Start by finding where it breaks. "Struggling with Chinese" usually means one of five things: your child can't read the characters, can't write them, can't follow a passage, freezes when speaking, or has come to dread the subject.
Each one has a different fix, and a 10-minute check at home tells you which it is. You don't need to read Chinese to run it.
Often the first one sits underneath the others: words learnt for 听写 and then forgotten. That one is also the easiest to fix.
Homework that ends in tears at 9pm. A child who passes Friday's 听写 and, two weeks later, has forgotten almost everything. Comments from the teacher that you can't quite act on because you can't read the worksheet.
I'm Joshua. We speak English at home, and when my daughter started Primary 1, Chinese was a struggle. Drilling was making her dread the subject, and homework sessions were turning into arguments.
Before trying another fix, it's worth finding out what is going wrong. Here's the check I'd run first.
Try the deck free
Pick your child's level and I'll email you lessons 1 to 3 of it as an Anki deck. The full level is SGD 199, all six levels SGD 599, with a 60-day money-back guarantee. More about the deck
Your sample is ready
Your download should start by itself.
Download the sampleI've also emailed it to you, so you can open it on whichever device has Anki.
New to Anki? Step-by-step help for your device:
For new sample takers only
The full deck for SGD 99
SGD 199 SGD 99
15:00
This price is yours for 15 minutes. After that the deck is back to SGD 199.
60-day money-back guarantee.
What's in the sample
- Lessons 1 to 3 of your child's level, Standard Chinese, as an Anki deck: 2024 syllabus for P1 to P3, old syllabus for P4 to P6.
- Each full level has Standard and Higher Chinese. P1 to P3 come in both the old and the 2024 syllabus.
- Open it in Anki on your phone, tablet or computer. Anki is free on Android, Mac and Windows.
A 10-minute check at home
Take a 听写 list or textbook lesson from 4 to 6 weeks ago (the old words matter more than this week's). With the pinyin or a recording beside you:
- Reading: point to 10 words and ask your child to read them aloud. Check against the pinyin.
- Writing: play or say 5 words from the writing list and ask your child to write them from memory. Compare the shapes with the list, stroke by stroke.
- Meaning: ask what 5 of the words mean in English.
- Speaking: ask for one sentence, out loud, using any word they got right.
Then look at where it went wrong:
| What you see | What it usually means | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Can't read most of the old words | They were learnt for 听写 and forgotten | Bring old words back on a schedule, a few minutes every day |
| Reads them, can't write them | Writing was copied, never recalled | Write from memory, check, and rewrite only the wrong ones |
| Knows the words, lost in a passage | Reads word by word, too slowly to follow | Meet each word in sentences, and read a little every day |
| Knows the words, freezes when speaking | Little practice saying them aloud | Say each word and a sentence aloud, daily |
| Refuses, or ends in tears | The subject has become a fight | Shorter sessions, and stop before the tears |
If more than one row fits, start with the first one that does. A child can't write or use a word they can no longer read.
Why forgetting is usually the root
Primary Chinese is cumulative: P3 lessons assume the P1 and P2 words, and so on up to PSLE. A word tested once on Friday and never seen again is mostly gone within weeks.
Re-reading the list helps less than it feels. In a 2006 study, students who tested themselves on a passage remembered 56% of it a week later; students who re-read it remembered 42%. The repair is short, daily recall of old words, spaced further apart each time.
The words were memorised for Friday, which puts them in short-term memory, and a week later most of them have slipped away. More drilling runs the same cycle faster.
Pulling a word out of memory is what makes it stay. In a 2006 study, students who tested themselves on a passage remembered 56% of it a week later; students who re-read it remembered 42%. So the fix is a few minutes of recall every day, with each word coming back a little later each time.
Talk to the teacher too
Your child's Chinese teacher sees them in class every week and can usually tell you which row above fits. Ask what they see in class, and which lessons to go back to.
If your child also finds reading hard in English, mention it. The teacher or school can tell you whether something beyond practice is worth looking into.
Where the deck fits
The first row of that table is what the MOE Chinese Anki Deck is for.
- Every word in the MOE syllabus, P1 to P6, lesson by lesson, Standard and Higher Chinese, so you can go back to the lessons that slipped.
- Characters your child must read get a Recognition card and a Sentence card; characters they must write also get a Writing card with stroke order. Every sentence card has a picture of the scene.
- Natural Mandarin audio, pinyin and English on every card. You can follow along without reading Chinese.
- Anki brings each word back just before it would be forgotten. 10-15 minutes a day.
- The free sample is lessons 1 to 3 of your child's level, Standard Chinese. A full level is SGD 199 (all six SGD 599), with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
From a parent's review: "The cards have been beneficial and helps him to remember his words beyond just the usual 听写. He also got into Higher Chinese as well!"
More for parents: How to help your child with Chinese · Chinese in an English-speaking family · 听写 practice at home · How to remember Chinese characters
Sources
- 56% against 42% a week later: Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), Experiment 1. The students were university students reading prose.
Not sure yet? Start free
Tap your child's level and I'll email you lessons 1 to 3 of it as an Anki deck, free, right now.