl to book your spot. Xie Xie! #Amsterdam #mandarinforkids #kidslearningmandar

Why do scientists claim that learning Chinese makes you smarter? We've summarized their main arguments: 1. Chinese trains cognitive abilities not utilized in the study of other languages. Recognizing the tones, sounds and script of Chineserequires the use of both temporal lobes of the brain. English speakers, for example, only use the left temporal lobe for language. 2. Learning to hand write Chinese characters, with their complex structure, involves strokes in several d

Did you know that many kids start learning another language just when their natural window of opportunity to learn a language closes? This natural window closes around the time of adolescence and is why Mandarin Stars is passionate about laying the foundations for fluency early - our littlest learners can start from the age of 1 with our immersion-based playgroups. This doesn't mean it is impossible to learn a language after adolescence, but it does mean that the natural inst

We get asked a lot whether Mandarin is harder for children to learn than other languages. We are happy to report that the answer is no! Chinese is a tonal language—in which the same combination of consonants and vowels can be pronounced totally different ways-- and it’s much easier to learn that in earlier years. The younger they learn, the more authentically they can reproduce these sounds. Our non-native speaker programs focus on the spoken language. And as far as that goes