Teaching a child a new language can be quite challenging. Different kids respond differently to different methods of teaching. Learning a language is all about establishing associations between words and the object or action being described. If a child does not have the words to describe a particular concept, then perhaps one of the most effective ways to help him or her build that relationship between a word and the object being described is through visual association.

The online game, Chinese For Kids, or School Of Chinese, is an excellent way to help children build up their vocabulary in Mandarin.

Chinese For Kids is an interactive online game that encourages children to learn build up their Chinese vocabulary by means of visual association. When the player first starts up the game, he or she is presented with a castle. The child can then click on the various towers of the castle. Each tower leads to a different room. Each room has a different theme. There are ten towers in all: a kid’s bedroom, a hall, a kitchen, a yard full of animals, a tool shed, a bathroom, an office, an adult’s bedroom, a music room, and a kid’s play room with vehicles.

When the player “enters” one of these rooms, he or she will find various artifacts related to the theme of that room that he or she will be able to click on. And when you click on them, a Chinese voice reads aloud what that object is called, in Chinese. And the spelling of the word in both the Chinese language, as well as the English phonetic spelling are then displayed in a little “chalk board” in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Plus, if the object makes a sound, you can hear the object make the associated sound, such as a musical instrument, a car, or a train.

Chinese For Kids encourages kids to build up their Chinese vocabulary by visual association between the objects they interact with on the screen.