Michael Phelps goes for the GOLD with Mandarin!
I was watching CNBC a couple of days ago and they aired an ad featuring Michael Phelps trying to learn Mandarin on his laptop with the Rosetta Stone Mandarin program. Phelps was seen with a laptop, earphones and nice pictures, with the audio teaching him how to pronounce the chinese words. Great ad, Rosetta Stone will likely sell a few copies of the software.
Some people have an awesome knack for tonal languages and will have no problem mastering Mandarin through a software at Michael Phelps' age. The fact if the matter is, the younger you start, the better and easier it is to get rid of accents and to be able to master the "tones" of Mandarin. Mandarin is a Level 4 language. Well, what is a Level 4 language? In short, it means that it is way more difficult (4 times) to learn than a romantic language like French, Spanish, etc. It is a tonal language, which means that a slight mispronunciation of the tones could mean something entirely different, which could lead to a major misunderstanding!
"I am trying, but it's the hardest things I have ever done" said Phelps, who landed a sponsorship deal with Rosetta Stone. Is Mandarin that hard? Or is it the time and the timing? I think both. Research shows that children are natural sponges at the early-childhood age. They soak up everything. Also, the earlier you start a child (learning anything, really), and the more time you devote to constant reinforcement, you will get good results. So, instead of waiting till Grade 11 to introduce Mandarin, why not start at preschool/Kindergarten?
Lebron James have been visiting China every summer since 2003. He plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and is already one of China's most popular athletes. But it is still a struggle to chat with the locals. "I am doing greetings and things like that, how to say my name, more basic stuff. I am not trying to have a big conversation, but as far as meeting people and greeting them, thanking them. The basics of being able to have a small conversation". James' motivation is twofold, he wants to show respect for the Chinese while he's in their country, as well as enhance future business opportunities in a country that has more citizens than any other and a booming economy.
It is reported that now that Phelps has 8 medals on his neck, he's going to try to land some major sponsorship deals ala Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, etc. May I suggest that he try really hard at Mandarin a score a deal with China Mobile??? Hmmm......
Blog posted by Pam Drakos
Some people have an awesome knack for tonal languages and will have no problem mastering Mandarin through a software at Michael Phelps' age. The fact if the matter is, the younger you start, the better and easier it is to get rid of accents and to be able to master the "tones" of Mandarin. Mandarin is a Level 4 language. Well, what is a Level 4 language? In short, it means that it is way more difficult (4 times) to learn than a romantic language like French, Spanish, etc. It is a tonal language, which means that a slight mispronunciation of the tones could mean something entirely different, which could lead to a major misunderstanding!
"I am trying, but it's the hardest things I have ever done" said Phelps, who landed a sponsorship deal with Rosetta Stone. Is Mandarin that hard? Or is it the time and the timing? I think both. Research shows that children are natural sponges at the early-childhood age. They soak up everything. Also, the earlier you start a child (learning anything, really), and the more time you devote to constant reinforcement, you will get good results. So, instead of waiting till Grade 11 to introduce Mandarin, why not start at preschool/Kindergarten?
Lebron James have been visiting China every summer since 2003. He plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and is already one of China's most popular athletes. But it is still a struggle to chat with the locals. "I am doing greetings and things like that, how to say my name, more basic stuff. I am not trying to have a big conversation, but as far as meeting people and greeting them, thanking them. The basics of being able to have a small conversation". James' motivation is twofold, he wants to show respect for the Chinese while he's in their country, as well as enhance future business opportunities in a country that has more citizens than any other and a booming economy.
It is reported that now that Phelps has 8 medals on his neck, he's going to try to land some major sponsorship deals ala Tiger Woods, Brett Favre, etc. May I suggest that he try really hard at Mandarin a score a deal with China Mobile??? Hmmm......
Blog posted by Pam Drakos
Labels: early childhood mandarin, mandarin, Michael Phelps, olympics gold
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