Welcome to
Mei Mei & Me
A Fun and easy way to learn chinese
Best Learning Techniques
Meimei’s Teaching Method
Way back in 1977, a professor of psychology at San José State University named James Asher published a text called Learning Another Language through Actions. He proposed a language teaching method called total physical response (TPR). After observing young children learning their first language with parents, he noticed the importance of children’s physical movement as a response to parents’ speech. He concluded that:
- The brain is predisposed to learning language through listening, and will develop naturally afterward,
- language is learned best by engaging the right hemisphere of the brain, where physical movement is controlled, and
- learning language should not involve any stress, because stress and negative emotions inhibit the natural learning process.
In TPR, instructors give commands to students in the target language with body movements, and students respond with whole-body actions. It has long been accepted in language-learning theory that listening must come before speaking, just as reading emerges before writing, but the crucial additional knowledge here, especially for children, was that we learn with our whole bodies!
Given that starting point, it seemed a logical continuation to ask, “What is the best way to use physical movement in a stress-free way, that also allows for new-language content to be presented at the same time?” Mei Mei’s answer was, “Why not incorporate dance and music?” And so, what Mei Mei has done with her videos is to demonstrate how she teaches her own Chinese language lessons, using, especially with her youngest learners, lots of movement to make the learning natural and fun!
We believe that these videos are valuable as an example of approach, that others will hopefully find useful as a method of breaking up Chinese language lessons and reinforcing learning of reading and writing. We would never claim that a child will learn to speak Chinese fluently solely from watching our videos. That being said, we have found them very useful as an adjunct to a beginning speaking program, as well as to a reading and writing program. When teaching children, a light touch and a happy and cheerful approach are essential, and singing and dancing are natural stepping stones to finding the child in ourselves and engaging with our students.
So, Mei Mei always teaches Chinese in the same natural style as a parent would. Her method is intensely personal, and focused on reducing stress through meaning and movement. In these stressful times, it is positively therapeutic in its emphasis on having fun! We hope that our videos are helpful to parents and teachers looking for materials that support cultural learning in the home.
A Little About Us
Welcome to Mei Mei and Me, a company that’s dedicated to teaching the Chinese language to kids ages 1 to 7. We have a range of books, DVDs, and CDs that you can buy at Amazon, which are perfect for your kids to learn as they sing and dance along. Mei Mei and Me is a company founded by teacher, producer, actor, and director, Mei Mei Hu, who has spent most of her adult life teaching the Chinese language to children and adults in the US. Her books and videos have been heralded for their easy, simple, and effective way of teaching English-speaking children. Aside from teaching the Chinese language, Mei Mei and Me also incorporates the Chinese culture into their videos, allowing children to learn more through books and videos. The innovative and groundbreaking technique is actually quite simple – make learning fun for kids and they will surely learn. Kids between the ages of 1 to 7 are in the best developmental stage to learn a language. These are their formative years and once they learn to communicate in a foreign language, they will inculcate it into their long-term memory, imprinting what they learn.
